Necrology

Richard Woodruff Beglin '54

Jul. 29, 1932-Jul. 6, 2006

Richard Woodruff Beglin ’54, a retired associate professor of English at Pace University, where he taught for 37 years, was born on July 29, 1932, in Elizabeth, NJ. A son of Edward W., a county probation officer, and Carol Woodruff Beglin, he prepared for college at the Pingry School in Elizabeth and arrived on the Hill in 1950. He became a member of Sigma Phi, sang for four years in the Choir, and trouped with the Charlatans. Having majored in English literature, he was graduated in 1954.

Richard Beglin went on to Cornell University, where he earned an M.A. degree in speech and drama in 1956. A year earlier, he had begun his teaching career as an instructor in English at Sweet Briar College. Soon, however, his career was interrupted by military service. After two years in the U.S. Army’s enlisted ranks, he returned to Sweet Briar in 1958.

In 1960, Richard Beglin settled in New York City, where he served for a year as an administrative assistant at Pace College (later University) before joining its faculty. While at Pace, he was instrumental in developing and coordinating its English as a Second Language program, and he also helped develop Pace’s first interdisciplinary approach to teaching. In the classroom he demonstrated his mastery of 20th century American literature, his favorite subject. Outside of the University he was active in little-theater groups and did readings and recordings for the blind. He retired from Pace in 1997.

Upon his retirement, Richard Beglin and his life partner, David N. Berg, moved from New York City to Searsport, ME, where they became part of an active and hospitable community. They also spent considerable time in Nassau, in the Bahamas.

Richard W. Beglin died on July 26, 2006, in New York City, three days before his 74th birthday, following a long illness. In addition to his life partner, he is survived by a brother, retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Edward W. Beglin, Jr., and a niece and a nephew.

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