Robert P. Ealy, 1914-2008
Dr. Robert P. Ealy, 93, passed away on Thursday, January 24, 2008, at Meadowlark Hills, Manhattan, KS.
The family provided some of the following information.
Robert Ealy, affectionately known as “Doc” to his family and closest friends, was born in Kay County, OK, on July 14, 1914, the son of Annie Emily Johnson Ealy and Charles Gustav Ealy. He married Carol A. Smith on May 29, 1939. They spent their early married life in Stillwater, OK, before moving to Manhattan in February 1960.
His beloved wife Carol preceded him in death in 1991 after 50 years of marriage. He was also preceded in death by his parents and his beloved sister, Evelyn Ealy Peterman.
He is survived by his nieces, Jennifer Carter, and her husband, Michael, of Sedgwick; Peggy Keen and husband Danny, of Goddard; nephew Michael Peterman and wife Glennis of Edmond, OK; and several great-nieces and nephews, as well as several very close friends.
Doc graduated from Blackwell High School in 1932. He earned his BS in horticulture from Oklahoma State University in 1936; his MS in horticulture from Kansas State University in 1946; and his Ph.D. in horticulture with an emphasis on landscape architecture from Louisiana State University in 1955, a degree held by less than a dozen individuals in the US at that time. He served his country during World War II as an Army officer in military intelligence from 1942-1946, and continued in the Army Reserves from 1946-1953.
His academic career began at Oklahoma State in 1941, as a graduate assistant and advanced to full professor by 1958. In February 1961, he accepted the position of professor and head of the Horticulture Department at Kansas State University.
In 1963, Dr. Ealy established the program of landscape architecture within the Department of Horticulture, thereafter known as the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. In 1965, along with several others, Dr. Early founded the College of Architecture and Design, moving the department into the new college in 1966, establishing a new five-year BLA professional program as one of the first five-year programs in the country. In addition, a master’s level professional degree program, the MLA, was established in 1972. Both the BLA and the MLA programs have maintained professional accreditation continuously to this day, with both programs recognized among the best with a national reputation for excellence.
Dr. Ealy was associate dean of the College of Architecture and Design from 1967-1974 and acting dean from January 1971-August 1971. He retired from Kansas State University in 1979.
Through Dr. Ealy’s leadership, the landscape architecture registration law was enacted by the Kansas Legislature and signed by the governor in 1968 as one of the first landscape architecture practice laws in the United States, serving as a model practice law to this day. Dr. Ealy served on the Landscape Architecture Registration Board for the State of Kansas for three consecutive terms, from 1968 through 1976, holding the registration number “one” for practicing landscape architects in the State of Kansas. In addition, Dr. Ealy was a major contributor in the effort to establish national professional accreditation standards and procedures for accreditation of landscape architecture programs at the college and university level, serving on the National Board of Landscape Architecture Accreditation for the American Society of Landscape Architects from 1968 to 1974.
Dr. Ealy belonged to numerous honorary and professional societies. He wrote many professional publications, bulletins and papers focused on the practice of landscape architecture, planting design and landscape ecology. Dr. Ealy received numerous awards for his contributions to the profession over his career, including among the more significant, recognition as a “Fellow” by the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1976, the Kansas State University Distinguished Service Award in 1990 and the Oklahoma State University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997.
Dr. Ealy’s hobbies included color photography, travel, antique firearms, hunting and fishing. He was an avid outdoorsman. Above all else, he was a passionate teacher of both the young and the not-so-young. He always had a smile and a word of encouragement for friends and strangers alike. He had a great sense of humor. Doc was a friend you could count on to be there through the good times and the not so good times. He will be greatly missed.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, January 28, 2008, at the First Presbyterian Church with Rev. R. Cam McConnell officiating. Interment will follow in Sunrise Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 7 until 8 p.m. Sunday at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be left for the family through the funeral home website at www.ymlfuneralhome.com
Memorial contributions may be left or sent to the funeral home for the Robert P. Ealy Scholarship fund established through the Kansas State University Foundation. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Ave, Manhattan, KS 66506.