Ken Short

Early life

Kenneth Herbert Short was born to Cecil Charles Short and Joyce Ellen Begbie on 6 July 1927 in Nairobi, Kenya. His family returned to Australia and settled in Tasmania where Cecil Short was rector of St George’s Battery Point from 1931. In January 1934, Cecil was appointed rector of St Andrew’s Church, Wahroonga, and the family moved to Sydney.

Short went to school at Trinity Grammar School, Summer Hill and Barker College. At 19 he joined the Australian Infantry Force with an officer’s commission and served with the British Commonwealth Occupying Forces in Japan 1946-1948. He was made Commander Lieutenant in 1946. He studied for the Anglican ministry at Moore Theological College, Sydney. He married Gloria Noelle Funnell (daughter of Ernest Henry Funnell and Violet Isobel Baldock) on 28 January 1950.

Ministry

Short was ordained an Anglican Minister in 1952 and served the Parish of Pittwater before going with the Church Missionary Society to Tanzania. He and his family remained there until 1964, founding the Msalato Bible School in Dodoma, where he was Principal from 1961.

Returning to Australia, Short was appointed General Secretary to the Church Missionary Society New South Wales. He stepped down in 1971 and served as rector of St Michael’s Vaucluse for four years.

Short was appointed Bishop of Wollongong 1975–82, Archdeacon of Wollongong 1975–79 and Camden 1975−76, and Examining Chaplain to the Archbishop of Sydney 1971–82. He was then Bishop of Parramatta 1982–89 and concurrently Bishop to the Australian Defence Forces 1979–89. During that time, he was Army Chaplain General, 1979–81 holding the rank of Major General. In 1989, Short was made Dean of St Andrews Cathedral, Sydney.

In 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary, Ken Short was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, General Division, for services to "Religion, particularly as Anglican Bishop of the Australian Defence Force." In 1989 he was made a Chaplain of the Order of St John.

Retirement

After retiring in 1992, Short filled various roles, at St John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, as Bishop of Wollongong, and in parish ministry in Hobart, Geraldton, Berry and Kangaroo Valley. He also was acting state secretary of the Church Missionary Society in Victoria and then New South Wales. He also pursued his interests in carpentry, fishing, photography, and bird watching.

Death

Ken Short died on 19 October 2014 in Wollongong. He is survived by his wife Gloria, three children Kathy, David & Marion, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandson.