“A flower is an exquisite thing, beautiful and delicate, a harbinger of hope for the green world that lets us all survive.”  So wrote the late Karl Urban in 1983.

     Karl was born June 6, 1943 in Kimberly, Idaho.  He majored in botany at the University of Idaho, receiving his Masters Degree in 1968. That same year he moved to Pendleton to become an instructor of botany at Blue Mountain Community College where he taught for 23 years.  Karl’s spring wildflower classes became famous there. In addition, each summer for many years, Karl taught intensive plant identification courses at Steens Mountain.  He once wrote, “Both by profession and by nature I am a teacher.  I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and am delighted when others sieze the torch and want to learn more.”  Karl was one of the founding members of the Blue Mountain Chapter of the  Native Plant Society of Oregon.

         One of the highlights of Karl’s life was the year he spent on sabbatical at OSU.  Although taking a full load of classes he announced to Dr. Chambers that he wished to compile a database of the flora of Oregon using the new computer technology.  Working day and night for three terms, Karl built the foundation for our current Oregon Flora database, and planted the seeds for the Oregon Flora Project.  Karl later wrote, “My efforts, imperfect as they may have been, were to serve as one of several catalysts that would help the Flora Project get under way.  My work is in good hands now, as Oregon’s professional botanical community revises and builds upon a foundation I helped initiate.  I am ecstatic that my work was not in vain!”

     Nor was your life, Karl.  Thank you for carrying the torch so long and so well.  We shall do our best to see that your green world continues to bloom.