As many of us do, Rod Lazorik kept a Facebook Page.  Rod was dying of cancer, and in his not unexpected style and grace, he prepared for it.  As an artist, he let someone know of the measure of solace he drew from the prophetic words of great writers and poets.

On the day of his death, someone in his family made the following entry on Rod's Facebook Page:

ON JANUARY 20TH AT 10:15PM AT HOME IN MY MILL HOUSE SURROUNDED BY MY SON AND MY SISTER, HEARING TENDER WORDS OF LOVE AND LET GO. I HAVE LET GO.

A man said to the universe:

"Sir, I exist!"

"However," replied the universe,

"The fact has not created in me

A sense of obligation."

- Stephen Crane

Rod, this universe is different now, forever changed by the meandering life you wove into it, your eye, your art, the many friendships you built, the many students you taught.

Love to your memory, you are greatly missed.

your son, Pablo

Pablo went on to write a more detailed Obituary Notice for his father.  It is shown in detail, below.

Wayne Roderic Lazorik

Born May 8^th, 1939; Died January 20^th, 2023, age 83

     Wayne “Rod” Lazorik passed away peacefully at his home in Sugar Grove, North Carolina, on January 20, 2023, in the company of his family.  Rod was born on May 8, 1939, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He is survived by his sister Peggy Sellwood, son Pablo Armijo, life partner Kathleen Campell, step-children Mariel and Colin Campell.

     Rod grew up in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, where he pursued sport and leisure in equal parts.  He excelled as a cross-country athlete.  With unbridled vigor, he, and his gang (Tim Kiernan, Art Patterson, Bob Oas, Bob Erickson), created the “Taranchalathon,” a ten-event track and field race wherein participants were tested to the fullest extent.  In 2022, Rod was inducted into the St. Louis Park Athletic Hall of Fame.

     Rod received his undergraduate and graduate education from 1958 – 1966 at the University of Minnesota.  During this time, he ran “The Raven,” a 3.2 bar near campus, where he hosted one of Bob Dylan’s final performances on campus, and he founded the Westbank Gallery in Minneapolis.

     In 1966, Rob was offered a job as an Instructor in the Art Department of the University of New Mexico, and he moved to Albuquerque to teach at UNM while still finishing his B.S. and MFA at the University of Minnesota.  Rod subsequently was hired on as faculty at UNM and contributed to the development of the University’s world class Photography Program in the Department of Art and Art History as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Chairperson, and ultimately Professor Emeritus by the time he retired in 1996.  His mentors and colleagues included esteemed photographers Van Deren Coke, Beaumont Newhall, Tom Barrow, Betty Hahn, David Michael Kennedy, Patrick Nagatani, and Joel-Peter Witkin.  His 1990 portrait by photographer Charles Rushton is archived in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  Rod’s photographs have been archived nationally and internationally in collections including the University of New Mexico Museum of Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Canada, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Joseph Bellows Gallery.

     Rod lived in Sugar Grove, NC for the past 25 years, was an active card player at the Western Watauga Community Center, a Democratic poll worker, and made friends wherever he went.

     Rod was an artist, a poet, and a highly skilled craftsman, and his creativity seeped into all his work, from photography to fine carpentry.  He loved, and was loved by, animals of all kinds.  Rod was a mentor, colleague, teacher, brother, husband, partner, father, grandfather, and to so many, a friend.  He will be greatly missed.

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Those of us who kept track of Rod Lazorik in high school recall with admiration his athletic prowess.  He ran track  and cross country all three years, was Tri-Captain in our senior year, on the swim team and Hi-Y, the Letterman''s Club and the Ski Club.  A re-reading of Rod's personal page in "The Luckiest Generation" booklet that he put together for all of us to have as a rememberance of our 50th Class Reunion, will add his own sometimes expanded and humorous reflections to the memories that this son, Pablo, wrote about above.  You can also see a picture of his life's partner, his son and his dog.  Rod Lazorik was, indeed, a very special man in our Class of 1958.  We owe Rod Lazorik and his assistant, our own classmate Judy Gerber Tess, a big debt of gratitude for the hard work they put into "The Luckiest Generation."  We hope you refer to it as often as we do.  When you do, and think about the challenges young people face today, and the relative ease that accompanied our own growing up, you will realize once again that we were all a part of The Luckiest Generation, and can thank Rod Lazorik for coining that term.