In addition to being a faculty representative on the Linfield College Board
of Trustees, Economics Professor Emeritus Levi Carlile’s resume included serving several
years as faculty athletic representative to the Northwest Conference (NWC), says
Wildcatville.
Levi Carlile, former Linfield prof, dies at 87
McMinnville N-R 8/14/2015
Levi Carlile, who taught economics
and business at Linfield College from 1964 to 1993, died Aug. 10, 2015. He was 87.
Linfield accounting professor Rich
Emery recalled Carlile saying people self-select Linfield. In an interview for
Linfield Magazine, he said Carlile felt a certain type of person would attend
Linfield, be happy with the education he or she received and remain happy with
it over ensuing years.
That was also true for Carlile. The
Texas native joined Linfield’s small economics department in 1964, after
falling in love with the Pacific Northwest during a summer visit in 1961.
“When I pulled into the drive of the
college, I thought there is no way this is real,” said Carlile as he retired
from Linfield. “This school looks like it should be in Virginia or back east
somewhere. I think it was the beauty and style of the architecture that struck
me.”
He was a one-person economics
department until he was joined in 1968 by Forrest Blodgett.
Then-President
Gordon C. Bjork asked the business and economic departments to merge in 1969.
In addition to teaching economics,
Carlile served as a faculty representative on the college’s board of directors.
In that role, he worked to ensure Linfield’s sustainability throughout the
1970s.
“There has been a great deal of just
simply warm voluntary colleague support when it was sorely needed,” he said
when he retired. “At times, I’ve had experiences with people at Linfield that
I’ve disagreed with, but whom I have come to admire very much.”
Linfield President Thomas Hellie
said he continued to help build the Economics and Business Department until his
retirement in 1993.
He was born Levi James Carlile on
July 21, 1928, in Kerrville, Texas.
After graduating from Somerset High
School in 1946, he enlisted in the Navy.
Specializing in amphibious warfare,
he earned a spot on the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team, predecessor to its
present-day SEALs unit. He went on to attend officer candidate school.
He was assigned as boat group
commander on the USS Mathews, where he served for two years during the Korean
War before mustering out as a lieutenant.
During shore leave in Long Beach,
California, he met Janice Beverly Johnson, a teacher from Minnesota. They married
on Sept. 16, 1955, at the Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, Calif.
After completing his Navy service,
Carlile earned a master’s degree in economics and government at Texas A&I.
Along the way, he served as student body president.
He went on to teach economics at San
Antonio College, then took a corporate post with the Douglas Aircraft Company
in Santa Monica, California. He worked on analysis and contract bidding for the
Thor-Delta rocket program and other projects.
Moonlighting at Pierce College in
Woodland Hills, California, rekindled his interest in teaching.
Survivors include his wife, sons Ben
and Paul, daughter Carrie and four grandchildren. A memorial service and
reception will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, Aug. 17, in the Great Room at
McMinnville Cooperative Ministries, 544 N.E. Second St.
The family requests any gifts in his
name be directed to the Give a Little Foundation, a nonprofit McMinnville-based
group that helps people in need throughout Yamhill County. Additional
information may be obtained by visiting www.givealittlefoundation.org
or calling 503-857-2964.
