Richard Barrutia; Linguist, Art Patron

Richard Barrutia, internationally known linguist, a founding professor at UC Irvine and an expert on bilingual education, has died at the age of 72.

Barrutia, also a noted amateur artist and arts patron, died July 6 in Corona del Mar.

After teaching Peace Corps members Portuguese to work in Brazil and conducting National Defense Education Act workshops in Ecuador, Barrutia became a founding faculty member at UC Irvine in 1965.

He taught Spanish and Portuguese there for 30 years and set up and directed the master’s degree program in bilingual education. He became a principal creator and advisor for bilingual education throughout the California school system.

Barrutia directed the university’s study abroad program for two years in Mexico City and for another two years in Madrid. While in Spain, he was knighted Caballero de la Orden del Merito Civil by King Juan Carlos for service to scholarship in Hispanic letters.

In 1977, he served as president of the American Assn. of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

In 1984, Barrutia was named UC Irvine’s coordinator for all intensive language programs abroad, and in 1986 earned the UC Irvine Alumni Assn. distinguished teaching award. Although he retired from teaching in 1993, Barrutia continued to direct Irvine’s education abroad program for three more years.

As an arts patron, Barrutia worked to support the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach and the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana and helped raise funds for its multicultural mural by a friend, Mexican painter Raul Anguiano.

A longtime friend of Anguiano’s, Barrutia and his wife found and purchased the artist’s long-lost “Desnuda en Rojo” in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa three years ago. The Barrutias installed the painting in their home and invited the unknowing Anguiano and his wife over for coffee.

The artist later told a reporter his reaction: “He opened the gate and I almost fainted. It was like seeing a lost son.” Anguiano, on a mission to repurchase his works for a museum in Mexico, had lost track of the nude for 38 years.

The delighted and amused Barrutia added: “He would love to get this one back. It’s from his Lacandon period, the apogee of his career. But he can’t have it. We’re the best of friends, but we’re not married.”

When Anguiano worked on his Bowers mural early this year, he had Barrutia the talented amateur artist assisting him.

Born in Salt Lake City of Basque ancestry, Barrutia served in the Navy Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he formed and performed with a musical trio he called the Gay Rancheros.

He later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State University, a bachelor of foreign trade from the American Institute of Foreign Trade in Phoenix, and a doctorate in linguistics and Spanish from the University of Texas.

Barrutia is survived by his wife, Kathleen; their daughter, Elizabeth Barrutia Rich of Los Angeles; two brothers and a sister.

A memorial service is scheduled at 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Bowers Museum for the Barrutia Fund, which will support children’s cultural and artistic programs.