Noel Q. King

Noel Q. King died Sunday at his home in the Santa Cruz mountains after a long illness. Noel was an Anglo-Indian, born in Rawalpindi in 1922, educated in Simla, Oxford, and Nottingham. He served in the British Army during the second world war, mostly dropping air supplies over Burma, then went to St. Peter's in Oxford to study history and theology. After his D. Phil and ordination, he was hired by first Ghana and then Uganda, to help set up departments of religious studies in the new universities of Accra and Makerere. He came to the new University of California campus in Santa Cruz in 1967, with the same purpose.

Noel taught at UCSC until his retirement in 1991, in Religious Studies and history. After he retired, he remained active in the community of the world's religions, particularly among the Sikhs.

He is survived by his wife, Laurie, six children scattered from Santa Cruz to England and Australia, eleven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. He is also remembered by the generations of students around the world whose lives he touched.

Memorials to his life will be held in Santa Cruz and Oxford. If you wish to make a donation in Noel's name, we suggest the Noel Q. King memorial fund at UCSC, dedicated to the study of the world's religions. Send checks made to UCSC Foundation with Noel's name as the memo to Liz Sandoval, Humanities Dean's office, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064.