Jonathan F. Seely ’57

Jonathan F. Seely ’57, Ph.D.,passed away on January 13 in Tucson, Arizona. His health had been in decline for several years. Jonathan came to Dartmouth from Meadville (Pennsylvania) High School. At Dartmouth he majored in English and belonged to the band and the Dartmouth Outing Club for four years. He earned two master’s degrees, one from Georgetown and one from the University of Colorado, where he also earned a Ph.D. in linguistics. Jonathan loved exploring and understanding the world’s cultures. Following graduation he ventured out on his own on a motorcycle, traveling through Central and South America. For two years he worked on a coffee plantation, learned Spanish and settled in Chile. He then served two years in the Army in Korea. Next, he worked at the Experiment in International Living in Putney, Vermont, and the Peace Corps in Venezuela. In 1968, while in Paris, he met his future wife, Edith (an export from Germany). His facility with languages was tested by three years of teaching English in Istanbul. Jonathan was twice a Fulbright scholar as a teacher in Communist-controlled Romania and in Yemen. In 1978 he accepted a position at the University of Arizona in Tucson ,where he was an English professor until retirement. He and Edith traveled across the world to an estimated 112 countries. He was truly a citizen of the world. Jonathan is survived by his wife of 43 years, Edith, stepmother Polly, and sister Mary.