Obituary of Richard Morris Gedrose

Dick Gedrose was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. Born on August 22, 1943, in Portland, Ore., to Bob and Marguerite Gedrose, he was a 3rd generation Oregonian and lived most of his life here as the 2nd of 6 children.

Dick attended St. Clare Elementary School and graduated from Jesuit High School in 1961. He attended the University of Portland for 2 years then in 1963, Jesuit High friends welcomed Dick to Gonzaga where he met the love of his life Gloria Allen on a blind date. He married Gloria in October 1965, and they moved to Brookings, Oregon where they began their teaching careers. In 1967 Dick took a position as a coach and history teacher at Regis High School, in Stayton Oregon. 2 years later Dick and Gloria returned to Portland. In 1970 he began a 35-year career at Jesuit High School as a history teacher, coach, athletic director, vice principal, principal and president. He had an enormous impact on the lives of teachers, staff and students. 

While a teacher at Jesuit, Dick and his family spent summers camping and day-tripping at the Oregon Coast and Central Oregon. In the summer of 1976 Dick loaded the family up in their beloved VW van and took them on a cross country road trip to Washington DC for the Bicentennial. They camped every night in a different campground and every morning Dick would load the sleeping children into the car and drive to a park somewhere down the road. He’d pull out the Coleman stove to cook pancakes and eggs or the kids would eat “vacation” cereal out of little cereal boxes with milk bought at the local grocery store - where they also bought comic books for the kids to pass the time in the car. Always a history teacher, Dick stopped at every historical marker along the route, which he read aloud to the family.

In 1985 while taking classes towards an administrative certificate from Lewis and Clark, Dick was awarded a Fullbright Scholarship and spent 6 weeks in Israel studying culture and history.

In the year 2001, Dick and Gloria lost their beloved son, Jeff after a long battle with Leukemia. Their family, friends and the Jesuit community provided tremendous support for them during this difficult time.

Upon Dick’s retirement his focus became time spent with his family (most notably, the grandchildren), road-trips with Gloria and travels to Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Canada and Hawaii. He and Gloria devoted much of their time to enjoying their grandchildren, attending sporting events, school functions, birthdays, holidays and family vacations in Sunriver and on the Oregon Coast. Dick loved reading to the kids, taking the whole family to baseball games, teasing and laughing, using his “magic hand” to erase unhappy faces, and trying to keep the kids from sleeping on his pillow-which resulted in tickling and squeals of joyful laughter.

In addition, he became an avid cyclist. Most days he cycled through Portland’s East side traversing an average of 20 miles a day. It became a necessary daily outing for Dick and on days he missed a ride it was noticeable, and he couldn’t wait to get back on his bike.

In 2006 Dick was called out of retirement to become the interim President at Seattle Prep during a time of need. His time there was instrumental in paving a smooth transition for the next President.

He is survived by his wife, Gloria; daughters, Julie (Jack Vollert) and Michele (Barry Hodges); daughter-in-law, Karlyn; seven grandchildren, Alex and Corey Gedrose; Joey, Franny and Willa Vollert; Nate and Grace Hodges; his siblings, Sandy, Jackie, Sue and Bob along with many nieces and nephews. Dick’s older brother, Mike, died in 2018.

There will be a celebration of Dick’s life with a Catholic Mass of the Resurrection at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, in the Knight Gym at Jesuit High School (masks will be required). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Friends of the Children or St. Andrew Nativity School.

To view a beautiful tribute of his time at JHS:

https://www.jesuitportland.org/ourcommunity/news/newsdetails/~post/remembering-dick-gedrose-61-20210802