Many of these obituaries of departed CAMWS members were written by Ward Briggs, the CAMWS historian.
William C. Kurth
Luther College (IA)Died December 12, 2018
William C. Kurth, age 86, of Decorah passed away peacefully of complications from Parkinson's disease on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, at Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah, surrounded by his loved ones.
Memorial Services were held Dec. 17, 2018, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah with Rev. Chad Huebner officiating. Private Family Burial will be in Phelps Cemetery in the spring.
William Charles Kurth was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on Oct. 23, 1932, the second of two children of Wilhem and Elma (Christensen) Kurth. His family lived a simple life, yet William enjoyed a happy childhood. He was adored by his older sister Jackie, who referred to him as Billy. In school he played in the band and was a bright student. He graduated from West High School in Waterloo. After graduation, he attended Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) as a classics major.
Bill served in the United States Army. His time in the service was spent in Texas.
Bill attended the University of Texas in Austin. During that time he married Eleanor Ann Alton. In 1959 he earned a Master of Arts. Their next move was to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he completed his Ph.D. Their first child, Amelia, was born in 1962. Bill then retained a teaching position at the University of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana, Illinois. In 1966, their second child, Emily, was born. In 1967, the family moved to Decorah, Iowa, where Bill started his career in the Classics department at Luther College. He taught Latin, Greek and mythology. Being a professor was truly his calling. Teaching brought him great joy. He was most happy in the classroom, bringing his subjects alive with his dynamic style of instruction. He also loved taking students abroad for January interim.
In 1971 their third child, William, was born. Bill was very involved in the Arc of the United States and served as the organization's state president for a year.
Thomas Harrison Watkins of Blacksburg, Va., 75, passed away Thursday morning, November 15, 2018 after a four year long struggle against lymphoma. He is survived by his wife, Sharon Brown Watkins of Blacksburg; and their daughter Elizabeth (Beth) Page Watkins of Champaign, Ill. He was preceded in death by his mother, Page Baird Watkins, and his father, Thomas Cobb Watkins, both of Warsaw, Va. Tom's life work became clear to him when he spent his junior year of high school in Rome, Italy, while his father served as a consultant for the United Nations Food and Agriculture office there. Upon return to his hometown of Ithaca, N.Y., he completed high school there and then earned a Bachelor's degree in history at Cornell University (1965). He began graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he met his future wife, Sharon E. Brown, a native of Roanoke and graduate of Roanoke College. They were married in Chapel Hill (1969) and both earned a Ph. D. in history there. Together they moved to the prairies of Macomb, Ill., near the Mississippi River. Tom became the professor of ancient history at Western Illinois University and embarked upon his 31 year career of sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm about ancient history. He taught undergraduate and masters level graduate students there. He published scholarly articles, concentrating on the military expansion of the Roman Empire and the extension of Roman citizenship and culture which took place among non-Italian peoples. He served as an officer of the Illinois Classical Association, led college students in travel and study abroad programs, and published the first edition of his book on a key advisor of Julius and Augustus Caesar. In 1974 his personal life was enriched by the birth of his daughter Beth and as the years passed he shared many of his interests with her: history and museums, the joy of music and playing the piano, gardening and yard work, travel and the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. The Watkins family enjoyed a variety of canine companions, most chosen from an unwanted litter of tiny puppies. Sharon joined Tom in the WIU Department of History and specialized in French and modern European history. Retiring in 2003, Tom and Sharon moved to Blacksburg, where both could again experience the forested hills and valleys of the Appalachians as they had in their childhoods. They enjoyed living closer to Sharon's extended family, including her five siblings and their spouses. For several years Tom taught select courses in Roman history as an adjunct at Virginia Tech. There he joined a vibrant group of faculty and students pursuing the study of classical ancient languages, literature, history, and arts. As a member of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church he taught popular Sunday School classes for adults; subjects included the historical world of Jesus, the spread of Christianity across the ancient world, and the travels and work of St. Paul. He organized and led two tours to Turkey, visiting many early Christian sites and those of other civilizations such as Troy and Istanbul. After he re-retired from university teaching, Tom worked on the second edition of his earlier book. This was published in June 2018 by Rutledge Publishing under the title L. Munatius Plancus: Serving and Surviving in the Roman Revolution, second edition. All are invited to a funeral service for Tom Watkins, to be held at 2 pm on Monday, November 26, 2018 at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church (located at 701 Church St., SE, in Blacksburg). An informal reception will follow in the church parlor. Cremation rites have been accorded. In the spring a memorial service and celebration of Tom's life will occur, to include tree-planting, special music, photos, and sharing by his daughter Beth and friends of all ages whose lives were touched by Tom. Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Roanoke, is assisting the family. To send condolences online please visit tharpfuneralhome.com.
Published by the Roanoke Times (https://www.roanoke.com/obituaries/watkins-thomas-harrison/article_ba6a58ed-2816-5e81-a6b5-90114bae0f33.html)
The following was posted on Facebook by Kirk Ormand at Oberlin College:
It is with a terrible sadness that the Oberlin Classics Department must announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Jim Helm, professor emeritus, mentor, teacher, and friend. Jim and his wife Anne were traveling this past week, and Jim apparently died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Jim was a humble, kind, and principled man with a sly sense of humor and a fondness for terrible puns. He will be remembered for many accomplishments, virtues, and characteristics; I offer a few here. Jim was a good and great teacher, particularly of the Greek language; generations of students first read Plato's *Apology* with Jim, and generations more are still reading the *Apology* from Jim's deeply learned student commentary. I am teaching from it now, and I learn from Jim on every page.
It was Jim who started Oberlin's "Bardic Reading" in 1993, a nearly-yearly event in which students of Oberlin Classics read aloud a long work of classical literature (most traditionally, the *Iliad*, *Odyssey* or *Aeneid*; less traditionally, the extant works of Aristophanes, or [once!] Lucan's *de bello civili*). In the early years of the event, Jim would stage it on Sunday in the 'Sco; Jim always stayed until the end, would help wrap things up at 3 or 4 am Monday, and then appear, alert and apparently refreshed for his 9:00 am class -- much to the amazement of his dazed and exhausted students.
Jim retired, characteristically, at the age of 65, not because he was done teaching, but because he felt that he should make room in a crowded field for a younger scholar. Jim always did the right thing, simply and quietly, with principle but without demonstration, no matter the cost to himself.
As will all of us, I will miss Jim a great deal. Perhaps most of all, I will miss the sly grin he used to show when he had a really terrible pun to spring on the unsuspecting. His delight in these moments was always infectious, and it is that fleeting moment of sheer enjoyment - just before the pun - that stays with me today.
Diane Hatch
University of Mary Washington (VA)Died October 13, 2018
Dr. Diane Hatch, Professor Emerita of Classics, passed away on Saturday morning, October 13, she was 76. Dr. Hatch began teaching Latin and Classics at Mary Washington College in 1966. Her undergraduate degree was from Sweet Briar College and she received her M.A. and her Ph.D from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. With Dr. Elizabeth Clark, Diane co-edited The Golden Bough, The Oaken Cross: the Virgilian Cento of Faltonia Betitia Proba. She and Dr. Clark were founding members of UMW's current Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion. Dr. Diane Hatch retired from UMW in 2000 after over 30 years of dedicated teaching and service to the University. For further information, please contact the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion https://cas.umw.edu/clpr/. (This notice taken from https://eagleeye.umw.edu/2018/10/16/diane-hatch-and-bill-pinschmidt/)
SEELINGER died on September 22, 2018, on his father's birthday, after a four- and a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC on October 16, 1951. An Eagle Scout, he attended Rogers High School in Newport, Rhode Island, and Dickinson College, in Pennsylvania. He spent his junior year in Rome. He received an MA from Brown University, and a PhD in Classics and Classical Archaeology from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1981. Seelinger learned Latin at an early age and continued to read, write, and teach it his whole life. He was also a scholar of ancient Greek, and during his three sabbatical years in Greece he became fluent in Modern Greek.
He moved to Columbia, MO in 1974 to pursue his PhD in the Department of Classical Studies. He started teaching Latin and other Classics courses part-time at Westminster College in 1979. The position became full-time and tenure-track in 1981.
From 1999-2005 he served as Dean of Faculty and Vice President of the College. He was a leader in the initiative to start a Westminster campus in Mesa, AZ and was grateful for the support and dedication of all those who were involved in that project. He was gratified by the fact that many of the Mesa students continued their Westminster experience on the Fulton campus. He was deeply moved by the retirement celebration he shared with other colleagues in 2016.
He is survived by his wife, Cathy Callaway, his son, Nicholas Seelinger, his sister, Barbara (Robert) Beebe of Middletown RI, and nephew Adam Carter of Tacoma WA, and two great nephews. He also leaves behind a beloved host of relatives on Cathy's side that consider him family; several were present at his peaceful death in his home. Thanks to the people at Hospice Compassus and Dr. Anna Hulbert for making this possible. We would also like to thank ALL the health care professionals, at the University Hospital in Columbia, at Mayo in Rochester MN, at Barnes in St Louis, and the Emergency Technicians in Fulton, who showed such compassion, care, and expertise every time they worked with him to cope with the challenges of this disease.
Celebration of Robert's life will be 2:00 pm Sunday, October 21, 2018 at the Church of St. Mary Aldermanbury located on the Westminster College Campus, 501 Westminster Ave. in Fulton, Missouri. A reception will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be directed to either Westminster College, Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, or the Fulton Soup Kitchen c/o Debo Funeral Home, 833 Court Street, Fulton, Missouri 65251.
Edwin Menes
Loyola University ChicagoDied August 25, 2018
SCS Obituary
Ed Menes joined Loyola University Chicago in 1963 and was awarded emeritus status upon his retirement in 2009. Ed's research was in Latin lyric and elegy and linguistics, and he served as the associate director of the Rome Center of Liberal Arts, now the John Felice Rome Center, from 1975 to 1979. He was also chair of the Department of Classical Studies from 1984 to 1995. The department named its annual undergraduate translation competition after Ed when he retired: A prize is awarded to the Classics student who best translates a passage in ancient Greek or Latin in a two-hour period. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Jacqueline Long, PhD, recalls that Ed was the perfect candidate for such a recognition because "he always embodied an absolute commitment to philology as the basis of all learning and teaching in Classics."
A noted classicist, philologist, poet, philhellene, and lover of Rome and Italy, Ed travelled all over Europe. His family recalls that he rode a Vespa scooter throughout Eastern Europe until it caught fire in Belgrade, Serbia, quickly putting an end to his adventures and forcing him to take a train back to Rome.
Ed was much beloved by his students, including Associate Professor of Journalism Connie Fletcher, PhD, who remembers Ed from when she and her brother were enrolled in his Latin and Greek classes. "We called him Dr. Menes 'Marvy' because he was 'absolutely marvelous.' He brought so much excitement to the study of the Classics. He was the finest professor I had at Loyola."
White, 58, died after a heart attack on July 21, 2018, in Norfolk.
Raised and beloved in storied Fort Dodge, Iowa, Rich married Mary Anna Newton, his grad-school sweetheart, in 1992. She survives him along with their son, Francis Hanrahan White.
Richard was born on February 28, 1960, in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up in Fort Dodge. His mother, Mary Virginia Hanrahan White, a single mother and teacher, died in 1980. Besides Mary Anna and Frankie, further survivors are siblings Regina White (Jack Hayes) of Falls Church, Thomas White of Norfolk and Victoria White (Stan Fitterman) of Tampa, Florida, his father-in-law, Francis Lanneau Newton, of Chapel Hill, NC, other Newton in-laws and loads of adored Hanrahan, Ford, Darling, Fitterman, Newton and Partrick uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews and multitudes of friends.
Richard graduated from St. Edmond High School in 1978. He received his bachelor's degree from Iowa State University, earned his master's degree in Classics from the University of Texas at Austin and studied at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was a resident fellow at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
For 16 years Richard was the Latin teacher at Norfolk Collegiate School, his cherished son's alma mater, which sits across the street from Granby High School, where Mary Anna teaches Latin. Rich deeply inspired and taught a generation of students. He helmed the Battle of the Brains academic team, with Frankie a four-year member and captain, and was an assistant cross country and track coach for his son's teams, as well. Most recently, Rich and Frankie trained and sweated alongside each other in Jiu-Jitsu. Years ago, Rich taught at ODU and Virginia Wesleyan College.
All are welcome to the wake Friday, July 27, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Norfolk Collegiate (Granby St. Campus) Upper School Lobby/Cafeteria, 7336 Granby Street in Norfolk. Rev. Paul Muyimbwa will preside at a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 520 Graydon Avenue in Norfolk.
Steve Strauss, 52, of Toledo, passed away on July 20, 2018, while on vacation at his family summer home in Amagansett, Long Island.
Educated as a lawyer, Steve chose instead to follow his passion for Latin and the classics. He taught at Notre Dame Academy for over 20 years and will be remembered by colleagues and students as a dedicated educator and caring mentor.
Family and friends loved Steve for his compassion, kindness, boundless intellect, great wit, and enthusiasm for art, music, design, history, cuisine, literature, and travel. Steve's life was rich with curiosity, adventure, learning, and love; it has ended with gentle peace and dignity. He will be immeasurably missed.
Steve's greatest love was for his wife, Christine Fox, and children, Christopher and Anne Fox-Strauss (all of Toledo). He is also survived by his mother, Lois Strauss (New Jersey). The family will celebrate Steve's life in a private ceremony; no public service will be held.
In Steve's honor and in lieu of other remembrances, a memorial fund has been established:
Karl Meltzer Dresner Rosen studied at Boston Latin School before entering Harvard, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He received a Ph.D. from Yale in 1960 and taught at Bates College and Rutgers before becoming professor of Classics and Linguistics at the University of Kansas. He died on July 19, 2018 in Lawrence, KS, at the age of 87.
Olin Storvick
Concordia College (MN)Died June 16, 2018
Storvick, Olin J. 92, of Moorhead, MN, passed away on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at Sanford Health, Fargo, ND. Olin John Storvick was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 12, 1925 to Roy and Helen (Weeks) Storvick. He received his public school education in Mason City (Iowa) where he graduated in 1943. He enrolled in Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) in June of 1943. In the course of that term, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was called to active duty in August 1943. He served in the Pacific Theater as Technical Sergeant (platoon sergeant) in Headquarters Company, Second Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division on Okinawa where he was awarded a Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound and was hospitalized with malaria. He was discharged on January 9, 1946 and returned to Luther College where he graduated in 1949. His major activities were concert band (first clarinet) and football (captain). He was married to Ruth Dorothy Struxness on March 19, 1949. They moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he entered graduate school at the University of Michigan. He received the A.M. degree in 1950 and the Ph.D. in 1968. He received University Fellowships and a University Scholarship and was admitted to Phi Kappa Phi. In 1954-55 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. In 1955 he joined the Classics department of Concordia College (Moorhead) and retired in 1995. He served as Associate Dean of the College (1979-1985 and 1989-1990). He was twice honored by Concordia College as the Wije Professor and the regents established an endowed chair of Classical Studies which carries his name. He was also (1977-78 and 1995) Visiting Professor of Greek at Luther Seminary (Saint Paul). His major research activity was in archaeology and he did field work at Khirbet Shema (Israel) 1970-1972 and Caesarea Maritima (twelve seasons between 1973 and 1997) serving as field supervisor. He was an NEH lecturer at Jamestown College and NEH curriculum consultant to Saint Mary's College (Winona, MN). He was an invited lecturer at the 80th birthday symposium honoring Orlando W. Qualley of Luther College and gave the inaugural lecture in the Knudsvig Memorial Symposium at the University of Michigan Department of Classical Studies. In 1991 he was a member of a People to People delegation of American archaeologists to visit China. At Xian he presented the work at Caesarea to Chinese archaeologists. In 1979, he was awarded an honorary doctorate honoris causa, and was given Luther's Distinguished Service Award in 2009. In May of 2017, Concordia College awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he served many years as Sunday school teacher, member of church council, president and many years as assistant scoutmaster of Troop 637. He was preceded in death by his parents, by his brother David in 2011, and in 2014 by his wife of 65 years, Ruth. He is survived by their five children. Helen (Mrs. David M. Saude) of Winnipeg, MB, Rolf (Karen Lund) of Mankato, MN, Solveig (Mrs. Steven R. Pollei) of Tacoma WA, Karen (Mrs. James E. Markert) of Blaine, MN and Eric (Diane Reque) of Mankato, MN, twelve grandchildren: Kjersten Saude of Vancouver, BC; Erik (Robyn) Saude of Calgary, AB; Kristofor (Gemma) Storvick of Eagan, MN; Hans (Amy) Storvick of Apple Valley, MN; Marit Pollei Kinney (Matt) of Vacaville, CA; Bryn, Andrea, Julia, and James Markert of Blaine, MN and Anders, Peder, Kai Storvick of Mankato, MN and seven great-grandchildren: Mark, Clara and Olin Saude of Calgary, AB; Theron, Annika and Kaleb Storvick of Eagan, MN, and Sloane of Apple Valley, MN. He is also survived by two sisters, Rosalie Miller of Faribault and Sonja (Mrs. Donald Hagestuen) of Aitkin, MN. Memorials preferred to Trinity Lutheran Church Foundation, Concordia College, Concordia College Language Villages, or Luther College. Visitation: Monday, June 25, 2018 from 5:00 7:00 PM in Wright Funeral Home, Moorhead, MN. Funeral: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 11:00 AM in Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead, MN. Burial: Prairie Home Cemetery, Moorhead, MN. Guestbook: wrightfuneral.com
Eleanor Goltz Huzar (Michigan State University), CAMWS President 1984-1985
Obituary
Eleanor Jane Goltz Huzar (Granger) was born on June 15, 1922, in St. Paul, Minnesota to a physician, Dr. Edward Victor Goltz, and his wife, Claire O'Neill Goltz. Raised in a family of doctors, Eleanor had every intention of becoming a doctor herself, but found "I had no talent for it," and instead pursued her love of Roman history at the University of Minnesota (A.B., 1943) and later at Cornell (M.A. 1945; Ph.D., 1948). Her dissertation focused on the political, economic, and religious relations between the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt and she pursued the subject in a series of articles in CJ and later in a well-received biography of Marc Antony (1978), which Erich Gruen called "the best biography of Antony available in English." She received the Prix de Rome of the AAR for 1978-80 and continued to travel in Europe during the summers. She contributed a number of deeply researched and authoritative articles on early emperors and, of course, Egypt for the encyclopedic Festschrift, Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt.
Though she was a scrupulous researcher, her real love was teaching. After taking a succession of short-term positions, at Stanford (1948-50), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1951-5), Southeast Missouri State University (1955-9), and Carleton College (1959-60), she arrived at Michigan State in 1960 as the first full-time ancient historian and only the second woman on the faculty. She chaired the program in Classical Studies (1965-90) aThe university was primarily focused on teaching in those days, and Eleanor pitched in. She regularly taught the large (300-500 students) freshman survey course on world history from antiquity into the Middle Ages as well as intermediate reading courses and graduate courses, one year on Greece, the next on Rome. She chaired the Classical Studies Committee, which was a cooperative effort between classics, history, philosophy, and other programs. She regularly took her sabbaticals at the American Academy in Rome, whence she traveled widely around the Mediterranean lands that had previously been known to her only through books: "Egypt was one of the places that was still startling to me because it was so much simpler than the European pictures that we'd been seeing regularly. The mixed religion and the magnificent antiquities,…nothing else is comparable."
Her service was not limited to MSU. She was a member of the selection committee for the National Endowment for Humanities (1979-84) and the Council for International Exchange Scholars, Washington (1979-81). She was President of CAMWS (1984-5), served on the advisory council of the for 30 years (1963-92) and the executive committee (1970-3, 1988-92). She also served on the managing committee of the ASCSA (1964-92).
On 21 June 1950 she married Elias Huzar, who died in December of that year. On October 11, 1991, she married Bruce I. Granger, who died in 2009. Eleanor herself died on May 7, 2018, in Golden Valley, MN.
Lexington Catholic High School (KY)Died April 11, 2018
Scaife, Cathy Jane Edwards, 59, died on April 11th, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. Cathy was the only child of James F. Edwards and Jane T. Edwards in Falmouth, VA on February 14, 1959. She graduated from Stafford Senior High School in 1977 as the salutatorian and in 1981 earned a B.A. in Greek and Classical Studies from the College of William and Mary, where she met her husband, Allen Ross Scaife. She attended the University of Texas in Austin to earn an M.A. in Latin. In 1991, Cathy and Ross moved to Lexington, KY where Ross was hired as a professor of Classics at UK. Cathy worked as the first Latin II teacher in Kentucky Educational Television's Distance Learning Program, and taught Latin at Lexington Catholic High School where she inspired a love of Latin in her students. In 2014 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kentucky World Language Association. Cathy's love of the Classics and of teaching is surpassed only by her love for her husband, Ross, who died of cancer on March 15, 2008, and for her three sons, Lincoln (26), Adrian (23), and Russell (19). Cathy was the Alpha and the Omega of her family. Her love made their home one of compassion and acceptance for all Cathy believed that a meaningful life could be found by contributing to the lives of those around her. As her body endured the physical tolls of cancer she found respite in reinvesting herself in her community, a pursuit from which she derived great happiness and comfort. Cathy will remain a vibrant presence in the memory of her many friends. In addition to her three sons, Cathy is survived by her mother, Jane Edwards of Fredericksburg, VA, and her cat, Sake. Cathy was an active member of Saint Peter Claver Catholic Church. A Memorial Service for Cathy is being planned for this summer. Memorial donations may be made to: the Swift, Scaife, Longacre Scholarship Fund supporting classical studies at UK. Please make checks payable to the University of Kentucky, sent to Sturgill Philanthropy Bldg., 450 Rose St., Lexington, KY 40506-0015, with the name of the fund in the memo; Central Music Academy which supports lessons for underprivileged students, sent to Central Music Academy c/o Transylvania University, 300 N. Broadway, Lexington, KY 40508, or www.centralmusicacademy.org; or the St. Peter Claver Building Fund, at 485 W. 4th St., Lexington, KY 40508, or www.cdlex.org/stpeterclaver..
With the great sadness I report the death of a distinguished high school Latin teacher, LeaAnn Osburn who passed away 11 April at the age of 67. She was born 19 July 1950 to Norbert and Eleanor Smoley and grew up in Elmhurst, Illinois. She graduated cum laude from Monmouth College in 1972. In 1977 she began her studies at Loyola University Chicago from which she received an M.A. and in 1978 she began teaching at Barrington High School where she remained for the rest of her career. Besides her lengthy teaching career LeaAnn was known in Illinois classical circles for her work for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers for whom she coauthored with Helena Dettmer A Catullus Workbook, authored Book 3 of Latin For A New Millennium, coauthored with Tom Sienkiewicz of Legamus, a transitional reader for Vergil, and authored Latin 3: Select Latin Enrichment Readings. Along with Elisa Denja she served as editor for the first edition of Latin for A New Millennium.
LeaAnn also was known for L and L Enterprises which provided many of us in the profession with supplementary books and materials that enriched our programs. (I, for one know that the Ray School Latin Room library was much enriched by L and L books.) Through L and L Enterprises she also published in 2004 Beyond Latin One.
LeaAnn made many presentations at I.C.C. meetings and was the recipient of many honors. She served I.C.C. as Vice-President in 1984-1986 and as President from 1986-1988. In 1989 I.C.C. chose her as Illinois Latin Teacher of the Year. At almost the same time LeaAnn was serving on the Foreign Language Leadership Council (1985-1992) and served as President of that board from 1987 to 1989. In 1987 the Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction honored her for serving as the chairman of the Latin teaching examination board. In 1989 she was honored again by the same office for her leadership in foreign language instruction. In 1990 LeaAnn received the Lieut. Gov. Award for Illinois and in 1996 she received a Good Teacher Award from the Classical Association of the Midwest and South. In 2008 I.C.C. awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Award.
In February, 1994 her collegiate alma mater, Monmouth College invited her to give the annual Bernice Fox Lecture. She chose to discuss "Classics Across The Curriculum: A Practitioner's View" in which she espoused the idea that the study of classics could benefit a wide range of students of many ages and backgrounds.
In 2012 the American Classical League honored her with Merita status.
LeaAnn was no Ivory Tower classicist. I am told that she was a devoted fan of the Chicago Cubs and loved pop music stars such as Elvis and the Beatles.
Antonia J. R. Syson
Purdue University (IN)Died March 25, 2018
In Memoriam
(Provided by David A. Reingold)
On Sun., March 25th, 2018, the College of Liberal Arts lost our dear colleague Professor Antonia Syson. Her friends and colleagues in the School of Languages and Cultures will remember Antonia for her passionate and intense dedication to all aspects of her work and for her exceptionally large laugh and cheerful whistling that brightened the hallways of Stanley Coulter.
Antonia received her BA with Honors from the University of Oxford in 1995, her MA in Latin from UC-Berkeley in 1997, and her PhD in Classics from UC-Berkeley in 2003. She joined the Classics faculty at Purdue in the School of Languages and Cultures in 2008. She authored the book Fama and Fiction in Vergil's Aeneid, published in 2013 by Ohio State University Press. It was released in paperback last year. She was promoted with tenure in 2014. Antonia was a longtime chair of SLC's community engagement project World Film Forum, and in 2014, Antonia was the lead coordinator on a grant from the Indiana Humanities Initiative that brought together K-12 and post-secondary teachers from across the state for the conference "Teaching the Past: Dissenting Histories in the Classroom."
Antonia was deeply devoted to her students, to teaching and curriculum development, and to the liberal arts. She was one of the first faculty fellows of the Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program, and she dedicated much time and energy to this initiative. In February, she was presented with the inaugural Cornerstone Teaching Award, which fittingly will be known as the Antonia Syson Cornerstone Teaching Award.
Antonia's memorial service will take place on Sun., April 8th, at 1:30 p.m., in St. John's Episcopal Church, 600 Ferry Street in Lafayette.
