Obituary

FRED BABBIN Born, July 16, 1925 - Died, Dec. 9, 2011

Fred Babbin, 86, a retired high school biology teacher and poet, also tutored Cambodian students and taught English as a second language. In addition, he taught classes in Buddhism at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Mr. Babbin, a long time resident of Evanston, died Thursday in the Presbyterian Home in that city.
“He loved plants and gardening,” his daughter, Helen, said. “And he very much sought to pass it on to others, especially his students. He tried to expose his students to other ethnicities and races, and to
give them a chance to have exchanges with them. I think he wanted to be authentic.”
“My father had a good sense of humor with kids,” his daughter added. “At the same time, he could be quite strict and demand a lot of them.”
As a freshman biology teacher, Mr. Babbin was on the faculty at Wells High School from 1961 to 1964, and at Von Steuben High School from 1965 to 1983.
Much of his poetry dealt with nature, as exemplified by his poem about autumn that begins with the lines:
With leaves of yellow, orange, red,
that crunch beneath our feet
like dry cornflakes
that we crunch as much as we can
to hear the sound of snare drums
as we walk.
Mr. Babbin, who served on the board of the Buddhist Temple, embraced Buddhism “because it made him feel whole,” his son, Jon, said.
Survivors include daughter Helen, son Jon, wife Ruth, and two grandchildren.
Memorial Visitation will be 6pm until Service at 7pm on December 20 at the Buddhist Temple of Chicago, 1151 W. Leland Ave., Chicago.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Urological Research Foundation. The website is: http://www.drcatalona.com/default.asp. The phone number is: (312)695-4471.