J. Lasley Dameron's Obituary
Dr. John Lasley Dameron, 90 years old, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Memphis, passed away at the Baptist Reynolds Hospice House on June 27, 2016. Born in Burlington, North Carolina, he was the third child of Judge E. S. W. Dameron, Sr., and Lola Lasley Dameron. Reared in Burlington with his late brother, E. S. W. Dameron, Jr., who became an attorney at law, Dr. Dameron attended the University of North Carolina and graduated with a B. S. in Commerce in 1950 and a M. A. in English in 1952. During World War II he served with the U. S. Navy as a hospital corpsman from 1943 to 1945. He was assigned for several months to the Third Marine Division and in February, 1945, participated in the battle of Iwo Jima. From 1953 to 1955 he served as Instructor of English at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia, and in 1962, he was awarded a Ph. D. in English from the University of Tennessee. In the fall of 1962, Dr. Dameron joined the English Department of Memphis State University, retiring in 1991. Throughout his academic career, he published and edited articles and books on 19th century American writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. He continued his research after his retirement and remained active in several scholarly organizations. He once served as President of the international Poe Studies Association from 1978 to 1980. Dr. Dameron was an avid tennis player. He and his wife of sixty-six years, Elizabeth Virginia Eaddy Dameron, each won several local and regional tennis championships. They have two sons: Dr. George Williamson Dameron, Professor of History at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, and John Edgar Dameron, Activity Director at the Lodge, a retirement home in Carson City, Nevada. Dr. Dameron and his wife also have two grandsons and six great-children. The family will receive friends on Thursday, June 30, 2016 from 4 pm – 6 pm at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5668 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38119. Memorials are requested to be sent to the charity of the donor’s choice.Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5668 Poplar, Memphis, TN 38119. “Celebrating Life…..Behind the Stone Wall”.
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