Albert Frank Gegenheimer, a longtime University of Arizona English professor and editor of the Arizona Quarterly, died Thursday at age 96.
He died at a hospital after a long bout with pneumonia, his son Paul Gegenheimer said.
A graduate of Yale University in 1932, the elder Gegenheimer went on to earn his master's at Case Western Reserve in 1936 and his Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940.
In 1941, Gegenheimer and his wife, Betty, came to Tucson so he could work at the UA. He remained at the university for more than 30 years, except two years when he taught at the University of Connecticut and served in World War II in information education for the U.S. Army, his son said.
In addition, Gegenheimer served as chairman of the UA faculty for 17 years.
In 1951, he began his 37-year run as editor of the Arizona Quarterly, a literary journal that published scholarly research, short stories, book reviews and poetry.
At the Quarterly, he worked with T.S. Eliot, Stephen Spender and Eudora Welty, and was the first to publish the work of Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Gegenheimer said.
"My father was passionate about education," he said. "He was quiet, hard-working and off the charts bright. He was very caring β always concerned about his family and social justice, as well."
He was also very involved in the Episcopal church, Paul Gegenheimer said.
He was the leading supporter of Episcopal work on the UA campus for more than 50 years and served as the chairman of the advisory board for the Episcopal Campus Ministry, which he helped found.
He was a senior warden at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church for more than 10 years. The parish hall there is named after him.
Gegenheimer is survived by his two sons, Peter and Paul Gegenheimer. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at St. Andrew's, 545 S. Fifth Ave., at 11 a.m.
