Galen Ronald Rarick

Notes:

Memorial article about Galen Rarick:

When Galen Rarick died last June 15 in Eugene, the university community and the field of journalism education lost more than a distinguished scholar and good friend. Professor Rarick was one of the true and few renaissance figures in a professional field known for its diversity.

Galen was a bridge, bringing together people from different and often competing disciplines. He spoke the languages of art and technology, of business and philosophy. Better still, he was known to students and colleagues alike as a warm, caring person a man who put other people first.

He also, fortunately, put the University of Oregon first. When he was recruited in 1962 to develop the School of Journalism's program in communication theory and research, the faculty recognized it was a coup to attract this Stanford Ph.D.with strong journalism credentials. He soon became one of the most respected journalism educators in the country.
It was almost inevitable that Oregon would lose him to a larger university. In 1967, he went to Ohio State, where he cemented his reputation for significant research into newspaper policies and practices. But he was persuaded to return to Eugene as dean in 1976, where his skills guided the school successfully through an era of dwindling resources.

Galen served as dean for five years, earning the trust and admiration of faculty for what one of his colleagues, Roy Paul Nelson, described as "uncommon patience and disarming determination." Another emeritus professor, Jack Ewan, called Galen "The Great Negotiator." Galen returned to the teaching faculty in 1981, completing 16 years with the school before retiring from full time teaching in 1987.

He was born April 28, 1923 in Muncie, Indiana, into a devoted and close family that included five sisters and two brothers. After receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Denver and a master's from Stanford, Galen embarked on a 10 year journalism career that included three years as the owner and publisher of a weekly newspaper in Mississippi and three years on the staff of the Congressional Quarterly in Washington.

After returning to Stanford for doctoral studies, Galen taught at Hardin Simmons University and UC Berkeley before coming to University of Oregon. But the most significant and satisfying event in Galen's adult life was his marriage in 1952 to Betty Lou Johnson. They enjoyed a close and loving relationship until her death in 1992. Two sons, Jeff of Keizer, Oregon, and Ethan of Walnut Creek, California, survive them.

Galen Rarick will be remembered for many qualities, but perhaps no more endearing than his well developed sense of irony, his mastery of the art of understatement and his good natured wit. They combined to make him a master story teller. He will be missed.

Arnold Ismach Professor School of Journalism

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Galen married Betty Lou Johnson on 22 Nov 1952. Betty (daughter of Floyd D. Johnson and Lena Gallagher) was born on 7 May 1928 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan; died in May 1992 in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
The STRIFFLER-BENKELMAN BROADCAST, Volume 16, dated September 7, 1953, reported that Betty Lou Johnson and Galen Rarick were married in November, with their home to be in Washington, D.C..


Art Peck writes that they were the parents of Jeffrey Ronald and Ethan Floyd RARICK.

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