5 In memoriam: LaRay Martyn Barna, 1922-2010 aRay Martyn Barna was born Jan. 30, 1922 in Beaverton OR and died Oct. 16, 2010 at her family’s Oak Grove home. After graduating as high school valedictorian in 1940, LaRay received scholarships to major in speech at Northwestern University in Illinois, earning a baccalaureate degree cum laude in 1944. Before returning to Oregon she taught in an Indiana high school for a year and then held various management positions with the Kraft Foods Corporation for three years. In 1947 she married Norman Barna, an accomplished Air Force pilot whom she had met during wartime, and they subsequently settled in Oregon where they reared their three children. From l952 to 1954 LaRay, a motivated working mother, held appointments at Lewis and Clark College as a speech and radio instructor and admissions counselor. LaRay joined Portland State University’s speech communication program in 1956 as an instructor and launched a distinguished academic career focusing on intercultural communication and education. While teaching at PSU, she completed a master’s degree in her field in 1970. In 1964 Professor Naguib Greis recruited Professor Barna to join a core group of linguistic specialists to establish PSU’s pioneering English as a Second Language program, the forerunner of this institution’s present day undergraduate and graduate programs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She originated intercultural communication courses for training ESL teachers. Those activities provided instruction for international students, included extensive significant on-campus committee service, and featured high quality participation in professional organizations. In 1973 Professor Barna served as assistant director of PSU’s summer session at Sapporo University in Japan, and during 1978-1980 she held an appointment as assistant dean in the College of Arts and Letters. She retired in 1990 as an emeritus associate professor. Family members and friends gathered at the Barna home Nov. 14 for a memorial celebration. Those in attendance learned about LaRay’s career in fashion modeling and her communications talents, which included professional whistling. Guests heard her recorded performances on the NBC Kraft Music Hall radio variety show hosted by Bing Crosby. As a past RAPS president, LaRay contributed a great deal to supporting and advancing PSU faculty retirees’ interests and programs. All of us who knew and engaged with LaRay in our careers held the highest respect for her. She was an inspiration to an uncountable number of students from a wide variety of cultural origins. The entire institution owes her a debt of gratitude for exemplary intellectual achievements and contributions during its seminal growth. Survivors include LaRay’s husband, Norman; son, Randall; daughters, Vickie Wood and Shari Steber; sister, Mary Jane McHugh; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. To them, our organization extends its heartfelt sympathy for their loss, which we fully share. An extended obituary and guestbook may be consulted online at www.oregonlive.com/obits and in the RAPS office files. Memorial donations may be made to the Barna Scholarship; visit www.intercultural.org/Barna.php for information. --Victor C. Dahl, Emeritus Professor of History In memoriam: Michael William Tichy, 1921-2010 ichael Tichy, Emeritus Professor of Health and Physical Education, was born July 21, 1921 in a Pennsylvania coal mining community. He died Oct. 31, 2010 in a local rest home. Family and friends, including many former colleagues and students, attended a funeral mass and rosary recitation Nov. 4, 2010 at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in Portland. On July 29, family and friends celebrated his 89th birthday –an event Mike fully appreciated. In 1933 Mike’s immigrant parents both died within the same week. Older siblings held the family together during an ensuing era of extreme hardship. At one point, teenaged Mike was the only employed family member. He matured while learning firsthand continued on page 6 L M
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