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Weltin; religious
studies pioneer
Edward G. Weltin Sr., professor emeritus of history in Arts & Sciences, died Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2002, of lung cancer at his home in University City. He was 91. A native of Quincy, Ill., Weltin earned a bachelor's degree in 1934 and a master's degree in 1935, both in history, from the University of Illinois. He earned a doctorate in history at the University of Illinois in 1946 and joined the Washington University history faculty as an assistant professor in 1947. Weltin taught Greek and Roman history and then branched out into such courses as "Western Civilization" and "Early Christianity." A 1986 West End Word article detailing Weltin's commitment to teaching Western civilization notes that "sometimes 20 or 30 (students) at a time would come to his office -- often bringing their lunches -- to talk between classes." He was instrumental in the development of a religious studies program -- one of the first in the country -- at the University, and he served as the second director of the Committee on Religious Studies in Arts & Sciences. Weltin wrote two books, The Ancient Popes and Athens and Jerusalem, and numerous articles on the classical age and early Christianity. He also edited the anthology Great Events From History. Weltin retired in 1980 but continued to teach part-time at University College in Arts & Sciences until he was in his 80s. Weltin's former students and colleagues helped establish the University's Edward G. Weltin Lectureship in Religious Studies in 1986. Robin Jensen, a professor of the history of Christianity at Andover Newton Theological School, delivered the ninth Weltin lecture Oct. 31 at the University. Other honors for Weltin include being elected to Omicron Delta Kappa Society, a national leadership honor society that recognizes superior scholarship, leadership and exemplary character, and receiving the University's Distinguished Faculty Award in 1971. His wife of more than 50 years, Florence Tobin Weltin, died in 1993. Among his survivors are three daughters, Anne Louise Ayers of University City, Marion Elizabeth Graham of Ottawa, Ill., and Florence Kathleen Weltin of Des Peres, Mo.; two sons, Edward George Weltin Jr. of Great Falls, Va., and Gregory Gerhardt Weltin of Kennebunk, Maine; 12 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choice. A funeral Mass was celebrated Nov. 1 at St. Roch Catholic Church in St. Louis and was followed by interment in Resurrection Cemetery. |
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