3 John Dart hailed as ‘neighborhood hero’ for community service in Arizona cademic retirees in good health generally pursue post-career activities such as catching up on deferred reading, traveling, volunteering, and sometimes undertaking career-related employment opportunities. Many continue to live in close proximity to the institution associated with their careers. John Dart in 1958 However, when Professor of Geography John O. Dart—a climatology specialist—retired in 1988, he and his spouse, Marcella, sought to escape the Pacific Northwest’s rainy winters by settling in sunshineridden Green Valley, AZ, a few miles north of Mexico. The emeritus geography professor launched an entirely different second career in his new community. According to a “Talk of the Town” feature article in the Green Valley News and Sun (Aug. 4, 2010), the local Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers (SAV) honored John Dart for “an impressive 27,225 hours of volunteer service to the Sheriff’s Department in his more than 20 years as an SAV member.” Headlined “Neighborhood hero is honored,” the news account further noted that John had “served as a car commander . . . Emergency Response Team member . . . eventually attaining the top spot of SAV deputy commander.” The SAV commander stated, “John has an incredible sense of humor and most people feel that he has been the heart, soul and most loved person in SAV for the past 20 years.” Those of us who worked with John at PSU would concur wholeheartedly with the Sheriff’s Department’s evaluation of his personality and reputation for dedication to professional commitments. John’s post-retirement voluntary service to fulfill community needs reflects the same motivation that prompted him and other members of the “Greatest Generation” to serve our country in wartime. During childhood years, John lived with his parents in Florida and Cuba until the family put down roots on a ranch in northeastern Washington State. John enrolled at Central Washington College in 1939. On the day following the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, he appeared at an Army recruiting office to enlist. As an infantryman he went ashore on Normandy beach in June 1944, and subsequently engaged in combat across France and Belgium until Nazi forces captured him in Nov. 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. After returning to civilian life in 1945, John completed a BA degree at CWC and subsequently earned Geography MA and PhD degrees at the University of Washington. In 1950 he began a remarkable PSU career which included launching the Geography Department, initiating the Urban and Public Affairs certificate program, and in 1963 organizing the nation’s largest campus Peace Corps training center for volunteers assigned to Middle Eastern countries. In 1965 he became director of the newly established Office of International Programs, thereby laying the groundwork for today’s language and area studies programs and the present day Office of International Affairs. John, your colleagues salute you for excelling in two great careers: education and community service. The cited Green Valley News and Sun article is accessible online. A copy is available for examination in the RAPS files. --Victor C. Dahl, Emeritus Professor of History Editor’s note: As this edition of the RAPS Sheet was going to press, we learned of John Dart’s unexpected death Dec. 7. Professor Dart’s self-written obituary will be printed in an upcoming edition. RAPS Scholarship fund accepting end-of-year contributions APS members seeking to gain last-minute tax breaks by making charitable gifts before 2010 ends are invited to contribute to the RAPS Scholarship fund. Any amount a member wishes to donate will help build the fund. Checks may be made payable to the PSU Foundation and sent to Maya Burton, RAPS Office Manager. The mailing address is RAPS, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland OR 97207-0751. A R
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