Ellison L. Torbert ’62

Ellison L. Torbert ’62 of Black Mountain, North Carolina, near Asheville, died on December 15, 2009, following brief hospitalization due to a stroke. A native of Port Chester, New York, El was a geography major at Dartmouth and a brother of Delta Upsilon/Foley House. He was active all four years on the wrestling team and in Dartmouth Outing Club and Ledyard Canoe Club. After graduation El earned a B.F.A. from Yale University in 1964 and then went on to study art and sculpting, first at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and later at Fontainebleau, outside Paris. Volunteer work for Operation Crossroads led him to Kenya, where he worked building schools and enhancing local communities. He also became an apprentice for a time to renowned sculptor José de Rivera, taught art at Bennett College and taught welding at the vocational school in Rogersville, Tennessee. Much of his career he worked as a self-employed artist, creating and selling his sculpture and woodwork. El is survived by his son Jesse, sister Isabel and brother Preston.