Born, reared and largely educated in Portland, Oregon, Carl graduated from Jefferson High School and then served in the Navy from 1946 to 1949, first in the Naval Air College program, then at Pensacola, Florida, for in-flight training. He later served as first lieutenant in the Army National Guard’s combat engineers.

In 1949 he entered the University of Portland, receiving his BA cum laude in English literature. Carl and his wife-to-be, Mary Barbara Irene Fleming, were active in the University of Portland theater. They married in 1951 and spent their 40 years of married life together devoted to each other and to their children until her death in 1991.

He was awarded a graduate scholarship in theater by the University of Portland from 1951 to 1954. In addition to theatrical performance work, he not only served as announcer for the University of Portland’s weekly radio program Northwest Artists, carried by 27 west coast stations, but also wrote and directed its numerous radio drama broadcasts. In 1954 he was awarded the University of Portland’s first Masters degree in theater arts. From 1954 to 1957 he taught and directed English and drama at Wy’East High School in Hood River, Oregon, and then from 1957 to 1963 at Marylhurst College. Granted a doctoral fellowship in 1963, he studied at the University of California-Riverside, where he completed PhD coursework in 1966. He joined Portland State University’s English faculty and received his PhD in 1970. He served as professor and assistant Dean of Arts and Letters until retiring in 1996. He was elected to two national honorary fraternities: Alpha Psi Omega for drama and Deutsche Ehrenverbindung for German literature.

He was author of several books, scholarly articles and reviews, and encyclopedia entries. As Portland State University’s English teacher certification adviser to many hundreds of students, he enjoyed helping them find their way through the maze of academic and bureaucratic requirements. He was an amateur and professional actor on stage and on TV, and was devoted to the teaching of Shakespeare and other dramatic literature.

Carl and Mary Barbara were blessed with seven children: Cecily Schoning (John), Elinor, Karl (Jill), Lise (Jamshid), Thomas (Teresa), Paul, and Anna Gregory (Mark), as well as 22 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

In lieu of flowers, donations supporting the charitable works of the Blanchet House and St. Francis Dining Hall would be greatly appreciated.