Robert Dennis Sizemore

Robert Dennis Sizemore (Dennis) passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his loved ones on December 10, 2018.  A celebration of life service will be held at Lake Oswego United Methodist Church (1855 South Shore Blvd, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034), at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 19, 2019.

Dennis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, where his love of basketball was forged on the neighborhood courts.  He graduated from Indiana University and was an avid IU Hoosier basketball fan, who admired Bobby Knight’s philosophy of a hard-nosed defense and a strong passing game. 

After college, Dennis embarked on his first teaching job at Marseilles Junior High in Illinois. In 1969 he married his wife, Leslie, and they moved to Stamford, Connecticut where he taught at Greenwich High School.  At Greenwich, he helped develop a progressive high school curriculum that involved experiential learning to push the school towards becoming nationally recognized. 

After his children were born, he moved to Oregon to continue his pursuit of excellence in education. Dennis briefly taught at Oregon City High School before spending the majority of his career in the Reynolds School District.  He taught history and social studies for many years before furthering his education to become a counselor and later Vice Principal of Reynolds High School, finishing his career as Principal of Fairview Elementary.

He believed in lifelong learning, individual leadership and the value of hard work.  Dennis was an innovator in education and spent endless hours writing grants and developing new ways of helping children learn. He believed that education needed to modify itself to suit the student, that children learn in a variety of ways, and education should provide the options for their individual success. 

Dennis impacted many lives not only through his lifelong work as an educator, but also as a coach of basketball, football and track.  He believed that sports provided an avenue for youth to develop the skills of teamwork, leadership, sacrifice, dependability and tenaciousness. 

After his retirement in 2001, Dennis continued his passion for education through work as adjunct staff at Concordia University, where he was a mentor to student interns who were following their own passion to become future educators.  He was an avid golfer and an assistant coach for girls’ youth basketball.

He is survived by his wife, Leslie, his son, Christopher, wife, Stacy and granddaughter, Delanie, daughter, Kelly Sauer, and her husband, Aaron.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Habitat for Humanity or Doctors Without Borders.

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