ANTHONY JOSEPH ATKIN

ATKIN

ANTHONY JOSEPH, FAIA, 64 years old, died on May 21, 2015 in Santa Fe NM, after a two year battle with cancer. A distinguished architect and teacher, his firm Atkin Olshin Schade Architects has offices in Philadelphia and Santa Fe. Atkin attended UC Berkeley, and received a BA in Anthro-pology from the University of Utah, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught in the Penn Graduate Architecture program for more than 30 years.
The firm has been honored with numerous regional and national awards for its design and preservation efforts. Its most significant projects include buildings at prominent universities and houses of worship across the country, as well as a variety of efforts serving American Indian populations. He authored and edited three books, including Structure and Meaning in Human Settlements.
Atkin's spouse, Tom Pederson, preceded him in death by just two months. He is survived by 5 sisters, Linda Lytle, Ilona (Fenton) Terry, Barbara Atkin, Alice (Virgil) Steel, Ester (Lester) West, and many nieces and nephews. A native of St. George UT, Atkin grew up riding horses and working on his father's ranch in the Arizona strip along the north rim of the Grand Canyon. He was gifted at drawing and painting and his sketchbooks from Asia and his paintings of the Grand Canyon document a life of intense love of landscape, cultural heritage and beauty.
He wished memorial gifts to be made to University of Pennsylvania School of Design or to the Community Based Education (CBE) Memorial Student Account at the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS). On giving to Penn, please contact pdalumni@design.upenn.edu or 215-746-3167. For SFIS, please contact Eric Olson at 505-216-7311.
Memorials in Philadelphia and Santa Fe will be held at a later date.