Professor Emeritus Creeger Remembered for Teaching Romantic Poetry

George Creeger, professor of English, emeritus, died Nov. 1 at the age of 89.

Creeger joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1951 after receiving his BA at DePauw University, and his MA and Ph.D. at Yale. He taught American literature in the English Department for nearly 50 years. He was an expert on romantic poetry — particularly Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Keats, Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, and on the works of Herman Melville. Creeger also brought some of his other passions into the classroom through courses on Early Connecticut Houses and Opera as Myth and Literature. He served as dean of the college from 1971-1973 as well as chair of the faculty from 1991-1992.

He was the first recipient of the Binswanger Award for Excellence in Teaching when it was inaugurated in 1993.

In an all-campus e-mail, Ruth Striegel Weissman, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, the Walter A. Crowell University Professor of the Social Sciences, professor of psychology, said “[Creeger] was a brilliant teacher whose deep resonant voice was instantly recognizable, and he was much beloved by a devoted following of students.”

Creeger was the son of a Methodist minister in Middletown, and lived part of his young life in the area. He met Elva, the daughter of Professor of Astronomy Carl Stearns, and they were married in Middletown.

Creeger is survived by his son, Kit (Christopher) Creeger, his daughter, Katie, of Ithaca, New York, and two grandsons, Ethan and Josh, both sons of Kit. He is predeceased by his wife, Elva, and by a son, Carl, who lived in Austin, Texas.

Memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Center For Faculty Career Development at Wesleyan as follows: note “CFCD in memory of Professor George Creeger” when contributing at give.wesleyan.edu or on a check mailed to Wesleyan University, 164 Mount Vernon Street, Middletown, CT 06459.

A memorial service is being planned for the spring at Wesleyan.