John Francis Desmond

John Desmond, Emeritus Professor of English at Whitman College, died on Wednesday December 16, 2020.

John was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 24, 1939.  He attended Catholic grade and high schools, and graduated from the University of Detroit in 1960.  He attended graduate school at the University of Oklahoma, earning M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English and American Literature.  He taught as an assistant professor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio from 1970 to 1975.  He came to Whitman College in 1975 and taught in the English Department until 2004.  After retirement, he served as a volunteer at Helpline of Walla Walla, Catholic Senior Services, and at Providence St. Mary Hospital.  He also taught classes in the Quest program at Walla Walla Community College.

John was a widely-recognized teacher-scholar whose specialties were the literature of the American South and modern Irish literature.  He published scholarly books on Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, and the Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet, Seamus Heaney.  In addition, he published more than fifty scholarly articles on American, Irish, European and Russian authors in national and international journals, as well as national magazines.  He also lectured throughout the United States, Ireland, England, and Japan.  He was the founder and president of the Walker Percy Society, and a long-time member of the Board of the Flannery O‘Connor Society.

John is survived by his wife Linda Atkins Desmond of Walla Walla and by his two children, Sean Matthew(Jennifer) Desmond of Moorpark, California, and Monica Leigh Desmond (Todd Looby) of Bend, Oregon.  He is also survived by five grandchildren: Sean, Teia, and Anya Desmond of Moorpark, CA; and Teresa and Seamus Looby of Bend, OR.

A Rosary and memorial mass for John will be celebrated at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church at a future date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Helpline of Walla Walla, Catholic Charities, the Odd Fellows, or the Providence St. Mary Hospital Cancer Center through the Herring Groseclose Funeral Home.