March 8, 1929 - March 18, 2008

An informal memorial gathering will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, March 30, in the Sellwood Moreland Improvement League (SMILE) Station, 8210 S.E. 13th Ave., in the Sellwood neighborhood, in Portland, for Austin Pritchard, who died March 18 of prostate cancer at age 79.

Austin Wyatt Pritchard was born March 8, 1929, in San Bernardino, Calif. At the age of 16, he entered Stanford University where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. He earned a Ph.D. at University of Hawaii in 1953, the first Ph.D. awarded there. He became a member of the Oregon State University faculty at age 25 and was active in the Oregon Marine Biology Society and involved in passing the Oregon Beach Bill of the 1960s.

Austin was a professor of zoology at OSU for 40 years and also had a laboratory at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. He trained more than 15 graduate students and was an engaged and devoted teacher to thousands of students over the years. After retiring, he moved to Portland, settling in the Sellwood neighborhood where he was very active in Portland Loaves and Fishes/Meals on Wheels, the Sellwood Moreland Improvement League (SMILE), and an avid pianist, taking four-hand piano classes at Marylhurst University where he formed close friendships. Austin was also a weekly duplicate bridge player and enjoyed playing extreme croquet with family members. He was an energetic, warm, and disarming people person, with many friends in Portland.

Austin is survived by five children: his daughter, Pam Keller; sons, Jeff Pritchard, David Hohlbein, Colin Pritchard and Joel Pritchard; brother, Walt; companion, Patty Hughes; and six grandchildren, Rose, Daniel, Maximilian, Augustus, Charlotta and Rubin.

Contributions are encouraged in Austin's name to Portland Loaves and Fishes (PO Box 19477, Portland, OR 97280, www.loavesandfishesonline.org) or the Sellwood Moreland Improvement League (SMILE, 8210 S.E. 1