Richard Oscar Carlson died March 1 in Sisters, from COVID-19. He was 94. Carlson was born February 25, 1927, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Oscar and Faye Carlson, a banker and an educator. He was married to Barbara Nelson from 1948 through 1972, and to Joanne Kitchel from 1975 until her death in 2016.

The Carlsons settled in Sisters for retirement in 1987.

Carlson received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah, later earning a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a professor of education at the University of Oregon for 33 years; he held visiting appointments at San Francisco State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Harvard University in the US, and in England and Australia; and finally, he was dean of the School of Education in Bowling Green State University, Ohio.

He will be remembered for his lifelong love of athleticism: skiing, golf, and tennis; running, cycling, and gym-going; for his passion for education, including his own self-improvement, in deep geology, history, and linguistics; and especially for his loving, loyal spirit and keen intellect.

Survivors include his three children, Jane Lewis, Aenne Carver, and David Carlson; eight grandchildren;, and four great-grandchildren, in all holding 14 university degrees amongst them to date. No service is planned.