John Glasse

John Glasse

Poughkeepsie - John Howell ("Jack") Glasse, a longtime resident of Poughkeepsie, NY, passed away on August 19, 2014 at the age of 92 at the Woodland Pond retirement village, New Paltz, NY.

Born near Buffalo, NY in 1922, Jack grew up in California and Juneau, Alaska and received his BA degree from Willamette University and PhD from Yale Divinity School. He married the love of his life, the former Wanda Lou Howard of Marlow Oklahoma, in 1950.

Jack joined the Vassar College faculty in 1956. As a Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Jack enjoyed a 34 year career at Vassar which involved research on the work of Ludwig Feuerbach and took him to Europe, including Eastern Bloc countries prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. He retired from Vassar in 1990. Jack was also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church and was a longstanding member of the First Presbyterian Church in Poughkeepsie and, following its closing, Freedom Plains Presbyterian Church in Freedom Plains, NY.

Photography was a lifetime interest, having first worked as a professional photographer while a teenager and in college and later as a collector, focusing on the work of major 20th century photographers.

Jack was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Scandinavian Seminar, an international educational organization providing college study abroad and cultural immersion opportunities.

Jack was predeceased by his brother, James D. Glasse of Orinda, CA. He is survived by his sister, Marie Tapp of Seattle, WA; beloved wife, Lou Glasse of New Paltz, NY; sons, Jeff Glasse of Montclair, NJ and Paul Glasse of Wimberley, TX; daughters-in-law Linda Glasse and Polly Glasse, and four grandchildren, Lauren, Trevor, Marielle, and Julien.