John F. Vigorita ’65

John Vigorita died Jan. 11, 1999, at the Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, N.Y., after a month-long illness. Among our most distinguished intellectual lights, he earned his BA in classics and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his PhD in linguistics at UCLA in 1973. After teaching for a year at the U. of Florida, John joined the Cornell linguistics department, where he taught old Irish, middle Welsh, and Sanskrit.

John was a survivor of many illnesses throughout his life. He became a very active member of the First Unitarian Church and of the Hemlock Society. Always fighting courageously for health, John never let his sickness defeat him or deter him from his chosen life. Although eventually disabled, John continued to learn new languages and pursued his reading and his research interests until the end of his life.

John is survived by his sister Norma Pollard, his former wife Helene Moran Eberts, and his daughter, Amy. The class extends its sympathies to his family on the loss of this fine individual.

The Class of 1965