Necrology

David Bruce Dickens '55

May. 16, 1933-Jan. 9, 2019

David Bruce Dickens ’55, a professor of German emeritus at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., was born on May 16, 1933, in Buffalo, N.Y., a son of the former Fern Bowers and James Dickens. He graduated from New York’s Amherst Central High School.

Having pledged Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Dickens studied for one year at Hamilton before transferring to Ohio University. After spending his junior year in France, he moved back home to complete his B.A. in German and French at SUNY Buffalo. He then continued his studies in German by completing a master’s degree at George Washington University in 1958 and a Ph.D. at Princeton University in 1984.

Prior to joining the Washington & Lee faculty in 1960, he taught at SUNY Buffalo, George Washington University, and Hollins University. He also spent two years working for the National Security Agency as a cryptanalyst.

Dickens taught conversational German, German literature of the 17th and 18th centuries, German cultural history, and literature of the fantastic, including vampires. He was a prolific scholar, publishing numerous articles and translations of German short stories, poems, and articles. He served as acting department chair twice and was a member of the Graduate Fellowship Committee. During the 1970s, Dickens created one of W&L’s first total-immersion language programs, working closely with contacts in Germany, especially at the University of Bayreuth.

In his retirement, Dickens enjoyed carpentry, reading, philately, cooking, traveling, and crafting block-cut Christmas cards, according to a published obituary.

Dickens died on Jan. 9, 2019. He was 85 and is survived by his wife, Monika, two daughters, and two grandchildren. An earlier marriage had ended in divorce.

Necrology Home