In Memoriam: Steve de Gruchy

On February 21, 2010, our beloved collaborator and friend, Steve de Gruchy, drowned while tubing with his family on the Mooi River in the Drakensberg, South Africa. Steve's loss is devastating to all of us - his family, friends, colleagues, and those impacted by his deep commitment to confronting the issues brought by apartheid, globalization, HIV/AIDs, poverty, and unemployment. He brought tremendous energy and theological insight to his academic and personal passions for social ethics, theology and development, global mission, and religion and public health. Steve's love of life and family, his wit, his musical talent, and his compassionate spirit were boundless.

On November 30, 2009, Steve and three members of the African Religious Health Assets Programme (ARHAP) visited the Emory campus for a week to report on their work in South Africa, a portion of which has been sponsored by the Religion and Public Health Collaborative (RPHC) over the last 3 years. Steve, who was Head of School, School of Religion and Theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and Rev. Paul Germond, Senior Lecturer of Sociology at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg came to Emory accompanied by their long-time students, Rev. Sinatra Matimelo (UKZN) and Ms. Tessa Dooms (Wits). The week was rich, with meetings of ARHAP and the RPHC, lectures given by Steve and Paul, meetings with various student classes in the Graduate Division of Religion, and a discussion with Dean Jan Love of the Candler School of Theology about forming a potential partnership between UKZN and Emory and their respective schools of theology.

During his stay at Emory, Steve gave a lecture entitled: "Water and Spirit: Theology in the Time of Cholera." The theme of water - abundant and scarce, pure and contaminated, symbolic of both life and death - dominated Steve's most recent writings. In his personal life, Steve loved the water and water-related activities; never fearful, Steve was always ready for a challenging ride down a river. His death in the water is both an unparalleled tragedy and overflowingly full of meaning.

Steve, we will miss you terribly.

To view Steve's lecture, please click here: "Water and Spirit: Theology in the Time of Cholera"

UKZN's Vice - Chancellor Makgoba's Eulogy to Steve de Gruchy