12.3, All: Obituary of Emeritus Kenneth Lee Pike

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-12-3. Fri Jan 5 2001. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 12.3, All: Obituary of Emeritus Kenneth Lee Pike

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1)
Date:  5 Jan 2001 01:14:23 -0000
From:  "Gary Simons"<gary_simons at sil.org>
Subject:  Obituary of Emeritus Kenneth Lee Pike

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  5 Jan 2001 01:14:23 -0000
From:  "Gary Simons"<gary_simons at sil.org>
Subject:  Obituary of Emeritus Kenneth Lee Pike


	
	
	        SIL International President Emeritus Kenneth Lee
	        Pike, 88, died of septicemia in Dallas, Texas,
	        December 31, 2000.
	
	
	        Born in Woodstock, Connecticut on June 9, 1912, Pike
	        began his journey toward ministry when his father
	        became very ill. He promised God that if his father
	        recovered he would go into the ministry. His father
	        got well and Pike began fulfilling his promise.
	
	
	        He received a Bachelor's degree in theology from
	        Gordon College of Theology and Missions in 1933. His
	        life and ministry took a new turn when he attended
	        Camp Wycliffe. There he listened to Cameron Townsend
	        teach grammatical analysis, based on his experience
	        with Cakchiquel, a language of Guatemala. Lectures
	        on phonetics fascinated Pike and phonetics became
	        the focus of his writings for the next decade. Pike
	        went to Mexico and began studying the Mixtec
	        language. Knowing no Spanish to use as a common
	        second language, he began learning Mixtec
	        monolingually. This holistic approach to language
	        learning became Pike's trademark.
	
	
	        In 1937 he began studying linguistics at the
	        University of Michigan under Dr. Edward Sapir,
	        receiving his Ph.D. in linguistics in 1942. Later he
	        served for 30 years on the faculty.
	
	
	        In 1938 Pike married Evelyn and together they lived
	        and worked among the Mixtec people, analyzing the
	        language, developing an alphabet and translating the
	        New Testament, published in 1951. The Pikes saw how
	        having an alphabet elevated the Mixtec's corporate
	        self-esteem. The Mixtecs would often say, "Now we
	        are people!" They previously had been told that they
	        were not people because they had no alphabet.
	
	
	        Dr. Pike had a long and fruitful career as a
	        world-class linguist and Christian statesman. He
	        wrote dozens of books and hundreds of articles on
	        theoretical and applied linguistics.
	
	
	        Dr. Pike lectured in 43 countries. He received many
	        honorary degrees from universities around the world.
	        He was president of the Linguistic Society of
	        America, the Linguistic Association of Canada and
	        the USA, and a member of the National Academy of
	        Sciences of the United States of America. Dr. Pike
	        was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the
	        Nobel Prize for Literature.
	
	
	        He became president of SIL in 1942 and continued in
	        that role until 1979. He divided his time between
	        the University of Michigan and SIL, as Director of
	        SIL at the University of Oklahoma and helped
	        establish SIL schools around the world.
	
	
	        Dr. Pike was an extraordinary man. He loved life. He
	        challenged people to think. He wrote poetry. He
	        laughed. He used his mind to solve linguistic
	        puzzles and share the methods he discovered with
	        others. He was a true scholar, philosopher, poet,
	        pioneer and author. He was a man who shared his
	        life, knowledge and love with countless people
	        around the globe.
	
	
	        Dr. Pike is survived by his wife Evelyn; three adult
	        children, Judy Schram, Barbara Ibach and Stephen
	        Pike; three grandchildren and two
	        great-grandchildren; and one sister, Dr. Eunice V.
	        Pike.
	
	
	        In lieu of flowers, the family requests that
	        memorial gifts be made to the Pike Scholarship Fund
	        to provide scholarships/grants for academic research
	        for SIL members. Checks should be payable to SIL,
	        and sent to the Pike Scholarship Fund, Attention:
	        Marshall Schultz, 7500 West Camp Wisdom Road,
	        Dallas, TX 75236 USA.
	
	
	
	

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