Sunday, November 7, 2010

Brian D. McCarthy, ASLA - 1950-2010

Brian McCarthy (photo by Erik Bishoff)

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Brian McCarthy, ASLA, of Cameron McCarthy Gilbert & Scheibe Landscape Architects.

Brian endured a lengthy battle with pulmonary dysfunction, which in due course necessitated a lung transplant a few years ago. The transplant was successful, and Brian was thankful for the significant improvement in the quality of his life it provided. Unfortunately, Brian suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks, ultimately succumbing on the morning of Wednesday, November 3.

Those who knew Brian will miss his considerable professional skills, friendship, positive outlook, and hearty laugh. I and many others in the Eugene/Springfield professional community extend heartfelt condolences to Brian’s family and his colleagues at CMGS.

I had the good fortune to work with Brian on numerous projects since I joined Robertson/Sherwood/Architects in 1988. The results were unvaryingly high in quality; more important though was how effective Brian was as a design collaborator and source of inspiration.

Brian received his Bachelor¹s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon in 1977. Previous to that he majored in botany at Oregon State University and the University of Southern California. He became a registered landscape architect in Oregon in 1980.

Brian served as managing partner for Cameron, McCarthy, Gilbert & Scheibe, Landscape Architects. Prior to joining CMGS, he worked in the private sector in both Eugene and Portland, and for the public sector with the City of Portland Planning Bureau and the U.S. Forest Service.

It was only three weeks ago that Brian participated as one of our panelists at the 2010 AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Conference here in Eugene. He joined University of Oregon faculty member Nico Larco to lead a discussion on the subject of Urban Environments of Tomorrow. It was a testament to Brian’s wisdom, expertise, and vision that we sought his participation in our conference.

With an eye toward retirement, Brian recently turned over his share of firm ownership to Larry Gilbert, Matt Scheibe, Matt Koehler, and Colin McArthur. This transition was to have been marked this week by an open house at the firm’s office and the announcement of a change in firm identity from “Cameron McCarthy Gilbert & Scheibe Landscape Architects” to simply “Cameron McCarthy.” The open house event will now be postponed as the firm mourns its loss.

A memorial for Brian will take place on Sunday, November 14 at 2:00PM. The service will be held at The Shedd (868 High Street in downtown Eugene).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful tribute to our cousin Brian. We never realy got to know him, but have relived his life throught his mother Joan McCarthy. Our toughts and prayers go out to everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him. Paula(McCarthy) Coe...Easton Ma.

Anonymous said...

This is indeed a lovely tribute to Brian's well deserved reputation among his professional peers. But he was also, quite simply, a superbly generous and delightful human being. The world has lost a truly good man, and because such people are in short supply, his passing will be acutely felt for a long time to come.

Anonymous said...

Pressing through the reeds, I hide back the tears in the fold of my sleeve. In the lonely dew laden garden, even lowly insects weep.

Thanks for the inspiration Brian, take care