Donald Crosby, retired professor of German literature at the University of Connecticut, died May 16, 2015, at age 88.
Crosby graduated from NYU in 1951 after serving in the Army Air Corps from 1945 to 1947. He then earned a Ph.D. in German language and literature from Princeton and was among the first class of Fulbright Fellows who went to Germany.
He was a professor of German literature at six colleges and universities before joining the faculty at UConn, where he taught for 20 years, retiring in 1990. During his career, he published more than 100 scholarly papers.
After UConn, Crosby was a popular lecturer in Washington at the Smithsonian, the German and Swiss embassies, Kennedy Center, Goethe Society, and Wagner Society. He was dedicated to promoting understanding that 12 years of Nazi horrors should not erase hundreds of years of German accomplishments in literature, philosophy, poetry, and music.
Crosby is survived by his wife, Bonnie Becker, whom he married in 1996; three children; a stepson; and eight grandchildren. His first wife, Dorothea Schmidt, died in 1972. A second marriage to Petra Englebert ended in divorce. He was predeceased by a daughter and stepdaughter.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.