Kenneth Mowrey, Ex-OCC Admissions Dean, Dies

A former Orange Coast College biology instructor who was a dean at the college for 18 years has died, campus officials announced Monday.

Kenneth E. Mowrey died Sunday in Hickory, N.C., after several months of frail health, Orange Coast College spokesman Jim Carnett said. He was 69.

Mowrey joined the college’s staff as a biology teacher in 1960, became dean of admissions and records in 1966 and remained in that position until he took early retirement in 1984.

“Whenever students had a concern about being admitted or problems with their records, they could always go to Ken,” Carnett said. “He was very student-friendly. . . . His office door was always open.”

Mowrey was an active member of the Pacific Assn. of College Registrars and Admissions Officers, Carnett said. He served as board president from 1982 to 1983.

Carnett said Mowrey was one of only two community college administrators to become president of the association, which included 370 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and Pacific islands during his tenure.

Before going to Orange Coast College, Mowrey taught chemistry at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and biology at St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, N.Y., Carnett said. He also worked as a secondary school science specialist with the U.S. Office of Education in Washington.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from State Teachers College of Indiana, Pa., and got his master’s degree in conservation and vertebrate zoology from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Mowrey also served as navigator on a B-17 “Flying Fortress” during World War II, Carnett said.

Carnett said Mowrey moved from Costa Mesa to his hometown of Punxsutawney, Pa., a year after retiring and then moved to North Carolina to be with family members. Mowrey is survived by his wife, Frances, and three children.

Services will be held Friday in Punxsutawney.