Robert Dardenne

Robert W. Dardenne, Bob to his many friends, died in St. Petersburg, Fla., onOctober 17, 2013. Bob was devoted to his family, and is survived by his wife Barbara OReilley, their son Robert, and an extended family of friends and former students around the world. Bob was a 1964 graduate of Istrouma High School, and a 1968 graduate of Louisiana State University. He began his career as a beat reporter at the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate and went on to work as a reporter, editor, and feature writer at newspapers and magazines in Louisiana, Mexico, New York, and Washington D.C. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He earned his Masters degree from the University of Florida and his doctorate from the University of Iowa and for the better part of 30 years was a professor of journalism, first at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and for the past 22 years at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. In 19992000, he taught at Shanghai International Studies University in China, as a Fulbright Scholar. Bob was a committed, and much beloved, teacher, with a passion for what he called the conversation of journalism, rooted in the intellectual constructs of community journalism, and believed in its deep significance to modern civic life. His reach extended from a cluttered office in St. Petersburg, to students in China and Africa. Bob would have said that he lived simply. He could not fully appreciate what we saw, that he was possessed of a truly great spirit, a facile mind, and a capacity for love and friendship that touched and influenced the many who are the lesser for his passing. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to the Robert Dardenne Memorial Fund, University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Visitation

Resthaven Funeral Home
11817 Jefferson Highway
Baton Rouge, LA  70816
Saturday, October 26, 2013
1 pm2 pm

Service

Resthaven Funeral Home
11817 Jefferson Highway
Baton Rouge, LA  70816
Saturday, October 26, 2013
2 pm

Cemetery

Resthaven Gardens of Memory
11817 Jefferson Highway
Baton Rouge, LA  70816