Guthrie, Walter, 1932-2006.

Walter Guthrie attended the Jewish Farm School in Doylestown, PA, and served in the Military from 1956-1958 surveying the East German Border. In 1958, he graduated from Oregon State in horticulture and design and went to work for the landscape firm of Osmundson & Staley. Guthrie left Osmundson to work for Thomas Church in 1961 (replacing Casey Kawamoto). After working for more than a decade (1961 to 1973) with Church, Guthrie joined the firm which became Johnson, Leffingwell and Guthrie. This firm split up in 1980 and each partner opened individual practices. Prior to his death, Guthrie was interviewed by the Cultural Landscape Foundation as one of four Bay Area "landscape legendaries." Guthrie died in 2006 at the age of 74.

Biographical Note

Walter Guthrie attended the Jewish Farm School in Doylestown, PA, and served in the Military from 1956-1958 surveying the East German Border. In 1958, he graduated from Oregon State in horticulture and design and went to work for the landscape firm of Osmundson & Staley, where Staley met his wife, Lisa, also a landscape architect. The couple married in 1960. Guthrie then left Osmundson to work for Thomas Church in 1961 (replacing Casey Kawamoto). After working more than a decade (1961 to 1973) with Church, Guthrie joined the firm which became Johnson, Leffingwell and Guthrie. This firm split up in 1980 and each partner opened individual practices. Prior to his death, Guthrie was interviewed by the Cultural Landscape Foundation as one of four Bay Area "landscape legendaries." Guthrie died in 2006 at the age of 74.