Alden K. Lanphear, 74; led Kensington nonprofit

Alden K. Lanphear, 74, of Pottstown, executive director from 1970 to 1999 of Woodrock, a nonprofit social service agency in Kensington, died of sepsis Thursday, Oct. 27, at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center.

Mr. Lanphear was a consultant for the Ricketts Community Center in Pottstown from 2003 to 2005 and interim executive director of the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities from 2006 to 2008.

A 1984 Inquirer story reported that since 1968 the agency, operating out of a storefront on Front Street near Dauphin Street, had dealt with interracial, interethnic tensions.

Mr. Lanphear stated in a 1991 story that the founders of Woodrock "hoped that by trying to work together to solve common issues . . . young people would begin to appreciate and understand each other."

In the early 1970s, the reporter wrote, "Woodrock offered after-school programs, camping and workshops to children and teenagers throughout the city.

"But when racial tensions flared in Kensington after the 1974 drowning of a Latino student," Woodrock focused on that neighborhood, its own.

"Woodrock counselors teach yearlong classes on human relations and interracial understanding in several Kensington-area public schools," the 1991 report stated.

On weekends and during the summer, it reported, the agency ran "workshops on self-esteem, drug prevention and other issues at its rural training center near Pottstown."

Mr. Lanphear told the reporter that the Pottstown site, Fellowship Farm, gave Kensington youngsters "who may not have been out of the city an opportunity to expand their horizons. It helps them to grow and understand themselves a little better."

Born in Schenectady, N.Y., he graduated from Nott Terrace High School there in 1955, served with the 82d Army Airborne Division in Lebanon, and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at Ohio State University in 1963.

Mr. Lanphear is survived by his wife of 51 years, Julie; sons Michael and Todd; daughters Alexandra Rutkiewicz, Debra Rutkowski, Kelly Grooms, Carmen Ocasio, and Jody; a brother; 16 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

A viewing was set from 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at Christ Episcopal Church, 316 E. High St., Pottstown, before a 4 p.m. funeral service. Burial is to be private.