[Memorial notice from the University of Lethbridge website:]
The University of Lethbridge extends its most sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the late Samuel Aubrey Earl. Dr. Earl passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, two days prior to his 101st birthday.
He was predeceased by his wife, Thera Jean (63 years of marriage) and his second wife Araminta, to whom he was married 8 years. Dr. Earl is survived by three younger sisters; Joyce Le Baron, Ethel (Hank) Schilling and Du Elle (Garth) Lybbert, his sons; Arman (Dee Ann), Brent, Darwin (Jeanette), Malcolm Earl; 14 grand children and 29 great-grandchildren.
Dr. Earl was a respected educator whose career encompassed roles of teacher, principal, superintendent of schools, a director within Edmonton’s Department of Education, and professor/director of student teaching at the University of Alberta.
“There is a new university opening in Lethbridge,” his wife Thera Jean said. “Maybe they’d consider you as a prospect.” And his journey with the University of Lethbridge began.
Dr. Earl joined the “new university” in 1967 as a professor, and was a key architect in shaping the highly recognized teacher preparation program. He helped establish the 27-week field experience component of the program (which has grown to become one of the most extensive in Canada), a foundation of theory and practice that he knew could outshine some of the larger institutions. “I think we came to be recognized as a prestigious, decent and noteworthy institution,” Dr. Earl once said in an interview. “Our students were sought after not only in Western Canada, but in the United States.”
Dr. Earl was a visionary who served in many roles as lifelong educator including appointment as Associate Dean of Education at the University of Lethbridge. “I envision seeing a school with doctors of education – reading specialists, math specialists, psychologists, wonderful teachers, great leaders, innovators…”