W. Richard Comstock

Professor emeritus from the religious studies department at UCSB, passed away on May 29, 2013 due to complications from pneumonia. He was surrounded in his final days by a loving circle of family including his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was 85 years old.

William Richard Comstock was born in Bakers field California in 1928, the son of Antonina Vlasoff, a Russian immigrant, and Chauncey Mark Comstock, a clerk for the Southern Pacific Railroad. On his father's side he was descended from Samuel Comstock who immigrated to the American colony of Rhode Island from England in 1640. On his mother's side he was related to Alexander Popov who was instrumental in building the trans-Siberian railroad.

He was raised in Berkeley CA and attended Berkeley High School.He was married twice. The first time to Ingeborg Dorothea Milling in 1948 with whom he had two children, Mark Henry and Jonathan Paul. He was married a second time to Ruth D. Majercik in 1981, and was a loving stepfather helping to raise her children Christopher Mark, Geoffrey Moreau and Andrea.

He served as a chaplain in the U.S. army from 1954-1958 , attaining the rank of Captain before his honorable discharge.

He studied philosophy and theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and received a doctorate in theology in 1963. During this time he served as the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Highland Falls, NY.

In 1963 he moved his family to California and became the first full time member of the newly formed Department of Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He remained at UCSB for the rest of his career. He was chair of the department from 1979-1984 and retired in 1993. His contributions to the Religious Studies Department are well remembered by his colleagues.

Gerald J. Larsen:

"Dick was the first full-time appointment in religious studies at UCSB. When it came time to establish a department of religious studies, Clark Kerr, President of UC in those early days, decided to place it at Santa Barbara, and so, in an important sense, Dick Comstock was an important founding figure of religious studies at UCSB and in the UC system.

He was an articulate and engaging teacher, a thoughtful voice in helping to shape graduate education in religious studies in the early years at UCSB, and committed to the task of recasting the study of religion for the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural context of the modern, secular state university".

Richard Hecht:

"He offered the religion and courses which were the foundations of the department -- Religion and Science, Religion and Literature, Religion and Film which he taught with Alexander Sesonskie of the Philosophy Department, Religion and Existentialism, Religion and Aesthetics (which meant George Santayana about whom he wrote his Th.D. dissertation at Union), and Religion and Philosophy where he taught Dewey, Pierce and Whitehead, and Religion and Theology where he taught Barth and Tillich. Comstock hired Walter Capps. They developed a deep friendship during the first years of the department.

Dick had an extraordinary library. He once told me he had nearly 40,000 books, and the library became so large that he rented a large storage unit in Goleta where he arranged his bookshelves so that he could sit on a rocking chair in the middle of a hook and loop oval rug, and a funky standing lamp, surrounded by his books. He would offer tea to anyone who would visit him there.

When Martin Luther King was murdered in 1968, Comstock was asked to give one of the presentations in a memorial service which was held between the music building and South Hall where the department's second office was located. The fallen man statue which is located on the grass between the trees was later installed there to mark the event and to memorialize Dr. King".

Jose Cabezon:

"Dick led a long and distinguished career. Among his publications are several textbooks that were important to the field in its early days. These include The Study of Religion and Primitive Religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and Religion and Man: An Introduction".

He is also remembered fondly by former colleagues Catherine L. Albanese and Ines Talamantez.

A Memorial Celebration will be held on November 2, 2013

Memorial Celebration

Saturday, November 2, 2013 - 12 pm

West Conference Center

UCSB West Campus

Bring a photo or other memento to add to the family's memory book

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to:

Alzheimer's Association

1528 Chapala Street, #204

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

http://www.alz.org/cacentralcoast

W. Richard Comstock is survived by his wife Ruth D. Majercik, immediate family members Mark Comstock, Jonathan Comstock, Andrea, Geoffrey Kauppinen, Christopher Kauppinen, three grandchildren, Dannielle Anzaldo, Kyle Kauppinen, and Melitta Kauppinen, one great grandchild, Kylie, and his cousin, Helen Kravetsky.