OBITUARY: SEATTLE (The Seattle Times / Pacific Media Watch): The celebrated American and Pacific media educator, journalist and adventurer Jim A. Richstad has died recently aged 80.
He played a huge role in the establishment of journalism training regimes in the Pacific Islands during his work as a researcher at the East-West Center and University of Hawai'i in the 1960s-1980s.
He also continued his involvement with the region when he served as a professor at the University of Oklahoma, and in Singapore and China, and even into retirement.
Born on January 3, 1932, the 10th child of Norwegian immigrants Arne and Emma, Jim Richstad grew up on QA Hill. He passed away in Everett, WA on December 20, 2012, surrounded by his loving family and friends.
Education: QA High, Everett Jr. College, UW and Univ. of Minnesota.
Military Service: Naval Reserve and Korean War Army veteran.
Travels: He lived in Honolulu, Beijing, Singapore and traveled extensively In Europe and the South Pacific.
He loved his family and friends and was a beloved patriarch. Surviving are his wife, Marlene; sister, Rita; children Pamela, Karen and William; grandchildren Stephanie, Patricia, Mandy, Jamie, Leslie and Chris. Jim had 28 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild.
He loved warm, sunny places that matched his optimistic disposition. He loved running marathons, particularly the Honolulu Marathon in Hawai'i.
Aloha.
Published in The Seattle Times on 30 January 2013.
Thanks to journalist Floyd Takeuchi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
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