Kurt Lauridsen

Kurt Victor Lauridsen

Passed away in Moraga on August 16, 2015. His kindness, wit, and generosity will be missed by all who knew him. Born in Kankakee, Ill. to Victor and Irene Lauridsen, he was 78. He joins his beloved wife Julie Lauridsen, and is survived by his devoted daughter Christina Lauridsen, 40, and loving son-in-law Zachary Pelchat, 42. Raised in Kankakee, Dr. Lauridsen graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and earned a Ph.D in French and Russian History from New York University. He lived in Manhattan and Westchester County, New York and was a tenured professor and administrator at Long Island University. At U.C. Berkeley, he was Director of the Student Learning Center where he developed Berkeley's renowned Summer Bridge program. He supervised the Disabled Students Program and retired from U.C. Berkeley in 1993 as Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs. In his retirement, Dr. Lauridsen was President of the U.C. Retirees' Association at Berkeley (UCRAB) and a President of another type as a docent on the U.S.S. Potomac, where he portrayed President Franklin D. Roosevelt onboard FDR's Presidential yacht. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Dr. Lauridsen's memory can be sent to the Potomac Association, 540 Water Street, Oakland, CA 94607 Attn: Lauridsen Memorial. For more information: LauridsenMemorial@gmail.com">