Jeffrey Del Col
May 6, 1947 ~ March 9, 2016
Life Legacy
Jeffrey Anthony Del Col, 68, of Philippi, WV, died Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at his home.
He was born on May 6, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio, son of the late Aldo Del Col and Dorothy (Kaczorowski) Del Col, who survives in Tavares, Florida. In January of 1971, he was married to Carol (Henry) Del Col, who survives at their home in Philippi.
He received B.A., M.A., and Ed.D. degrees from West Virginia University. In May of 2015 he retired from a distinguished 37-year career of teaching English at Alderson Broaddus, where he was known and admired for his erudition and for his ability to both challenge and encourage students.
In addition to nurturing the writing skills of his students, he was himself a writer. He had had a number of his poems and other writings published, and at the time of his death was preparing a collection of his poetry for possible publication.
He was an avid flower gardener, raising an impressive array of cacti, orchids, roses, and other flowering plants; and a dedicated birdwatcher with an encyclopedic knowledge of the birds of West Virginia.
In addition to his wife and his mother, he is survived by his daughter, Laura Del Col Brown, and husband, Chris Brown, of Harrow, England; his son, Stephen Jeffrey Del Col, of Vermont; his sister Deborah Del Col Lawson and husband, Tom Lawson, of Morgantown, WV; and his sister Cynthia Del Col Hibler and husband, Frank Hibler, of Apopka, Florida.
A memorial service will be held on a date to be announced later.
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My thoughts and prayers are with your family! So sorry it was too soon!
Carol and family, I am so sorry for your tremendous loss. May God grant you comfort and peace.
June
I will cherish my fond memories of Jeff. His dry humor and interesting comments peppered every conversation. His quiet encouragement and creative thinking when challenges were faced. I cant imagine Carol without him – I am so sad for her. Just cant believe he is gone.
My thoughts and prayers, to Carol, Laura, and Stephen. He was such a sweet man, and is going to be missed greatly.
Im so saddened by this news. Dr Del Col was my favorite college professor.
When I look back on the class I took from Dr. Del Col in the early 80s I remember him as a tough professor with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. His was one of my favorite electives. He will be missed!
My thoughts & prayers are with you all during this sad time..
My prayers are with your family. Jeff leaves a legacy of inspired students whom he guided in the art of critical thinking. My proudest moment in college was doing well in his class.
My thoughts & prayers are with you all during this sad time..
I love you, Dad, and Ill miss you more than I can say. Thank you for everything you gave me. I will watch the birds for you.
A good professor whos quiet wisdom spoke volumes.
Prayers
Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.
Still doesnt feel real. I wish everyone could have taken a class with this man at its heart. He not only taught a rigorous curriculum, but he refused to let the education stop with a simple reading. He challenged his students to be inquisitive, interactive and critical. To never take a work at face value. To think for yourself, regardless of whether he agreed with your perspective. He wanted his students to take more from the classroom than a syllabus and course credits. He wanted us to make something of ourselves. Its a comfort to know that his 30+ years of service as an educator were not in vain. Countless students will forever hold this brilliant, albeit curmudgeonly, academic in highest regard for many years to come.
I know during my time as a student at Alderson-Broaddus Dr. Jeff Del Col was a bit of an immortal name and was always spoken with reverence. I believe it will always be such. Though his personal journey here has ended, I am confident that his spirit will remain steadfast in the hearts of his students, his colleagues, his family, and his friends.
Love to the Del Col family.
Carol, Laura and Stephen
Our hearts are broken for you and the loss of your husband and father and of our friend. Knowing Jeff for over 40 years, he was, without doubt, the first person I knew who could speak knowledgeably and impressively on a wide range of topics, from some obscure aspect of science, newest technology, the latest literary work, quirky cats, temperamental plants, the culinary arts, and much more. We will always cherish our conversations, sprinkled with Jeff's dry sense of humor and infectious laugh and, most of all, his kindness and love for his family.
All our love and friendship, Martha, Herb and Rachel
We and Three Rivers Avian Center are deeply saddened to know of the loss of Jeff. He was such a great birder and we enjoyed his posts to the birding groups very much. Our heartfelt condolences to all his family, especially to Carol.
So sorry for your loss. My prayers go out to you and your family.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Del Col family during this tough time. Dr. Del Col encouraged us to push ourselves, think outside the box, and to be proud of the message we wrote in our essays. He was one of my favourite teachers during my 4 years at A-B.
I always wondered if he was actually reading every word of every essay submitted to him on a weekly basis… So one week my team mate and I decided to add the same movie quote into our essay to see if he would catch it… needless to say, the quote was circled, with a (very) noticeable question mark above it on both of our essays. So yes… he did read every word. Teaching was an obvious passion that he shared with his students.
I thank him for the impression he left on me.
Kevin Lake
Alderson-Broaddus graduating class of 2010.
AB Mens Soccer 6
Very sad day. Dr. Del Col was one of my favorite professors at AB. He always challenged us to do better and to think deeper. I took some advanced courses with him because I knew he would help show me my true writing potential. My thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Del Col and AB family as a truly great man was taken away too soon.
In memory of Jeffrey Del Col, Rae Stewart lit a candle