Renowned Lithuanian Engineer and Alpinist Jaroslav Okulič-Kazarinas Dies at 95

The Lithuanian mountaineering community mourns the loss of Jaroslav Okulič-Kazarinas, a distinguished engineer and one of the country's pioneering alpinists, who passed away on August 19 at the age of 95.

Born in Kaunas in 1931, Okulič-Kazarinas was a radiotechnical engineer by profession. He developed a passion for mountaineering in 1956, a time when organized mountaineering was just beginning to take shape in Lithuania. He graduated with honors from the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute in 1955 and worked at the Kaunas Radio Factory and the Institute of Radio Measurement Technology. From 1965 to 1992, he served as a senior lecturer at Kauno University of Technology.

Okulič-Kazarinas was an active participant in significant expeditions in the Caucasus and Pamir mountain ranges. During the first Baltic mountaineering event in 1958, he successfully summited Lokomotyvo, Gumači, and Elbrus. In 1961, he was part of the first Lithuanian mountaineering expedition to the Pamir Mountains, reaching peaks named after Lithuanian alpinists like Gediminas Akstinas.

His athletic achievements include winning the Lithuanian championship three times and the Baltic championship twice. He also played a crucial role in the development and popularization of mountaineering in Lithuania, leading the Kaunas mountaineering section from 1964 to 1967 and serving as the chairman of the Lithuanian Mountaineering Federation from 1967 to 1971.

His son shared a touching tribute on Facebook, remembering their conversations, shared travels, and his father's dedication to family. He noted his father's interest in new street and bridge constructions, a passion he seems to have inherited. The farewell ceremony for Jaroslav Okulič-Kazarinas was scheduled to take place at the "Rekviem" funeral home in Kaunas, with burial to follow in the Eiguliai cemetery, next to his wife Giedrė Gučaitė.