LORRENE L. ORT, 1918 - 2005

BGSU professor led program for student teachers

BOWLING GREEN ? Lorrene L. Ort, a retired Bowling Green State University professor who directed the college of education's student-teacher program, died Monday in her home. She was 87.

Friends did not know the cause of death. She had been ill for two months, family friend Elton Ringer said.

Mrs. Ort retired from the university as professor of educational curriculum and instruction in June, 1977. She had been a full professor since 1970.

?She felt very strongly that teaching needed to have high standards," Genevieve Stang, a retired professor in the college of education, said.

Mrs. Ort, as director of student teaching and professional lab experiences at BGSU since 1966, made an impact on many schools in the area.

David Elsass, a former dean of the college of education, said she helped develop a network BGSU had with about 20 area school systems, placing more than 2,000 student teachers a year in the late 1960s and early '70s.

?lt was quite an undertaking, and she had it very well organized," he said.

He said the student teachers appreciated her guidance.

"She had high standards and expectations - not only for herself, but for others under her direction," Mr. Elsass said.

In the late 1950s, she was director of student teaching and curriculum for the Bowling Green City Schools. She became an assistant professor of education at the Mansfield branch of BGSU in 1956.

In the early 1950s, she taught in the teacher-training program in Samoa in the South Pacific, while her husband was assistant director of education for the island school system.

She was president of the national Kappa Delta Pi education honor society from 1970 to 1972, and co-authored a series of books for younger children.

She had a lifelong interest in education, said family friend Mr. Ringer, who retired from BGSU as controller, professor emeritus, and associate vice president for planning and budgeting.

"She was one of the most dedicated faculty members we had," he said.

Born in Missouri April 17, 1918, to James and Alma Love, Mrs. Ort grew up in South Dakota. After she graduated from Oberlin College in 1939, she taught in Napoleon public schools. She received her master's degree in 1950 and her doctorate in 1955, both from Ohio State University.

Always a person who did things her way, she wore a black wedding dress when she married Vergil Ort, who was a principal in the Napoleon schools, in 1941, Ms. Stang said. Mr. Ort was later a professor in the college of education at BGSU. He died in 1994.

Mrs. Ort played the piano and organ, was knowledgeable about classical music, and enjoyed square dancing, Ms. Stang said.

For her 85th birthday, she traveled to Holland to see the tulips. She grew orchids and made the grounds of her home a beautiful place, Ms. Stang said.

She also enjoyed cooking, knitting, and fishing Lake Erie, and had a winter home in Mercedes, Texas.

There are no immediate survivors.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 21 at Young Cemetery, Liberty Center, Ohio.

Memorials may be made to the BGSU Foundation, the Lorrene and Vergil Ort Kappa Delta Pi Scholarship, St. Mark's Lutheran Church, or a charity of the donor's choice.