Harley Dean Oberhelman

1928 - 2023

Harley Dean Oberhelman passed away on September 23, 2023, in New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 95 years. He was born in Clay Center, Kansas on June 30, 1928, and spent the early years of his life as an only child on farms in central Kansas. From a young age, he had a fascination with faraway countries and Latin America in particular, motivating him to become fluent in Spanish. He received three degrees from the University of Kansas including a PhD in Romance Languages in 1958. In the same year, he was hired as a Spanish teacher at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, which became his professional home for the next 40 years until he retired in 1998. He resided in Lubbock for 64 years until 2022 when he moved to New Orleans for family support. His many accomplishments as a Spanish professor and department chair include leading a summer field course for high school Spanish teachers in Argentina in the 1960s followed by several highly successful summer field courses in Mexico for Texas Tech students in the 1980s, and he authored seven books and close to 100 articles on Latin American authors and literature. He was a gifted teacher and highly respected by his peers and several generations of Spanish students at Texas Tech. He received many academic honors, including being named a Horn Professor, the highest honor received by a Texas Tech faculty member, in 1992, and receiving the title of the Order of Don Quijote, the highest honor from Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish honor society, in 2008. He was a longtime member of the United Congregational Church - UCC of Lubbock, where he was a local leader welcoming refugees from Vietnam in the 1970s. Harley was also a dedicated member of the Rotary Club of Lubbock, and he led group study exchange teams of young professionals from the Rotary Club to Chile and Finland. He loved to travel and talk about visiting all the Spanish-speaking countries of Central and South America, and 33 countries overall. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years the love of his life, Hope Constance Oberhelman (Nansen), and by his son David Dean Oberhelman. He is survived by another son Richard Alfred Oberhelman, and by his daughter-in-law Susan Jane Berry, both of New Orleans, Louisiana, and by three grandchildren-Steven Dean Oberhelman of Bristol, Rhode Island; Katherine Elizabeth Oberhelman of New Orleans, Louisiana; and Sarah Jane Oberhelman, of Baltimore, Maryland. An in-person memorial service in his honor will be conducted at St. John's United Methodist Church of Lubbock, 1501 University Ave. in Lubbock, TX 79401, on Friday, October 13 at 3:00 pm. The service will also be streamed online and available later at https://www.youtube.com/@SJUMCLubbockTX. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Harley D. Oberhelman Spanish Scholarship Endowment at the Texas Tech University Foundation at www.give.ttu.edu/Oberhelman. The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories, and condolences online, at www.greenwoodfh.com.