"Gordon Rowland Lewthwaite was born August 12, 1925 in Oamaru, New Zealand. He died peacefully, September 18, 2013, at home in Northridge, California. The next to last child in a family of 10 children, he attended and fondly remembered Waitaki Boys High School in Oamaru. Following his undergraduate degree at the University of Otago, and Masters degrees in Geography and History, he came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar to pursue a PhD in Geography at the University of Wisconsin, where he met his wife, Lydia. After receiving his PhD in 1956, he taught at the Universities of Oklahoma and Auckland (NZ) before joining the then newly founded California State University, Northridge in 1959. He taught Geography at CSUN for 32 years before retiring in 1992. His colleagues at CSUN remember him as gentlemanly, upbeat, and friendly, and a serious scholar staunchly committed to his wide-ranging research in cultural and historical geography. He maintained his scholarly activity well into his last year of life. His fair-mindedness and intellectual manner extended also to his roles in his church where he taught Sunday school, chaired committees, and sought peaceful resolutions and scientifically tempered insights over many years. He was well known by colleagues, friends, and family for his irrepressible sense of humor, contributing many a pun to liven most any gathering.
He is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Lydia, by daughters Rebecca (Gaby) and Karen (Jerry), and his brother David (Isabel), and many nieces and nephews in New Zealand, the United States, and other parts of the world."
The obituary was originally published in the Los Angels Times On September 26, 2013 at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=gordon-r-lewthwaite&pid=167162449#sthash.hUrtiwiW.uxfs
Dr. Lewthwaite will be be greatly missed by his colleagues and alumni.