Roy Abrahamson Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Roy Ernst Abrahamson, Ed.D., age 91, passed away, Monday, July 13, 2020 in Manor Court, Carbondale. Roy was born in St. Paul, MN, to Frank August and Sophie Dorothea (Schmalz) Abrahamson, on August 23, 1928. He married Marianne Leyhe of Wuppertal, Germany, on December 23, 1960, in San Francisco, CA. She survives him as does their daughter, Sylvia Marie Abrahamson, of Carbondale; a nephew, David Seagren and his wife, Nancy, of St. Paul, MN and a niece, Nora Seagren and her partner, Wade Ivey, of Roscoe. He is preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Fern Seagren. Dr. Abrahamson was a professor of Art Education in the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, from 1965 until his retirement in 1996. He received his B.S degree in Art Education at the University of Minnesota in 1949; M.A. degree in Elementary and Secondary Education at San Francisco State College in 1952, and an Ed.D degree at Teachers College, Columbia University in NY, NY, in 1965. He served in the US Army for 3 years during the Korean War, and he taught in the San Francisco Unified School District for eight years prior to his doctoral studies. Dr. Abrahamson served as president of the Illinois Art Education Association in 1972, and was an active member of the National Art Education Association, and the International Society of Education through Art (a branch of UNESCO). He published numerous articles in professional journals, presented papers at national and international conferences, conducted research in this country and in Germany, and taught in Helsinki and Rovaniemi, Finland. After his retirement in 1996, he edited a posthumous book of his mentor, the late noted art educator Henry Schaefer-Simmern, entitled Consciousness of Artistic Form. He also taught art classes in retirement and had several exhibitions of his own art works. Roy loved to read. He was known everywhere with a book in his hand. Besides painting and drawing, including cartoons, Roy loved to write poetry. He was beloved by many, his family, and his students, here and abroad. A private memorial service will be held at the Crain Pleasant Grove-Murdale Funeral Home, due to the pandemic. Inurnment will be private at a later date in Pleasant Grove Memorial Park. A Celebration of Life gathering, hosted by the family will take place next year. The preferred form of remembrance is through the Dr. Roy Abrahamson Art Education Endowment Scholarship established at the Southern Illinois University Foundation, 1235 Douglas Drive, Mail Code 6805, Carbondale, IL 62901.

Roy Abrahamson

August 23, 1928 - July 13, 2020