Obituaries : Ramon F. LaGrandeur; Former College President

Ramon F. LaGrandeur, a former president of College of the Canyons who spent more than three decades in education before his 1988 retirement, has died. He was 68.

A resident of Mill Creek, Wash., LaGrandeur died Jan. 8 after a brief illness, the college announced Thursday.

During his five-year tenure at the Valencia campus, a physical sciences laboratory building was opened and the college became the north county training site for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Born Sept. 7, 1926, in Anaconda, Mont., LaGrandeur received his bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Washington. He received his master’s degree in education and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Oregon.

He began his career in 1952 as a public school teacher in Portland, Ore., and later worked at community colleges in Washington, Oregon and Nevada. LaGrandeur served as president of Spokane Community College before he joined College of the Canyons as president and superintendent of the Santa Clarita Community College District in 1983.

He announced his resignation in November, 1987, and left the campus the following June.

“There are some things we would like to do while we’re still young enough to enjoy them,” LaGrandeur said of his post-retirement plans with his wife. “It’s time to hang up the mortarboard.”

After his retirement, the LaGrandeurs traveled extensively, visiting China, Japan, Hawaii and Poland.

LaGrandeur is survived by his wife, Patricia; three sons, John LaGrandeur of Rowland Heights, Calif., Michael LaGrandeur of Seattle and Thomas LaGrandeur of Whidbey Island, Wash.; a daughter, Kathryn Jensen of Bothell, Wash.; a brother, Robert LaGrandeur of Everett, Wash.; a sister, Kathleen Silvernale of Seattle; 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A funeral was held Jan. 12 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Bothell, Wash. LaGrandeur was cremated under the direction of Purdy & Walters with Cassidy Funeral Home in Everett, Wash.

Memorial donations may be made in LaGrandeur’s name to the St. Vincent DePaul Society, 5303 Evergreen Way, Everett, Wash. 98203.