Gerke, Walter Henry, approximately 1891-1982

Walter Henry Gerke (1891-1982) was a Portland, Oregon, landscape architect.

From the description of Catlin Gabel school landscape plans [manuscript], 1932. (Oregon Historical Society Research Library). WorldCat record id: 702124768

From the guide to the Catlin Gabel school landscape plans, 1932, (Oregon Historical Society Research Library)

Florence Homes Gerke (nee Hill) was born February 16, 1896 in Portland, Oregon. She was a graduate of Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) and of the Cambridge School of Landscape Architecture in Massachusetts. Gerke served as the landscape architect for the city of Portland. She was charged with designing the gardens in Washington Park, including the Portland International Test Garden, Amphitheatre, and Shakespeare Garden as well as Grant, Irving, and Dawson parks. With her husband, Gerke founded the Oregon Society of Landscape Architects and served as one of its presidents. She also wrote a column for the Oregon Journal in the late 1930s in the capacity of garden editor.

Florence Holmes Gerke died February 22, 1964.

Although the exact date is unknown, Walter Henry Gerke was born around 1891 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He graduated from Oregon Agricultural College in 1916. Gerke became the first arborculturalist, in 1921, to be hired by the Portland Parks Bureau. He married Florence Hill in 1922, and they worked together as architects from 1924 until her death in 1964. Together they designed the gardens for the Lloyd Center in Portland (a shopping mall), the Dammasch State Hospital grounds in Salem, and the grounds for the Shriners' Children's Hospital in Portland.

Walter Henry Gerke died November 29, 1982.

From the guide to the Walter H. and Florence Holmes Gerke landscape architecture drawings and photographs, 1934-1946, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)