— 5 — In memoriam: Thomas Charles Burgess, 1920-2009 Professor Emeritus Thomas Charles Burgess, born July 13, 1920, in Bismarck, N. D., died Jan. 29, 2009. Family and friends gathered for a memorial service held on Feb. 20 at the Lake Oswego Adult Community Center. After graduating from Sidney, Mont., high school in 1938, Prof. Burgess majored in psychology and sociology at the University of Montana, earning an honors B.A. degree in 1942. From 1942 to 1945, he served as an assignments officer in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. In 1946 he began graduate studies in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota, earning a Ph.D. degree in 1954. Before coming to Portland State, Prof. Burgess gained extensive university-level counseling, guidance, teaching, and research experience through holding various psychology and education positions at the University of Minnesota (1946-50); University of Missouri (1950-53), Oregon State University (1953-55); and the University of Alberta. From 1959 to 1963 he held an appointment at the University of Montana— his alma mater—where he taught psychology courses and participated in planning and directing significant guidance and counseling programs. Prof. Burgess joined the PSU Counseling Center in 1963 and retired in 1981. His service coincided with the institution’s emergence as a comprehensive university responding to the urban area’s instructional needs. Like universities throughout the nation, PSU encountered problems stemming from heightened student activism, civil rights issues, anti-war protests, and unique educational advising needs of an increasingly diverse student population, which, ironically, began to include many military service veterans. In many ways, PSU’s conditions in the 1960s resembled the Vanport experience of the 1940s. Prof. Burgess’s faculty colleagues universally adjudged him to be helpful and respected his professionalism. For example, when PSU mounted new international education programs, such as training Peace Corps volunteers for service in Middle Eastern countries and offering instruction in English as a second language, he assisted by devising processes for measuring and assessing special training outcomes. Likewise, students found him to be a willing listener who would help them resolve academic and personal problems. Tom thoroughly enjoyed outdoor activities, including fly fishing and spending time with his family at their lakeside summer cabin in western Montana. We shared interests in genealogy, Montana history, and the fate of the “United Empire Loyalists”—those American colonists who maintained their loyalty to King George III. Tom married Merle Oliva Strand of Sidney, Mont., on Nov. 11, 1944. She and their daughters, Dr. Jeanne Olmstead, Barbara Armentrout, Mary Burgess, and Helen Brown; six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren; and his brother, Jim Burgess of Hamilton, Mont., survive him. Tom Brokaw wrote about the “Greatest Generation” of Americans who came of age during the Great Depression, selflessly served in wartime, and then contributed energetically to our nation’s growth. Thomas C. Burgess fully fits that description. Remembrances may be made to the Portland Audubon Society or the Scandinavian Heritage Society of Oregon. —Victor C. Dahl, Professor Emeritus of History RAPS Directory update form coming next month There will be a little something extra in your mailing from RAPS next month. In addition to the April issue of the RAPS Sheet, you’ll find a form that will enable you to update your listing in the RAPS Directory. If your listing in the RAPS Directory has changed since its publication last September, was wrong to begin with, or just didn’t appear at all, this will be your chance to right the record. On the other hand, if your listing in the Directory was correct, there is no need to do anything except recycle the form. If you do need to fill out the form, be sure to sign it. RAPS cannot print your listing without having a signed form on record. And don’t worry—these directions will be repeated next month, when you receive the form in the mail with the April edition of the RAPS Sheet. Questions? Call or email the RAPS office at 503724-3447 or raps@pdx.edu.
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