FATHER PAUL E. BEICHNER, CSC, '35, '41M.A.,
who steered Notre Dame's graduate school for nearly two decades
through its early development, died in September at age 91. The
shy, quiet Pennsylvania native entered the Holy Cross Seminary
on campus in 1928 and with the exception of graduate study in
Washington, D.C., and at Yale called Notre Dame home the rest
of his life. For more than 30 years he lived out of two rooms
in the Presbytery. He retired in 1978, and in 1992 he moved to
the priests' assisted-living facility, Holy Cross House, above
Saint Joseph's Lake. Father Beichner (pronounced BEAK-ner) was
appointed head of the Graduate School by President Hesburgh soon
after Hesburgh took office in 1952. The two priests were part
of a generation of CSCs who in the late 1930s and early '40s dedicated
themselves to raising the professional caliber of Notre Dame.
In those years the Graduate School was turning out just a few
Ph.D.s a year. By the time Beichner stepped down 19 years later,
the rate was approaching 150 a year. "The Beich," as friends in
the order called him, was an accomplished teacher and scholar,
a no-nonsense administrator, and a reliable friend with a dry
sense of humor but also a man of famously few words. A question
sent over by his boss, Hesburgh, would invariably be answered
the next day with a curt response scribbled on a used scrap of
paper or on the original note. As an English professor (he chaired
the department in the 1940s), he specialized in medieval literature
and was a renowned Chaucer scholar. He whittled as a youth, and
sculpting, carving and print-making became lifelong hobbies. His
prolific output can be found among the possessions of many of
his fellow priests and former colleagues, on display in the priests'
residence, Corby Hall, and at the University's Land O' Lakes research
facility in northern Wisconsin, where he vacationed annually.
In 1974 he published Once Upon a Parable, a collection
of fables, some of which he wrote. The book featured 52 of his
wood-cut illustrations. In 1997 the community center in the married
student housing complex University Village was named in his honor.
BERNARD NORLING '49M.A., '55Ph.D., who taught
history at Notre Dame for more than 40 years with "diligence and
precision," in the words of a colleague, died last September at
age 79. Norling is remembered as a just man who took responsibilities
seriously, especially in the classroom. He was a demanding teacher
who wanted to leave students with an understanding of how history
related to and could enrich their lives, and his message often
got through. Two campus priests attended his funeral Mass in the
Basilica for no other reason than they had had him as a professor
and admired him so much. His 10 books included Timeless Problems
in History, a textbook widely used at colleges and universities.
He specialized in military history and the history of medicine
and had recently published a series of books on guerilla warfare
in the Philippines during World War II. In retirement he continued
to lecture to senior citizens at South Bend's Forever Learning
Institute. The modern world was not much to his liking, but he
had great tolerance for others' views and never forced his on
people. His physical vigor was well-known in the history department
as he continued to play softball, golf and even volleyball into
his mid-70s.
(January 2004)
