PULLMAN, Wash. — A memorial service for H. Paul Castleberry, retired Washington State University political science faculty member, is planned for 2 p.m., April 27, in the WSU Compton Union Building Cascade Room. Castleberry died of congestive heart failure on Feb. 1.
Born on June 8, 1921, in Duncan, Okla., he was the eldest son of Herman and Nancy Lemon Castleberry. He attended schools in Shamrock and Dalhart, Texas, where he graduated from high School in 1938. His first employment experiences included work for the Dalhart Texan newspaper and with “gandy dancers” on the Rock Island railroad.
Castleberry earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in government in 1941 and 1942 from Texas Tech University. After working for several months at Douglas Aircraft, he returned to Texas Tech as a faculty member, beginning his college teaching career at age 21.
On March 5, 1944, he married Lois Counts, a high school classmate. The couple moved to Chicago in 1945, when Castleberry received a Hillman Fellowship for graduate study at the University of Chicago. While in Chicago he taught three years at the University of Illinois, Navy Pier.
After receiving his PhD in political science in 1949, Castleberry joined the faculty at Washington State University. He taught courses in American government, international law, international organizations, and U.S. foreign policy, and served as an adviser for prelaw students.
While at WSU, Castleberry’s service included chairmanship of the Department of Political Science, active participation in the University Senate and membership and leadership on several committees, including faculty executive and faculty affairs, and the Faculty Council. As chair of the International Education Committee, he directed two Institutes of World Affairs. He was a co-founder of the Northwest Inter-institutional Study Abroad Program.
Castleberry was a frequent speaker for campus and civic groups, often stressing the need for changes in U.S. foreign policy to secure a lasting peace in the Middle East. He delivered the 10th university’s “Invited Address” series.
A former student established a scholarship in Castleberry’s honor. Castleberry House, one of the floors in the Regent’s Hill residence hall, is named for him.
Castleberry received two Fulbright awards to lecture in the Middle East. One at American University in Cairo, Egypt, from 1953 to 1955 and the other at Ankara University in Turkey from 1962 to 1963. He taught two summers in study abroad programs in Paris and London. For three summers he was a consultant and lecturer for Peace Corps training programs at Portland State University.
He was active in several professional organizations as a member of the executive council for the American Political Science Association and as president of the Northwest Political Science and Western Political Science Associations. He was a member of the Northwest Commission on Colleges from 1977 to 1983, and participated in evaluation of 15 educational programs, including Mexico and Okinawa. He was a grant review specialist for the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1975 to 1980. He was one of 10 scholars in the U.S. Department of State Scholar-Diplomat program in 1977.
Castleberry was a member and former deacon of the Community Congregational Church and a former member of the Lions Club and Pullman Chamber of Commerce. He was a music lover, being especially fond of opera and a supporter of the arts. He enjoyed playing bridge and cribbage.
After retiring from WSU in 1983, he served two years as president of the WSU Retirees Association. A dedicated democrat, he participated in party activities at the local and state level and was chair of the Whitman Council Democratic organization for four years.
Castleberry volunteered in the Pullman respite program, was on the board of the Whitman County Council of Aging and served several terms on the Planning and Management Council of the Agency on Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington.
Survivors include his wife Lois of Pullman; his two sons, Robert Castleberry of Eugene, Ore., and J. Stevens Castleberry of Glen Carbon, Ill.; his sister, Ruth Crow of Bedford, Texas; his brother, Dr. V.E. Castleberry of Spokane; and his four grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the H. Paul Castleberry Scholarship, c/o the WSU Foundation.
