Remembering Alan Burkett, architect who helped get UC Berkeley's Stanley Hall and East Asian Library built

"Alan Lee Burkett passed away on Oct. 23, at the age of 68, surrounded by his loving family and friends. Alan was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. Alan loved to row in the bay, swim in the ocean, backpack in the wilderness, ski in the backcountry, ride his bike anywhere, enjoy the art of word play and spend time with family."

"Alan was undaunted in his endeavors, both academic and adventurous. His junior year in high school was spent in Stuttgart, Germany, on an exchange program. Alan made many friends during his exchange year. He was known as an excellent student who mastered the German language. Of course, he was also known as a stellar human being and took several bike trips throughout southwestern Germany."

"Boy Scouts was a big part of his young life and he backpacked the entire John Muir trail within his time in scouts. This adventurous spirit continued to thrive as he did solo multi-day bike trips, backpacked in Desolation Wilderness among other destinations, did an Outward Bound course in Leadville, Colorado, and was one of the few people to summit Denali on his National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course."

"He attended Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo and then moved on to UC Berkeley, graduating in 1979 with a degree in Linguistics and a 4.0 GPA. He was a master at learning languages and at one time could speak multiple languages fluently. Patterns within each language were beautiful and fascinating to him and gave him the ability to experience the day to day with richness and curiosity."

Alan Lee Burkett passed away on Oct. 23 at age 68, surrounded by loving family and friends. He was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle and friend who cherished rowing, ocean swimming, wilderness backpacking, backcountry skiing, cycling, word play and family time. He spent his junior year in Stuttgart on an exchange program, mastered German, made many friends and biked through southwestern Germany. Boy Scouts shaped his youth and he backpacked the entire John Muir Trail. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1979 with a Linguistics degree and a 4.0 GPA, later studied architecture at UCLA, became a licensed architect and practiced in San Luis Obispo and Bay Area firms for over 25 years.

Read at www.berkeleyside.org