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- "In 1974, Bob Mortensen left the world of banking to teach at Charles Wright Academy, where for twenty years he has invested the assets of his love and energy in the learning and maturation especially of Middle School students. During the past two decades through teaching English and coaching basketball, the stock and trade of his portfolio or activities, Bob has broadened and deepened the fund of talents and the sense of self-worth of the students entrusted to his care.
.Raised in Iron Mountain, a small town in the upper Michigan peninsula, endowed with a strong religious faith. Bob Mortensen earned his college degree at Norte Dame. It's an honor he has proudly carried , along with bearing the annual dividend of friendly teasing on fall weekends. After a year in law school, a term in the army, and marriage to a girl from the Pacific Northwest, he settled in Tacoma.
.He began searching for a career investment, committing himself first to Sears, then to insurance sales, and finally to banking, each in a three year cycle. Finding none of these markets for his abilities rewarding, Bob turned at last to education and Charles Wright. It was here that his diversified talents, his love of English, and his devotion to young people could be fully appreciated.
In the longer span of his years here, Bob has taught English in the Middle and Upper Schools, led the Development Office, administered the Team Summer School program, served as interim Head of the Middle School, weathered countless football games on the chain squad, dominated school ping-pong tournaments, written a guide for English grammar, and coached hundreds of young people through twenty seasons of competition.
While the spread of these activities has made Bob valued by the faculty and parents, his loyalty to his students, his willingness to be vulnerable and patient, and his abiding compassion has endeared him to the young people he has taught these twenty years. Through values taught by favorite works such as "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Inherit The Wind", the self-confidence gained by writing and delivering speeches about events in their own lives, and Bob's patient encouragement, students have learned about character and human dignity.
To better understand the emotions of the literary characters they studied, Bob had them march through Middle School; classes singing revival songs and, in keeping with Animal Farm, urged them to rebel against something, even himself. In basketball, as in his English classes, he coached fundamentals and saw in sports a way for youth to discover unrealized strengths and weaknesses, to deal with them, and go on with life. He drilled for teamwork, played everybody, and yet plate to win, using competition to impart the lesson that defeats are only temporary.
Bob has coached his last team at Charles Wright and soon will close the book on his last lesson, but those fortunate to have sat in his classes and played on his squad will long feel his impact He urged them to value faith and fairness, to set high goals, to have compassion for others by walking a mile in their shoes, and to be sensitive to their fellow human beings and themselves.
As if to honor him, in recent years the centerpieces of eight grade graduations are the moving student speeches written in his classes, ones that frequently reflect the value he has stressed. Of the several recognition that Charles Wright can extend, only two lie entirely within the power of the students to grant, and Bob has received both.
In 991, in appreciation for his years of "Friendship and Sincerity," the seniors dedicated the yearbook to Bob and asked him to deliver the commencement address at their graduation. In words he employed on that occasion, Bob focused on a value close to his heart.
"In the business of education and life," He observed, "we all have to deal with things we'd rather ignore...you will need to care about what you...do with your lives...The "what" you do isn't nearly as important as how you "care" about it."
.Because Bob Mortensen cared so much about kids, he became a memorable teacher, and because he cared so much, his gentle, supportive voice will be greatly missed by students and colleagues."
Posted by Nancy Mortensen on June 5, 2019 (kommentar i Forevermisssed.com)
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- "Robert, (Bob, Dad, Grandpa, Morty, Mr. Mort) Mortensen passed away peacefully June 3 in Olympia, WA. He was 88 and lived a great life! He had struggling over the past several months from two strokes and several seizures that weakened his cognitive and writing abilities, a major part of his life. Each time a stroke hit, he did everything possible in therapy to overcome the obstacles while sneaking in a laugh or joke to lighten the moment for all around him. His personality never left. Dad loved to teach and to talk! He told his nurse that he was at peace and was ready to go a moment before he breathed his last breath and passed peacefully. Bob was born Iron Mountain, Michigan on June 10, 1930 to Leo and Eva Mortensen. He had a sister Olive, who passed away suddenly during his childhood. Bob was a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame in 1952. He served in the military at the end of the Korea War and while stationed in Hawaii, met Janet Staatz who he later married on April 7, 1956 in Sumner, Washington. After 58 years of marriage, Jan preceded Bob in death on May 9, 2014. Bob entered banking and finance in both Seattle and Tacoma, but his passion was in teaching. In 1974 he joined Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma where he managed school finances, coached boys’ and girls’ basketball and taught middle school English. He retired from Charles Wright in 1994, but he never stopped teaching. He was one of the founders of the Charles Wright Elders group, he was a reader at his Catholic church, he was a contributing writer to the Notre Dame Alumni Magazine, he wrote often to his local newspapers and he and Jan were volunteers in Hospice for more than 20 years before he suffered his first stroke in the fall of 2018. He was a member of Holy Wisdom Inclusive Catholic Community in Lacey, Washington. Bob assumed there was a reason God kept him living these past few weeks as his functions were shutting down. All who knew him know that it was to show him, and all of us how much love surrounded him. We were all blessed! Bob is survived by son Paul (wife Rhonda and Griffin, Jack and Amy) in Silver Spring, Maryland, son Bill (wife Susan and Luke and wife Ali) in McDonald, Pennsylvania and his daughter Nancy Mortensen in Olympia, Washington. Rest in peace Bob and say hello to Jan!" (Gorevermissed.com også gengivet i Findagrave.com)
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Om slægterne Brændgaard & Heilesen
1930 - 2019 (88 år)
Nekrolog