DR. ORIN DALE SERIGHT

Orin Dale Seright, Ph.D., was born 23 November 1932 in Boulder, CO, and died peacefully at home 11 November 2023, San Diego, CA, aged 90. Dr. Seright was raised in Boulder and spent his adult life in Southern California after college; first teaching as a professor at The University of Southern California (1960-1966), and then at San Diego State University for the next thirty years (1967-1997). His degrees include: BA, cum laude, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1955; MA, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1957; Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington, 1964. Throughout his university studies Dr. Seright researched in Latin, Greek, German, French, Italian, Old English and other numerous extinct or re-constructed Indo-European languages.

After completing his degrees in Linguistics and then English Language he became the Founding Chairman of the Linguistics Committee at SDSU (1969-1972), aimed at creating a Linguistics Department at the university. He was then nominated as the Chairman of the Department of Linguistics (1972-1974) where he eventually retired as Professor Emeritus in June 1997. He was best known for the teaching of his course: The History of the English Language.

Throughout his tenure at SDSU Dr. Seright served as a professor at both the graduate and undergraduate levels; he also served as a graduate/doctoral supervisor to students seeking Masters or Doctoral degrees in Linguistics. His oft-cited scholarly article “Double Negatives in Standard Modern English” (American Speech, 1966) is still regularly quoted by scholars in English and Linguistics graduate studies who are researching and publishing around the globe to this day.

Dr. Seright was an avid world traveler, classical pianist, opera enthusiast, voracious reader, championship college wrestler, and dedicated scholar. With his pure photographic memory he continued to stun people throughout his lifetime with his ability to recite passages from any of the thousands of books he had read over the decades. He always took a special delight in watching people marvel at his ability to recall the smallest details. When amongst his wide circle of friends he greatly enjoyed being mischievous—and was the first to correct anyone who pronounced it “miss-cheeve-E-us.”

Orin was predeceased in life by his father, Orin Dale Seright, Sr., and his mother Fern Hilliard (née Watson) both of Boulder. He is survived by his sister Clairelyn J. Dexter (Rodney, deceased), his nieces Kathy Hamlin (Jerry), and Diane Strong (Wayne Shelley), all of Boulder.

Interment at Green Mountain Cemetery in Boulder.

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