There will be a celebration of life ceremony for retired Olympic College Professor Robert “Bob” Dietz, PhD in the Bremer Student Union at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, August.

Dr. Dietz attended Lawrence University in Wisconsin, received his Masters in Music at the University of Michigan, followed by seven years teaching at North Dakota State University; then onto the University of Iowa to begin work on a Doctorate in Musicology.

Arriving here in 1959, Dr. Dietz taught at OC for 36 years. As well as being an educator, he was also a musician, an activist, and a writer — witty and wise, sarcastic and scholarly, erudite and irascible. A public figure in Kitsap County for over 50 years, Dr. Dietz’s legacy lives on in every student he taught, every politician he challenged, every battle he fought; in all the lectures, the music, the dinner parties, the scholarly endeavors, and the political rallies; down to every letter to the editor, every eloquent speech, every public performance, every authority he questioned. His passing on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 was a great loss for both his family and his community.

Dr. Dietz partnered with colleagues to teach classes abroad on art, theater, and music, always entertaining his students with his quick wit and breadth of knowledge on Beethoven, Mozart, or Wagner.

He was equally praised for his scholarship as he was for his activism. Dr. Dietz and his wife were extremely proud to be honored, as a couple, by the Kitsap County Bar Association that awarded them the Liberty Bell Award; a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kitsap County Democrats; and Exemplary Curriculum Development from the Washington State Community College Humanities Association. He was recognized as a Hall of Fame Faculty by the Olympic College Foundation, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washington Arts Education Association, and was recognized by Olympic College as a Jenny Mae Moyer Outstanding Faculty Member. Dr. Dietz served on the Board of Consultants for the National Board of Humanities and was a Community Columnist for the Kitsap Sun. In addition, he was elected to two terms on the Central Kitsap School District Board of Directors.

Donations can be made in his name to the Olympic College Foundation, the Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Hospice of Kitsap County and the Parkinson’s Research Foundation.