"In Memoriam"
Krautkraemer | Rehberg | Wallace
Jeff Krautkraemer
A Memorial to Jeff Krautkraemer (July 6, 1954-December 10, 2004)
Jeff was a true and loyal friend and a great colleague. He was always there sitting in his office with a small smile waiting for the punch line of a story or joke or anecdote, while he twisted a paper clip into strange shapes. More often than not, several of us would gather outside his office door while he told us about something he thought funny, sad, or outrageous and make us laugh, frown, or feel indignant. Occasionally, I would run into him on his way to or from class, ever the pack rat with a clear plastic bag of different colored markers, pens, pencils, and erasers, and with his lecture notes tucked under his arm, and we would chat for a moment.
Whenever I would go to Jeff with a research problem or idea he would listen carefully and then ask a few well chosen questions that would get to the heart of the issue. The only real "dispute" I ever had with him was whether time should be modeled in a continuous or discrete way. Jeff liked to work with differential equations, while I usually went the discrete route. When I cleaned out my office in Todd Hall last summer I found an old version of a working paper of mine he had written some helpful comments on. The last was, "Your paper only has one flaw, Ray....it's in discrete time!"
Jeff also cared deeply about his students. He would give freely of his time, patiently explaining a point, or reading yet another version of a dissertation chapter. When I would walk by his office during office hours, he was almost always with a student or two. He would ask a leading question hoping the student's answer would spark self-discovery on the part of the student. Usually it worked. When it didn't, he would try again, and again, until the student understood the point.
Our two families were close, especially when the kids were young. I remember one hilarious incident when the Krautkraemers came over for dinner one summer evening. Tim and our daughter Julia were both 2 1/2 at the time. Tim took one look at Julia and frantically started chasing her around the living room trying to give her a kiss, while the parents laughed hysterically. Patti had a camera and took a picture at the critical moment and a magnet still holds the snapshot to the door of our refrigerator. The last time the two families were together we were in Jeff's hospital room just before Thanksgiving and we enjoyed laughing one more time over the incident of "the kiss."
The last few years were not easy ones for the Economics Department. It helped tremendously to have a friend like Jeff to commiserate with through all the strife. They say that time heals all bad memories of the past. Only the positive remains. With Jeff, time doesn't have much to do. (Courtesy of Ray Batina, friend and colleague)
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Wallace A. (Wally) Rehberg
One of a Kind” (April 15, 1928-February 23, 2005)
Wally was one of a kind. He came from a modest Montana farm background where he became solely responsible for the care and milking of a dairy herd at age 14 with the adults gone to World War II. After a B.S. and M.S. at Montana State College he made his way on through the PhD at the University of Wisconsin. He served in the Korean War and won the Purple Cross of Honor. He was on the faculty at WSU from 1962 to 1996 and became a teacher and mentor to a couple generations of students.
Wally held appointments in research, extension, and teaching. He did some good research and extension work in agricultural marketing, but where he starred was in teaching and advising. He taught courses in farm management, marketing, agricultural law and agribusiness and won the College’s top teaching award. Wally put on a stern face and a gruff manner, but he was pretty soft inside. Most students quickly realized this and went to him often for advice and counsel. The students who sought his counsel ranged far beyond his advisees. His advice was not limited to choosing courses and getting registered. Students report many years after they graduated how much Wally helped them in difficult times. One woman said she was about to drop out of school and Wally invited her to his home to have dinner with his family. After she got his sympathetic lecture on life and responsibility she went on to graduate school for a masters and has been eternally grateful. Dozens of similar stories have surfaced over the years. When another student committed suicide, Wally went out of his way to comfort the grieving mother.
Wally served on several university committees, but perhaps the one he loved best was the university reinstatement committee which determined which students to retain at WSU after they had done poorly. Wally had a knack for spotting the potential of students when others were unable to see it. Many he helped remain in school graduated and had very successful careers.
Wally gave generously to his family, to church councils from the local to national levels, and to several student clubs including the Ag Econ Club and WSU Rodeo Club. He provided leadership to several fraternal and service organizations. He was the head timer for the WSU track team for 30 years and ran the stop clock for Pullman High School football for more than 25 years. He was an avid fisherman, but shared his favorite spots on the St. Joe River with young faculty colleagues. Appropriately, the Department’s retirement gifts to Wally and his long time supportive wife, Margaret, were a matched pair of fine fly rods. Remembrance by Jim Barron, Chair Emeritus, Ag. Econ.Back to top
Bob Wallace
(June 8, 1912-April 1, 2005)
Robert Fencil Wallace was born in Maryville, Missouri, on June 8, 1912. He died at home in Pullman on April 1, 2005. Bob led a renaissance life with deep interests in hunting, fishing, history, travel, music, and English literature. Bob received his doctorate in economics in 1938 from the University of Minnesota. Bob began his teaching career at Kansas University. He taught next at Park College in Missouri, where he married one of his students. Bob and Sara were married for 61 years.
Bob enlisted in the Navy in 1942 during World War II. He was initially an instructor in anti-aircraft precision shooting. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander during battleship duty. Mudzi Nziramasanga retains a copy today of Bob’s book on naval gunnery. His second naval book, From Dam Neck to Iwo Jima, was published by the Navy in 2001. Along the way, Bob found time to write a general economics textbook with J. Guthrie which went through at least two editions and several bulletins and articles on economics, wildlife management and hunting.
In 1947 Bob moved his family to Pullman, Washington, where he taught economics at Washington State University. In the late 1950’s, he spent four years as a visiting professor in Lahore, Pakistan. In 1961, Bob moved to Missoula to become chairman of Economics at the University of Montanan. In 1970, Bob and family moved back to Pullman to stay. Bob served as Economics Department chairman until his retirement in 1977. Mudzi recalls being recruited by Bob at 1972 meetings in Santa Clara, California, “Talk about unusual. Bob had his two dogs at the meetings. We found common ground in fishing and the colonial experience. We hit it off.”
Hunting was an enduring passion for Wallace. Greg Duncan, a former WSU Econ faculty member, writes...Bob Wallace and I first met as he retired and as I joined the faculty at WSU. Although some thirty five years separated us, we were both passionate outdoorsmen. Bob called it “being impressed,” as are goslings.
Bob was generous in many ways. He shared favorite hunting and fishing spots, usually hidden in plain sight from anyone who could not read a field or a stream. He introduced me to the wonders of pointing dogs. Though his "boys" were too energetic for me, or anyone except Bob-- one needed a horse to keep up with them. Bob was an astonishingly good shot. He regularly got doubles: two birds with one shot. He once called a double a miss because he had blown an “easy” triple.
Among the hundreds of stories he told, one stands out. On leave in India, he was invited to hunt a man-eating tiger by a local raj. Beaters worked the bushes trying to scare out the tiger, without success. At dusk they tied goats under trees and retired into hammocks in the trees to wait. To Bob's embarrassment he fell asleep and woke to find the tiger stretched, paws up the tree, sniffing and looking up at him. The goat was gone, and no one had a clear shot. The tiger eventually tired of sniffing and started to leave, when he was shot by Bob's partners, who had watched the whole thing. For a short time thereafter, Bob hunted lions and tigers but stopped due to their majesty. At 90, Bob was still hiking the hills around Pullman with his dogs, and still reciting seventeenth century poetry from memory.
-----Dr. Greg Duncan shared outdoor remembrances and a copy of Bob’s obituary. Dr. Mudziviri Nziramansanga shared memories of Bob’s professional accomplishments.Back to top
Life is good at WSU.
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"Glimpses." Students talk about life at WSU
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