Final resting place: Family of late political scientist brings his ashes back home to Kalispell
Erika and Ike Odegard hold a picture of their grandfather Peter during an interment of ashes ceremony at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery on Thursday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Ike Odegard points to an old photo of the Odegards in a family memory book on Thursday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
A copper box containing the cremated remains of Peter Odegard during an interment of ashes ceremony at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery on Thursday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Ike Odegard pages through a family memory book on Thursday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Ike Odegard holds a family photo showing Peter Odegard as a young child on Thursday, Sept. 12. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Pete Odegard, in the light-colored suit on the left, poses with his brothers outside their family home in Seattle, where they moved to get a college education. (photo provided)
Peter Odegard’s ashes have been passed between family members since his death in 1966. But the notable political scientist and U.S. Treasury advisor made a homecoming recently after an unlikely journey by his granddaughter.
Odegard served as the president of Reed College in Portland in 1945, and taught at Williams College, Ohio State University and Amherst College before moving to Washington, D.C. during World War II, where he served as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury. His duties included authoring the blueprint for the War Bond sales program, according to Reed College’s website.
In 1948 he became the chair of the political science department at the University of California Berkeley. He continued to teach and work there until 1965. When he retired, UC Berkeley established the Peter H. Odegard Memorial Award in Political Science.
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