Faculty/Staff Obituaries MARY BARRETT Mary, 86, died on Oct. 10, 2016. She taught printmaking, drawing, matrix and various art history classes in the Art Department from 1963 to 1992. After retiring, Mary continued a close relationship with the university and was very committed to supporting UWRF art students. She demonstrated this through the establishment of generous scholarship funds for art majors and creation of an Art Department library. A celebration of Mary’s life was held in St. Paul.
JANET QUINN Jan, 75, died May 26, 2016, at Lakeview Health Center, West Salem. Janet worked at UW-River Fall from 1972 until her retirement in 1999, as the assistant controller. For 10 years, she was the director of the Wisconsin in Scotland Program, study abroad for the UW Consortium. In her retirement years, she enjoyed gardening, traveling and golfing. A celebration of Janet’s life was held June 2, 2016 at North Presbyterian Church in La Crosse.
CARL D. FINSTAD Carl, 86, died March 22, 2016, of heart failure. Carl taught science courses at UWRF, retiring in 1994. Biology, environmental science, animals, and botany were his passions, along with singing for many years with a barbershop group.
CLYDE C. SMITH Clyde, 86, died of congestive heart failure Aug. 5, 2016, at the River Falls Area Hospital. Clyde joined the UWRF history faculty in 1965, was promoted to full professor in 1972 and retired in 1990. An expert in ancient history, the Old and New Testaments, ancient Greek and Semitics, Clyde worked with students and colleagues over many years and wrote extensively for scholarly journals, biographical and encyclopedic works, and book reviews. Clyde’s wife, Ellen, died on July 21, 2015.
DOUGLAS L. JOHNSON Doug, 81, died April 6, 2016, of cancer. He was a UWRF alumnus. As a UWRF professor, he taught ceramics and glass in the Art Department from 1965-1997 when he retired. He started the glass-blowing program at UWRF in 1967, one of the first in the country. In 2011, Doug and his wife, Margel, established the “Doug and Margel Johnson Art Scholarship.” With music and merriment, a celebration of Doug’s life was held in Woodville. ELIZABETH OOSTENDORP Liz, 83, died Nov. 9, 2015, in River Falls. She joined UWRF in 1969 to teach speech, splitting her time with the Publications office. Within the next year, she became the full-time director of Publications, retiring in 1997. During her career, she served on UWRF athletics, alumni relations, public relations, and legislative advisory committees. Liz was also a faculty representative to the women’s athletic conference, WWIAC. A celebration of her life was held May 7, 2016, in River Falls.
RONALD SNELL Ron, 74, died March 27, 2016, in Minneapolis. He was a professor of communication studies for 31 years at UWRF, retiring in 2004. He was an active community volunteer in his retirement. A service was held April 18 in Minneapolis. LYNDON WEBERG Lyn, 72, died Dec. 28, 2015, in Tucson, Ariz. He taught mathematics and computer science at UWRF for more than 30 years, beginning in 1968. A service was held in Arizona.
FALCON FEATURES FALL 2016
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