[Reading-hall-of-fame] A heartfelt loss

[P David Pearson]

An update on Robert Dykstra's passing.
I just learned of funeral arrangements from his daughter.  For those who
want to know more about Bob Dykstra's life and the plans for a memorial, here's
a link to the information
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vGIeWbnfgvJ3vjVisHODd3oDBUPRjg_9lgG5FuVP_8E/edit>
I was able to extract from his obituary
David

On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 11:56 PM P David Pearson <ppearson at berkeley.edu>
wrote:

> I learned just 36 hours ago that Robert Dykstra died in his early 90s.  I
> have not had time to think about a more professional memory, but I will.
> In the meantime, here is a more personal memory, which I shared with his
> kids and their families.
>
> I have so many wonderful memories of your Dad.
>
> First, as a teacher: I took two of his courses as a doc student at
> Minnesota in the late 1960s. Fair, encouraging--but willing to let you know
> when your logic or writing was sloppy.
>
> Second, as a scholar: Whose commitment to improving the teaching and
> learning of reading, writing, and language was a model I tried to emulate.
>
> Third, as my boss: He chaired the department I was in at
> Minnesota-fairly, firmly, with the right balance of gravitas and humor.
>
> Fourth, as a comrade: from the mid 1970s through 2015, he and I belonged
> to an informal group of "guys" who met on the first weekend in June to
> travel from Minneapolis to one or another resort-affiliated golf course in
> northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, or (on 3 occasions) Iowa for an extended
> weekend during which we fine-tuned our skills at our 3 favorite pastimes:
> golf, poker, and gastronomic (both food and libations) delights. We got the
> idea of creating a faux organization to camouflage our real intentions, so
> we created Lodge 1147, with fake officers to run the faux organization. We
> regrouped every summer, with two of us returning from new homes across the
> country, for 38 years before death, frailty, and memory began to decimate
> our numbers. I moved from Minneapolis in 1978, but returned every year to
> connect with this special group of guys to reminisce, lampoon one another,
> and laugh a lot at the world and ourselves. My last trip to Minnesota for
> this event was in 2015.  Reconnecting and visiting one on one with Bobby D,
> as we called him, was a top priority for me. Somehow, across all those
> years, we managed to pick up in mid sentence from the year before.
> Such good memories. Such a quietly warm and modestly kind human being.
> Such a friend. I miss him, but am comforted by these memories.
>
> Gravitas and Humor
> That is how I will remember him.
> David
>
> --
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> *"If you are free, you need to free somebody else.  If you have some
> power, then your job is to empower somebody else." *Toni Morrison
>
> *"*The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they
> don't have any." Alice Walker
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> P. David Pearson
> Evelyn Lois Corey *Emeritus* Professor of Instructional Science
> Graduate School of Education
> University of California, Berkeley
>
> email:  ppearson at berkeley.edu
> other e-mail:  pdavidpearsondean at gmail.com
> website for publications:  www.pdavidpearson.org
> PDP's YouTube Channel
> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzlpPFD04yyV5_kzRZ1ofw>:
>
> *******************
> *Please use HOME ADDRESS for responses*
> 110 41st Street, Apt 401
> Oakland CA 94611-5237
> iPhone:  510 543 6508
> ****************************************
>
>

-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*"If you are free, you need to free somebody else.  If you have some power,
then your job is to empower somebody else." *Toni Morrison

*"*The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't
have any." Alice Walker
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P. David Pearson
Evelyn Lois Corey *Emeritus* Professor of Instructional Science
Graduate School of Education
University of California, Berkeley

email:  ppearson at berkeley.edu
other e-mail:  pdavidpearsondean at gmail.com
website for publications:  www.pdavidpearson.org
PDP's YouTube Channel
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzlpPFD04yyV5_kzRZ1ofw>:

*******************
*Please use HOME ADDRESS for responses*
110 41st Street, Apt 401
Oakland CA 94611-5237
iPhone:  510 543 6508
****************************************
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