2.27.2019

Bruce Owen Nolf

January 15, 1932 - May 8, 2018

Bruce Nolf, 86, died peacefully at home in Cove, Oregon, May 8, 2018, from complications of multiple myeloma. He spent his final days in the love of gathered family.

Bruce was born January 15, 1932, to Luther Owen Nolf and Gladys (Bumgardner) Nolf in Iowa City, Iowa. As a Great Depression schoolboy, Bruce read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z after chores were done. During WWII (as a nine-year-old) Bruce cared for over a thousand chickens being raised for homeland consumption — possibly explaining his reluctance to build a chicken coop during retirement in Cove.

He attended University High School. As a junior, an English teacher persuaded him to join the track team. He ran the 440 dash and the 880 and mile relays, winning at state the next two years.

At the University of Iowa, Bruce majored in math and was recruited for track, becoming a four-year Big Ten letterman. An advisor informed him of grants available for studying geology, so Bruce added geology courses to his math studies, discovering his life-long passion.

Upon acceptance to the graduate geology program at prestigious California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), Bruce hopped on his motorcycle for Pasadena. He was awarded his masters in 1955, then started teaching at UC Santa Barbara and Fresno State. With success and enjoyment of teaching, he knew he wanted to apply his geology background and research to educating others.

Dr. Ian Campbell, a Cal Tech faculty advisor, arranged for Bruce to meet with Dr. Harry Hess, the formidable geologist from Princeton University (developer of the theory of sea-floor spreading and a founding father of plate tectonics). Hess invited Bruce to his department to write his doctoral thesis.

Later, Dr. Campbell connected Bruce with Dr. William (Wild Bill) Taubenek from Oregon State University. Taubenek was studying the igneous rock in the Wallowa Mountains of Northeastern Oregon and he was seeking another geologist to map and study the metamorphic rock there. During the next ten years, Bruce mapped the geology of the northern Wallowa Mountains from spring snow melt to fall snows. He dearly loved the Wallowas. A visiting Smithsonian geologist, studying a Marine Triassic site on Hurricane Creek told him, “One day you will have to leave this beautiful place.” Bruce did, but never permanently, always returning to study, to share with students, to retire.

After completing his Wallowa studies, Bruce, along with his field notes and typewriter, boarded a train from Portland, Oregon, to Princeton, New Jersey, writing his geology thesis and earning his doctorate. He was hired at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Oregon, the perfect location for a volcanologist and close to his beloved Wallowas.

At COCC, he taught geology, math, and physics for 28 years. In 1986, Bruce was awarded the first Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence. The administration provided him with the resources to take his students from the classroom and lab to field studies. Bruce wanted his students to not just absorb information but to think about what they were learning and viewing. His knowledge, wit, energy and enthusiasm inspired countless students. Oregon was his classroom, often on roads and trails less traveled.

Bruce was appointed by Governor Tom McCall to the Natural Area Preserves Advisory Committee. From his family cabin at Neskowin, Bruce understood the specialness of the Oregon Coast, and completed coastal geology work that helped McCall and Oregonians preserve “free and uninterrupted use of the beaches.” Additionally, Bruce served as a representative to the Advisory Committee for the Oregon State Board of Education, effectively going before the legislature on behalf of community colleges.

During summers, Bruce continued field work, most notably with Tom Simkin on Fernandina Volcano in the Galapagos Islands. He taught field courses in the Wallowa mountains (which still have students talking about backpacking steep ridges, camping in nearly inaccessible basins, and mapping remote exposures), and in southeast Oregon (from Malheur Field Station).

A few of his non-degree field trips for the public — before and after retirement — included Scotland, Grand Canyon, Hawaii volcanoes, the coasts (San Francisco to Puget Sound), eastern Washington scablands, Columbia River, Steens Mountain.

Bruce was a gentle, articulate, kind, modest man of great charm and wit who lived simply. He possessed a loving heart and staggering intelligence. He enjoyed meeting people and learning about their history, interests, ideas, opinions and teaching provided that interaction. Those he inspired are legion.

Before arriving in Bend at COCC, Bruce married Penny Jane Powell. They raised daughters, Maria and Sarah. Bruce was preceded in death by Penny Jane and sister-in-law, Donna Nolf. Survivors include his daughters, Maria Prince of Eugene, Oregon, and Sarah Nolf of Santa Fe, New Mexico; his brother, Richard Nolf of St. Joseph, Missouri; granddaughters, Morgan Kemper, Emma Prince, and Nakaya Church all of Eugene, Oregon; one great-grandson, Owen; numerous nephews and nieces; and his partner for the last 20 plus years, Gerry Zastrow of Cove, Oregon.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the Central Oregon Community College Foundation scholarship program, 2600 NW College Way, Bend, OR, 97703 or the charity of your choice would be sincerely appreciated.

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On a personal note - I worked with Bruce for many years - he was a kind man, supportive of his co-workers, an advocate for his students successes. He will be deeply missed.

10.01.2017

Dr. Harold "Dick" Richard Holbo

January 27, 1937 — September 21, 2017

Dr. Harold “Dick” Richard Holbo of Albany, died on September 21, 2017.

He was born on January 27, 1937 in DeKalb, Illinois to Harold Ivan Holbo and Gretta Mae Neiwold.

Dick met the love of his life, Elmerita "Rita" Marlea Tonzi in 1952. They were married in Ione, California on June 15, 1957.

Dick was a researcher and innovator, with expertise in forest micro-climate and remote sensing, inducted into Sigma Xi, ('65) In addition to graduating from several universities, Dick also had research publications of significance at the following — UC Davis ('60), UN Reno ('63), Colorado State ('65), Oregon State University ('69, '73) UW ('76), UC Riverside ('82) NASA ('86). He served his country in the Naval Reserve. Dick was a member of the American Radio Relay League, with the call letters of WB7 UWT.

Dick is survived by wife Rita; son Richard; daughter Kirsten; brother Stephen; sister Bev Bamert; and four grandchildren, Amanda Holbo, Adrian Van Horsen, Zane Van Horsen and Kieran Van Horsen.

5.14.2015

Esther Yuk Lin Lee Lau

ESTHER YUK LIN LEE LAU May 17, 1917 - June 10, 2014

Esther Lau rejoined her husband Albert the morning of April 18, 2015, following a beautiful morning service and communion on Magic Island for immediate family members. For 22 years, Esther and Albert leased and operated Alexander Grocery ("The Chink Store") on Alexander Street in Makiki that was the snack and family pick-up stop for many Punahou and Maryknoll students and served basic grocery needs of surrounding neighborhood. The Laus truly loved that little store and their patrons, remembering numerous by name and countless more by face. A true "Mom & Pop store--I trust you, you trust me" existence, good ol' face-to-face communication with all, just a 'plain vanilla' work ethic which succeeded as they intended. A news article upon the store's closing in the mid-1970's states, "The Laus are a special kind of people, they offered advice, philosophy, encouragement and help where needed, kept athletes on training diets, bucked up potential drop-outs, clamped down on fighting, profanity, smoking, and corrected sloppy English. a year-round lost and found department, (conveyed) messages between parents and children, made hundreds of small loans for phone calls, bus fares, and food." Mom was quoted, "It's the relationship we've had with the children. without them and the store, we couldn't have brought up our own children as well. We've learned as much from them as they've learned from us. We're really going to miss this." Subsequently, the couple and their children have been stopped by many who remembered them and their shaved ice, manapua, hamburgers, candy, soda, and sushi. The Laus previously lived in Wahiawa, where Albert founded Albert's Cleaners. Not many know that Esther early on also sold the World Book Encyclopedia door-to-door just to earn a set for her own family, and worked as an employee of the State Legislature when it was located at Iolani Palace. A spirited woman of strong faith, Esther worshipped at St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in Palama, and more recently the Parish of St. Clement, which served Arcadia Retirement Residence, home during her final 14 years. Besides family, music was her love, and she often surprised staff and residents with the beautiful singing of many old Hawaiian songs. She passed from this life the way many would envy - she had an engaged, relaxing day, ate a good dinner (including dessert), and retired for the night. Survivors include daughter Linda Lau Teruya; sons Michael (Soleah Tirase) and Richard (Helen) Lau; brother-in-law Raymond D.K. Lau; 6 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, several nieces and nephews. On-line condolences at www.borthwickoahu.com (The Star-Advertiser)
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Former proprietor of Alexander Grocery (Chink Store) with husband Albert, for 22 years. She had been a resident of Arcadia Retirement Residence for the past 14 years.

Survivors:
Sister: Mildred Lum
Brother-in-Law: Raymond D. K. Lau
Daughter: Linda Teruya
Sons: Michael (Soleah Tirase) Lau
Richard (Helen) Lau

6 grandchildren (Tyler Teruya, Wendi Lau, Tracy Kaita, Questor Lau, Michael Tim Lau, Epiphani Raabe)
7 great grandchildren
Several nieces and nephews

In lieu of monetary offerings, donations may be made to St. Clement's Episcopal Church, 1515 Wilder Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96822, or other organizations of choice.
Guest book HERE

The Chink Store by Chuck Weldon

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Everyday in high school, I visited the The Chink Store... I ate the shave ice, the manapua, the crack-seed, the steamed hamburgers.... it was a true wonder and a special place of love....

4.21.2015

Raymond Robert Hatton

Published Apr 19, 2015 at 12:03AM (The Bulletin)

February 4, 1932 - March 4, 2015

Raymond Robert (Ray) Hatton, passed away peacefully on March 4th, 2015 at 3:30 p.m. in Eugene, with his wife, Sylvia, by his side. He was 83. Ray was an educator, author, and well known long-distance runner. He earned degrees in education and geography from University of Idaho and the University of Oregon. He was an award winning college geography professor for many years. Ray wrote ten books on Oregon geography, history, and climatology. In the 1970s and 1980s, he won numerous Masters level running championships and set World and American records in several long-distance running events.

Ray was born Feb. 4th, 1932 in Lichfield, England. Ray was the fourth of six children born to Eric Richard Hatton and Margaret Curry Hatton. Ray began competitive running in 1943. Running with the Birchfield Harriers, he ran a 4:11 mile and 8:57 two-mile. In 1952, he represented England in the International Cross Country Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, in which he finished 16th in the world. He married Sylvia Grace Harvey on February 7, 1953 in Hammerwich, England. Ray and Sylvia moved to the United States in 1956 for Ray to attend the University of Idaho on a track scholarship. As an undergraduate, he competed in both track and cross-country. In 1959, he won the Pacific Coast Conference cross country championship. He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. He then went on to acquire a Masters of Education degree in secondary education from the University of Idaho, completing his post-graduate work in 1966. Ray and Sylvia moved to Sacramento California in 1960, where Ray taught at Don Julio Jr. High School until 1969. In 1969, Ray earned a Master of Arts in geography from University of Oregon. His master’s thesis was on the impact of tourism on Central Oregon. Later that year, he joined the faculty at Central Oregon Community College. As a member of the faculty, his academic interests included economics, cultural geography, land use, and climatology. In 1973, he published his first book, a study of the weather and climate of Central Oregon. The college gave him a sabbatical during the 1975-1976 academic year to research and write his second book, High Desert Of Central Oregon. He received a doctorate degree in geography from the University of Oregon in 1989. In 1990, Ray received Central Oregon Community College’s Faculty Achievement Award. During his tenure at Central Oregon Community College, he published six books on Oregon geography, history, and climatology. He retired from Central Oregon Community College in 1993. As a professor emeritus, he continued to research and write about Oregon. After retiring from his college faculty position, Ray published four more books.

Over the years, Ray’s research, including numerous first-person field interviews, has played an important role in preserving Central Oregon’s pioneer history. This work was the basis for ten books. Central Oregon’s geography, history, and climate are the subject of the first eight books. The last two books are on the weather and climate of the state of Oregon and the Portland, Oregon area. In all, his books were:

Bend Country Weather and Climate; High Desert of Central Oregon; Bend in Central Oregon; High Country of Central Oregon; Pioneer Homesteaders of the Fort Rock Valley; Oregon’s Big Country: A Portrait of Southeastern Oregon; Sisters Country Weather and Climate; Oregon’s Sisters Country (co-written with Lawrence A. Chitwood and Stuart G. Garrett); The Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes (co-written with George H. Taylor); Portland, Oregon Weather and Climate: A Historical Perspective. In addition to teaching geography at Central Oregon Community College, and writing historical geography and weather and climate books, Ray continued to compete in elite running events. During the 1970s and 1980s, he won national championship races and set a number of American long-distance running records in Masters level competitions. At the Amateur Athletic Union’s national masters championship in 1972, Ray won the 1,500 meters (4:11.5), 5,000 meters (15:36.3), and 10,000 meters (31:42.8) in the 40-44 age division. In a 1972 Runner’s World article, Ray was dubbed the fastest master’s runner in the world at that time, having broke several world records after reaching age 40. In 1974, he won both 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters events at the Amateur Athletic Union’s national masters championship. Ray again won the 40-44 age division national championship in 10,000 meters in 1976. In 1979, he competed in the 45-49 age division, winning the 5,000 meters and placing second in the 10,000 meters. In 1981, Ray was named Masters 45-49 Age Division Runner of the Year by USA Track and Field (the governing body for track and field in the United States). The next year, Ray was recognized with the same award in the 50-54 age category. In 1984, he won the national masters title in the 10,000 meters, running in the 50-54 age division. He competed in the 55-59 age division in 1987, winning the 5,000 meters and placing second in the 1,500 meters. In 1988, Ray was the top ranked 55-59 age division runner in the United States in both the 3,000 meters and the 5,000 meters. That year, he posted a time of 9:37.8 in the 3,000 meters along with a 16:35.5 in the 5,000 meters. The next year, he continued as the top ranked runner in the 3,000 meters, clocking a time of 9:34.0. After back surgery in 1992, Ray retired from competitive running on the track, but continued to compete each year in one of his favorite races, the Steen’s Mountain Rim Run in Southeastern Oregon, in which he still holds the 50-59 age group record and 70+ age record in the 10K run, and the age 70+ age record in the 10K walk. Over the years, Ray set a number of national running records. He set American records in the 40-44 age category in the 1 mile (4:24.0), the for 2 mile (9:17.6), and the 10,000 meters (30:56.0). Ray was inducted into the USA Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame in 2001. As of today, four of his American records still stand:

American 1,500 meters record (Masters 50-54 age division) — 4:05.8 (set 8 July 1982) American 3,000 meters record (Masters 50-54 age division) — 8:53.8 (set 25 June 1982) American 10,000 meters road race record (Masters 50-54 age division) — 31:48 (set 23 May 1982) American 10,000 meters record (Masters 50-54 age division) -- 32:10.4 (set 18 June 1983)

In addition to long-distance running, his recreational interests included hiking, cross- country skiing and mountain climbing. Ray is survived by wife Sylvia of Bend, Oregon, his son, R. Peter Hatton, and daughter-in-law, Tana Hatton, of Bend, and his daughter, Janice E. Hatton, and son-in-law, Charlie Wilshire, of Eugene, and six grandchildren, Eric Hatton, Michael Hatton, Brenden Hatton, Alyssa Hatton, Kiersten Hatton, and Tia Hatton. Ray is also survived by two of his brothers, Eric Hatton and Peter Hatton, both of Melbourne, Australia, and a sister, June Hurdle, of Sidmouth, England. A memorial service with a reception following will be held Sunday, April 26th, at 1:00 p.m. at Central Oregon Community College, Wille Hall located in the Campus Center, 2600 College Way, Bend, Oregon. It will be a time to remember Ray’s immense impact on so many and share stories of a life well lived.

3.13.2015

Raymond Robert Hatton

Raymond Robert Hatton

February 4, 1932 - March 4, 2015

COCC professor, Masters runner Hatton dead at 83

Geography instructor still holds four national records

By Scott Hammers / The Bulletin

Published Mar 11, 2015 at 12:02AM

Raymond Robert Hatton Feb. 4 1932 - March 4 2015

A longtime Central Oregon Community College professor and decorated long-distance runner died last week.

Raymond Robert Hatton, COCC geography professor from 1969 through 1993 and a member of the USA Track & Field Masters Hall of Fame, died March 4 in Eugene. He was 83.

Born in England, Hatton was a competitive runner from an early age, representing England in the International Cross Country Championships in 1952. In 1956, he came to the United States as one of six English runners recruited to run for the University of Idaho.

Hatton’s son, Peter Hatton, said his father and mother, Raymond Hatton’s wife, Sylvia, had planned to return to England once he completed his studies. Instead, taken by the landscapes and history of the American West, he decided to stay.

Tom Carroll, an economics professor at COCC who taught alongside Hatton, said Hatton’s classes were always in high demand on campus, particularly a class he taught that largely consisted of field trips to sites of geographic interest around the area.

“He’d go 50 or 100 miles in one direction or another, over the Cascades or out in the desert, and he’d be talking the whole time, explaining things to people,” Carroll said.

Outside of his academic work at COCC, Hatton was a dedicated researcher and writer, publishing 10 books on Oregon history, geography and climate.

Carroll said Hatton’s books — four of which were written after he retired — show the passion he had for the landscape and people of his adopted home.

“I think you’d call that going above and beyond the call of duty, all of that enthusiasm bubbling up for his subject,” Carroll said.

Although he had been a successful runner in England and in college, Hatton’s greatest success came in his 40s and 50s.

Peter Hatton recalled a meet in the early 1970s at Bend High School in which his father was running against a field largely half his age or younger. Peter Hatton said the younger runners dismissed his father when he fell behind during the first few laps, then watched as he breezed past them in the final laps to take the race.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Hatton won multiple national age-group titles running at distances between 1,500 and 10,000 meters. He was named runner of the year for his age group twice by USA Track & Field.

In 1982 and 1983, Hatton set four age records for runners 50 to 54 years old that still stand, in the 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters and 10,000 meters on both a track and a road course. Hatton’s marks in the 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters would have had him challenging among the top 10 at the Oregon high school state championships last spring.

Peter Hatton remembered spending much of his childhood with his mother, sister Janice Hatton and his father on long road trips to the next masters track meet or race.

“I remember the travel. Travel was definitely a big part. Not just around Oregon, but going to Banff, Canada, and Cancun together,” Peter Hatton said. “He really enjoyed travel, and he enjoyed the mountains. Mountains were probably a favorite, and that’s why I think he loved Central Oregon, because he loved the mountains and the forest.”

Shevlin Park was Hatton’s favorite place to run, Peter Hatton said, and he’d often refer to it as “Dr. Shevlin,” a nod to the restorative powers he felt the park possessed.

Peter Hatton said his father remained in excellent health until he was slowed by Alzheimer’s disease in the last two to three years.

Although he’d retired from competitive running years earlier, he was still running 30 miles a week into his 70s, Peter Hatton said, about as much as he’d ever run during his most intensive training decades earlier.

Peter Hatton said he and his sister observed that their father passed away at 3:30 p.m. last Wednesday — the very time of day he’d almost always be lacing up his shoes to go for his daily run.

“We don’t know for sure, but we think he took off to go for a run,” Peter Hatton said.

Hatton is survived by his son; his daughter, Janice Hatton, of Eugene; and his wife, Sylvia Hatton, of Bend.

The family is in the early stages of arranging a memorial service to be held at COCC next month.

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From Runners World

The Greats: Ray Hatton

Running is just a part of me now

Mike Tymn

Published

March 2, 2010

"If anyone my age wants to take me on, I'm ready," says 77-year-old Ray Hatton of Bend, Ore. "Otherwise, I am not really motivated to race these days. I much prefer to go out on the trails and enjoy the scenery."

When, during the early and mid-1970s, masters competition was still in its infancy, Hatton was "the man" on both the track and the roads, at least in races up to 20K. He set many American 40-44 records on the track, including 4:24.0 for 1 mile, 9:17.6 for 2 miles, and 30:56.0 for 10,000m. He no doubt would have had many road records, but his best performances came in the days before course certification and record keeping. Still, Hatton's name can be found four times among the all-time age-graded performances. They came between ages 49 and 55 and include a 31:51 (97.2 percent) for 10K at age 51 and a 1:09:23 (95.3 percent) for 20K at age 55.

Born in Lichfield, England, Hatton took up running in 1943 while in high school and didn't give up racing until 1992 after back surgery. "But I am still putting in 30 to 35 miles a week and my weight is still at 138-140, pretty much what it has always been," says Hatton, his English accent still very much with him even though he has lived in the U.S. since attending the University of Idaho on an athletic scholarship, where he won the 1959 Pacific Coast Conference cross country championship. He earned his master's degree at the University of Oregon and taught geography at Central Oregon Community College in Bend for many years.

Looking back, Hatton most treasures his days of running with the Birchfield Harriers in England, when he ran a 4:11 mile and 8:57 2-mile, excellent times in those days of low-mileage training, when the marathon was not a popular event. "I never really had the time or desire for high-mileage training and so was never motivated to run a marathon or go more than 20K," Hatton explains, mentioning that he rarely did more than 35 miles of training in one week.

"I do it mostly for health and fitness now," he adds. "But I don't really think that much about why I do it. Running is just part of me now."

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Ray has a Wikipedia page - see here

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Ray's bibliography and still the best books on the area:

Over the years, Hatton’s research, including numerous first-person field interviews, has played an important role in preserving Central Oregon’s pioneer history. This work was the basis for ten books. Central Oregon’s geography, history, and climate are the subject of the first eight books. The last two books are on the weather and climate of the state of Oregon and the Portland, Oregon area. Here is a list of his books:

Bend Country Weather and Climate, Binford and Mort, 1973; revised in 1977
High Desert of Central Oregon, Binford and Mort, 1977; second edition in 1981
Bend in Central Oregon, Binford and Mort, 1978
High Country of Central Oregon, Binford and Mort, 1980
Pioneer Homesteaders of the Fort Rock Valley, Binford and Mort, 1982
Oregon's Big Country: A Portrait of Southeastern Oregon, Maverick Publications, 1988
Sisters Country Weather and Climate, Maverick Publications, 1994
Oregon's Sisters Country (co-written with Lawrence A. Chitwood and Stuart G. Garrett), Geographical Books, 1996
The Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes (co-written with George Taylor and George H. Taylor), Oregon State University Press, 1999
Portland, Oregon Weather and Climate: A Historical Perspective, Geographical Books, 2005

In 1984, the Oregon Historical Society published a review of Pioneer Homesteaders of the Fort Rock Valley in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, the society’s premier history journal. The same journal published a review of Oregon’s Sisters Country in 1998.

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^{Personal note: I worked with Ray for many years. He was a kind and gentle man, dedicated to his work and his running. He was joy to be around.}
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^{In 2001, ray was inducted in the the US Track and Field Masters Hall of Fame}

Rhoda Gollehur Ryan

Rhoda Gollehur Ryan

There doesn't seem to be an obituary - when you die alone, people don't bother....

Rhoda was worth bothering for.
Rhoda was a friend and a talented weaver.
She was a founding member of the Eugene Weavers Guild in 1946 - see history.
She introduced me to and invited me to join the Central Oregon Spinners and Weaver Guild.
My first Guild meeting and my first trip to Crooked River Ranch was as a passenger in Rhoda's car - a trip that scared me half to death - she was well into her 80's and a speeder!
She reached out to me and included me.
She was a lady.
She was born June 3, 1911.
She died March 10, 2011,
She was married to Charles "Bryan" Ryan on January 1, 1942.
Byran was a member of the 10th Mountain Division (as is my father-in-law).
They both were cross country skiers.

Rhoda will live in my memory as a warm, friendly, talented woman.
She was married to the love of her life and childless.
Her home was the magic of art - her husband a fine artist - she a weaver.
Through the magic of a green thumb and an ingeniously designed lava rock walled garden, the Ryan's always had magnificent homegrown and ripe tomatoes here in the high desert of Central Oregon.
She was bursting with energy and creativity and kindness.
I am richer for having known her.

2.26.2015

Charles Bryan Ryan

Charles Bryan Ryan

Nov. 14, 1909 — Nov. 27, 2001

Charles Bryan Ryan of Tumalo died Tuesday of natural causes. He was 92.

No service will be held.

Mr. Ryan was born Nov. 14, 1909, in Fort Jones, Calif., to Charles and Emma (Barr) Ryan. He attended the University of Oregon. He married Rhonda Gollehur on Jan. 1, 1942.

He served in the Army in the 10th Mountain Division. He taught at the Army University in Florence, Italy. He was honorably discharged on May 8, 1946, as a First Lieutenant.

Mr. Ryan worked as a professor of art at the University of Oregon.

He retired in 1976.

Survivors include his wife of Tumalo; and a nephew, Jeffrey Mills of Tualatin.

Memorial contributions may be made to Central Oregon Hospice, 2698 NE Courtney Drive, Bend 97701.

Niswonger, Reynolds and Tabor Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

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Correction - His wife's name was Rhoda Gollehur Ryan

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The works of a lifetime

The art of Tumalo's Charles Bryan Ryan has gained recognition he never sought

Andrew Moore /

Published May 27, 2005 at 05:00AM

After retiring from his art professorship at the University of Oregon in 1976, Charles Bryan Ryan moved to Tumalo, never to paint again.

Having spent 30 years introducing theory and technique to U of O art students, Ryan was ready to indulge his other passion: the outdoors. He joined the Over the Hill Gang, a local senior ski club, and until his death in 2001 at age 92, Ryan hiked, camped and reveled in the area's natural beauty, according to family friend Sandra Miller.

In 2003, Rhoda Ryan called Miller, owner of Frame Design and Sunbird Gallery in Bend, and asked what she should do with her late husband's artwork. She had sold the family home and was preparing an estate sale in advance of her move to an assisted-living facility.

Miller obliged her friend, and found Ryan's paintings stacked unceremoniously in the couple's garage, left by the late artist to gather dust. Upon reviewing the art, Miller was awestruck.

”All (the paintings) were dusty and dirty, but all these wonderful colors came out,” Miller said. ”My first feeling was 'Oh my God, this is a group of paintings we really need to show people.'”

And so with Rhoda Ryan's permission, Miller began cataloging Ryan's work. What she discovered was a comprehensive collection of modern art that ranged from geometric abstractions to Cezanne-inspired landscapes, amassed from Ryan's long teaching career. Many of the paintings are thickly painted, in the impasto style, rendered with complementary colors to add tonal effects, Miller said.

”You can't just put paint on if you don't know what you are doing. I mean you can, but it won't turn out like this,” said Miller of the exhibit.

After a year was spent cleaning, cataloging and framing the art, often using frames built by Ryan and left in a similar dusty stack, Miller hung the work in The Gallery in the Pinckney Center for the Arts at Central Oregon Community College in October of 2003.

From there, the exhibit traveled to the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay. M.J. Koreiva, the executive director of the museum, described Ryan as an influential contemporary artist.

”His work is very reflective of mid-1950s and mid-'60s art work,” Koreiva said. ”Contemporary works of the '50s are now looked back upon as holding the test of time.”

The exhibit is now back in Central Oregon, hanging at the Bend Public Library through July (see ”If You Go”). It includes mostly oil paintings, but also pastels, drawings, prints, lithographs and sketches.

”He was definitely a product of the age,” Miller said. ”I also think that he was ahead of his time insofar as he was teaching the art aesthetic of cubism, and elements that came from the later part of the 1800s and early 1900s.”

Ryan was born in 1909 in Fort Jones, Calif., a small Northern California town in the shadow of Mount Shasta. At the U of O, he earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1939, and a master's in fine arts the following year. He was then hired as a teaching assistant in the university's zoology department, according to the exhibit's biography of Ryan, before World War II intervened.

As an avid outdoorsman, Ryan was recruited to join the Army's famed 10th Mountain Division, the ”ski troops.” Among those he served with was Mount Bachelor founder Bill Healy.

When the division was ordered to the Italian front, Lt. Ryan took advantage of his relocation to study art, leading fellow soldiers on tours of the region's art and architectural highlights. Immediately after the war, Ryan stayed overseas to teach art at the University of Florence in Italy.

He returned to Oregon in 1946, taking up an art instructor position with the U of O, and stayed with the university until his retirement.

Through the U of O, Ryan developed a friendship with Buckminster Fuller, the renowned 20th-century architect, scientist and philosopher. It was a relationship that deeply affected both Ryan's work and his life. In the exhibit at the library is a letter from Ryan to Fuller, addressed to ”Bucky.”

”Ryan was a good friend of Fuller's,” Miller said. ”He took on a lot of his ideas and theories, such as how strength is created by certain geometric formations, and (Ryan) built examples of these principles as teaching aids for his students.”

According to Miller, more than 500 of these geometric pieces are included in Stanford University's Buckminster Fuller archive. She also found them in abundance at the Ryan home, hanging from the ceiling like mobiles.

Ryan also put Fuller's theories to work at home, building one of Fuller's signature geodesic domes for a home during the 1960s outside of Eugene.

As with Fuller, learning was a real passion for Ryan, Miller said, and teaching provided him a creative force. Miller believes that most of Ryan's works were painted in class alongside his students, as he attempted to illustrate theories and provoke experimentation.

When Ryan was done teaching, he took his work home and left it. He had had a few showings of his work over the course of his life, but his motivation wasn't material, Miller said, nor was he inclined to seek recognition.

”I think he was born in a time when you were either good or you weren't,” Miller said. ”Marketing wasn't a big deal. They recognized you or they didn't.”

Miller said Ryan's position as an art teacher allowed him to fully develop as an artist, enjoying ample time to paint and freedom from the need to sell his work.

”He had the time to concentrate on art as he taught and he was not expected to show his work,” Miller said. ”I think all his works were to educate himself and to know that he could do it, and to discover things for himself and then pass his discoveries on to his students.

”He was a thoughtful, philosophical man but his art was very personal,” Miller added. ”I don't get a sense that he gushed about nature and art. The expression of who he was came through in his art and his teaching.”

What: An exhibit of artwork by the late Tumalo resident and University of Oregon art professor Charles Bryan Ryan

When: Through July 31

Where: Bend Public Library, 601 NW Wall St., Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: 617-7040

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