Friends of Lewis & Clark Remembered

Volney Emmert Faw, professor emeritus of psychology, died September 10, 2009, at age 96.

Faw met his wife of 72 years, Maurine, in his first week at La Verne College in California. The two gained distinction on the college debate team, and in 1936 they were married. He earned his PhD in psychology at the University of Chicago, and later completed a postdoctoral fellowship there, supported by a Ford Foundation grant.

In 1946, Faw accepted a teaching position in psychology at Lewis & Clark; he served on the faculty until his retirement in 1977. During his career he was noted for his published research on effective teaching techniques; he often based his work on the principles of client-centered therapy espoused by his mentor and friend, Carl Rogers. He maintained a clinical practice and also founded a program to prepare underachieving high school students for college.

Faw was a diplomate in clinical and experimental hypnosis and served as president of the Portland Academy of Hypnosis. Lewis & Clark alumni remember him introducing them to self-hypnosis as a technique for overcoming performance anxiety, particularly in his statistics and experimental design classes.

Throughout his 32-year retirement Faw remained active, physically and mentally. He exercised regularly until the last week of his life and continued his learning, writing, and philosophizing. He stayed current on politics and often wrote letters to the Oregonian about U.S. foreign policy and taxation. He maintained a firm belief in humanity and the importance of individuals to “express what nature made them to be.”

Survivors include his sons, Terry Faw BS ’65 and Rex Faw; daughter, Penny Barrett; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a sister, June Morrell, of Springdale, Washington.

Jason Philip Canfield CAS ’10 died suddenly August 4, 2009, at age 20. Canfield, a political science major, intended to study law in California following graduation.

Growing up in Southern California, Canfield displayed talents in academics, music, and athletics. He played the clarinet in the Westlake High School marching band and concert band, and was a competitive rock climber. He enjoyed fashion modeling and spending summers in Oregon with his grandparents.

Survivors include his parents, Lingzhou and Philip Canfield of Thousand Oaks, California; his grandfather, Charles Canfield of Portland; and his grandmother, Marilyn Miller of Corvallis.

Kris Kerstiens, a student in the Master of Arts in Teaching program in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling, died October 31, 2009, of respiratory complications from H1N1 flu. The 25-year-old Kerstiens, who was called “Chewie” by his friends, had planned to teach history.

According to his family, Kerstiens had been vibrant and healthy until he became ill with the flu on October 18. He was admitted to Meridian Park Hospital a week later, but his condition continued to worsen.

A graduate of Beaverton High School, where he played football, Kerstiens earned his bachelor’s degree at Oregon State University. He was curious and passionate about his interests, including baking bread, brewing beer, and traveling the world.

Survivors include his parents, Kevin and Joyce Kerstiens, and a younger sister, Kelsey.

Shirley Randall Johansen, a member of the law school staff since 2001, died on June 3, 2009. At Lewis & Clark she worked in Business Law Programs and the business services office.

Born in Portland in 1930, Johansen graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1947 and attended the University of Oregon, where she met her future husband, Alan.

Johansen’s involvement with the legal community and with the law school went back much longer than her nearly eight years on staff. She had worked 50 years in the Oregon legal community before joining Lewis & Clark. Her son is Law Professor Steve Johansen JD ’87. At one time there were three generations of Johansens at the law school, including Shirley Johansen’s granddaughter Becca Johansen JD ’08.

Survivors include her daughters, Kristen and Randi, both of Beaverton; son, Steve, of Portland; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Dean Sempert BS ’49, professor emeritus of health and physical education, died July 27, 2009, at age 86. He was Lewis & Clark’s head basketball coach from 1963 until he retired in 1989. In his 26 years as head coach, Sempert led the Pioneers to the top of the Northwest Conference five times.

In the August 18 Oregonian, columnist Steve Duin eulogized Sempert for his coaching career and his many volunteer activities in retirement. One of Sempert’s former players quoted by Duin was state senator Rick Metsger BS ’72, MAT ’75. Metsger, who also spent three years as Sempert’s assistant coach, said, “I think he was born to coach … but basketball was just the arena that gave Dean the opportunity to reach out to other people and make them believe in themselves.”

Sempert began his college education at the University of Oregon, but was drafted into the U.S. Army after only two terms. He was diagnosed with a lung tumor while in the service and spent more than a year in the hospital. In fall of 1946 he experienced what he believed to be a spiritual healing when the tumor completely disappeared.

In January 1947 Sempert entered Lewis & Clark and immediately began to play basketball. He was captain of the 1948–49 L&C championship basketball team, capturing the college’s first conference championship in any sport. The 1948–49 team was inducted into the Lewis & Clark Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Sempert graduated in 1949 and went on to earn an M.S. from the University of Southern California.

After retiring from Lewis & Clark, Sempert volunteered in support of the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame, the Board of Alumni, class reunions, the admissions office, and commencement. He was also active in his community, as a Wilsonville City Council member and as a volunteer chaplain for the Oregon State Correctional Institution and the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. Because no one else in the chaplain’s office spoke Spanish, Sempert worked hard to improve his Spanish speaking and writing skills so that he could work with Latino inmates at the two facilities.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Dean Sempert Scholarship Fund at Lewis & Clark.

Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Madge Bushman Sempert; daughters Martha Lemberg BS ’81, of Melbourne, Australia, and Sarah Nicholas, of Portland; and stepson Steven Bushman, BA ’87. Son Craig Sempert BS ’86, a professional diver, died in 2001 in a diving accident.