Donald McCluskey, 96, died Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at Kirkland Village, Bethlehem.
Born: March 28, 1915 in Easton he was a son of the late Hon. Frank P. and Alice Riddle McCluskey.
Personal: A 1932 graduate of Easton High School, he earned a B.A. degree at Lafayette College in 1936 and a doctorate in English literature at Yale University in 1941. He served as a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army Service Forces from 1941 to 1945. From 1946 to 1981 he was a professor of English literature at Lafayette College. He also studied at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English, Columbia University, the University of Michigan and the Linguistic Institute of Georgetown University. He had a special interest in languages, studying Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, French, German, Spanish and Russian.
Memberships: He was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Easton; the Modern Language Association, the Linguistic Society of America; the American Association of University Professors and a Life Member of Dallas-Lafayette Lodge # 396, F&AM.
Survivors: Dr. McCluskey is survived by Alice, Clint, Nora and Sam Palmer; Peggy Palmer and Paul Felder; Fallon, Peter James, Jennifer, Jake, Charlotte and Dylan Maggio; Pat, Monica, Megan, Patrick and Winnie McCluskey.
Services: Will be private. Interment will be in Easton Cemetery.
Memorials: The family requests memorials be sent to the Skillman Library of Lafayette College or VNA Hospice of St. Luke’s, 1510 Valley Center Parkway, Suite 200, Bethlehem, PA 18017.
Rose and Don Miller
September 26, 2011 at 11:21 am
Don was our neighbor on Penna. Ave. from 1980 until he moved to Kirkland. Our daughter Nicole remembers, shortly after we moved there, being invited to tea by Don and his mother. He was so gracious and always a gentlemen. We loved hearing him play his harp on the front porch during the summer months.
Although we hadn’t seen him in a few years he was always in our thoughts. He was a wonderful neighbor and friend.
Our sympathies to his family.
Richard Lawrence ’77
October 5, 2011 at 10:25 am
With sincere sympathy. Prof. McCloskey was a delightful instructor. I always enjoyed lively conversations with him. He was my Freshman English instructor.
Francis J. Puskas II ’92
October 20, 2011 at 12:24 pm
I was a junior at Lafayette College when I first met Don. He was already retired from teaching. I was 21 and Don was about 75. It was fall and Don stopped by McKelvy House for a private tour of the place and happened to spot me down a long hallway on the second floor coming out of my room. The weather was cold and I wore a long, black wool coat and gloves. Don asked about me and we were introduced. Don later told me he had been very good friends with the McKelvy family before the house was donated to the college, particularly the son, Frank McKelvy. He said that when he saw me come out of what had been Frank McKelvy’s bedroom, dressed as I was, it was like time traveling backward as I reminded him of his old friend, Frank McKelvy. Thus began our friendship.
I remember I first addressed him as “Mr. McCluskey,” but he quickly told me to just call him “Don.” He said “Mr. McCluskey” made him feel old. You would think a 21-year old and a 75-year old would have little in common, but we hit it off right away and it felt like we had been friends for years. In many ways, I think we were kindred spirits.
We both loved learning. I spent countless hours visiting with him at his house, working on Chinese puzzle boxes, talking about every subject under the sun until the early hours of the morning. We would discuss literature, music, and art. I would even give him private lectures, whether it was on Leonardo da Vinci’s Battle of Anghieri vs. Michelangelo’s Battle of Cascina, or his beautiful replica of Robert Campin’s triptych, the Merode Altarpiece.
Don taught me about Persian carpets, Sanskrit, the etymology of words and phrases (he had the complete set of the Oxford English Dictionary), and life in the 1930s in Easton, Pennsylvania. We discussed Shakespeare and I memorized sonnets. We even did yard work together at his place. Don was the epitome of gentility and kindness. Whenever we had been visiting for a time, he would announce that we needed “refreshment,” and off he’d go to get tea and cookies or sandwiches. He was one of my best friends when I was a college student. After graduating, and as I moved further away, and Don moved to Kirkland Village, we always kept in touch through the mail.
One of Don’s favorite poems was The Windhover by Girard Manley Hopkins. He introduced me to it. To this day, I keep a copy of it. It is a difficult poem, generally about Hopkins’ observations of a bird of prey, but also about the glory of Christ in nature and even a metaphor for Christ’s sacrifice. I can only think that Don must be overjoyed to finally say, “I caught this morning morning’s minion, kingdom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-drawn falcon in his riding.”
Truly, Don was one of the most wonderful human beings one could ever hope to meet in life. I will miss him more than these words could ever express, and I will never forget him. Goodbye, my old friend!