Basil Long Crapster ’41

"BAS" DIED May 17, 1991, in Gettysburg, Penn., after a brief illness. Born July 3, 1920, in Taneytown, Md., he entered Princeton from Mercersburg Academy, was in Campus Club, and graduated with honors in history. After acquiring an A.M. at Harvard, he was commissioned by the Navy and served four years in Military Intelligence at Pearl Harbor and in Washington, before returning to Harvard, where he received his Ph.D. in history. In 1949 he joined the faculty of Gettysburg College, where he taught European history until his retirement in 1988. After 1964 he was chairman of the department and served four years as dean of the college. He was a member of many learned societies, including the American Historical Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and the American Assn. of University Professors.

In 1953 he married Joan Tewksbury; she died in 1989. Their two children are Basil Tewksbury Crapster and Dr. Barbara CrapsterPregant. There are three grandchildren.

Bas considered himself fortunate to spend most of his life with a devoted family in the part of the country he liked best, doing the work he loved. His keen mind and dry humor ideally fit the professorial role. He and Joan made periodic trips to the British Isles and many genealogical forays into the Maryland countryside. To his family the Class extends its most heartfelt condolences.

The Class of 1941