Francis Marion Canter III, a former Eastern Michigan University professor of psychology, died Aug. 19. He was 81.
Canter was born Jan. 9, 1923, in St. Louis, Mo. He graduated from Maplewood High School in June 1940 and went on to attend Iowa State University taking a fine arts curriculum from 1940-1942. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Washington University in 1948 and a doctorate in psychology from the same university in 1952.
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CANTER REMEMBERED:
Francis Canter, former
Eastern Michigan
University psychology
professor, sits in his office
in this 1977 photo. Canter,
who was at EMU from
1968-88, died Aug. 19. He
was 81.
|
Canter was a professor of psychology at EMU from 1967-1988.
"He was my ex-research partner and personal friend," said Alida Westerman, a professor of psychology at EMU. "I'll miss him very much because of the insights he offered and he was a warm, supportive person."
At EMU, Canter taught existential psychology and death and dying, and conducted research on the many different ways people understand death. Based on this research, Canter and Westerman created a questionnaire that is now on the National Institute of Health's (NIH) database, referred to as the Extended Self and Attitude toward Death (ESAD).
"One of the insights he gained in that area was that people differentiated death from dying," Westerman said. "Many people are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of how they get there."
Canter also helped develop the clinical master's program at EMU, and was its graduate coordinator. He developed a proposal for a doctorate in clinical psychology, which provided valuable background information for the design of EMU's current Ph.D. program in clinical psychology.
Canter's entered he U.S. military service in the Army Ordinance (ammunition) Company, in the South Pacific from 1943-1948. After that, he was in the U.S. Army Psychology training program in 1950 and later worked as an U.S. Army Psychologist from 1952-1957 serving at Fitzsimmons, Walter Reed, Brook Army, and the Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany. He also worked as a chief psychologist at Hastings State Hospital in Nebraska and as a senior psychologist at Patton State Hospital in California before coming to EMU in 1967.
He is survived by a son, Wood N. Canter; a daughter, Ann F. McCray; a brother, Edward Harrison Canter; his son-in-law, Richard L. McCray; a grandson, Marcus L. McCray; and two, step-grandsons, Tyrone and David McCray. He was married to Anne G. Netherland for 45 years, who preceded him in death.
A memorial service took place Sept. 9 in McKenny Union. The family has asked that, instead of flowers, contributions be made to the Huron Valley Humane Society or the Hospice Foundation.
