Name: Visitation for ROBERT F.X. RENEHAN
Start: 2019-05-05T18:00:00.000Z
End: 2019-05-05T21:00:00.000Z
Location: George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home - West Roxbury

RENEHAN, Robert F.X. Age 84, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family after a long illness on April 26, 2019. Originally from and raised in Dorchester, MA, Bob was born to Francis Xavier and Ethel Mary (Sullivan) Renehan on April 25, 1935. He was a graduate of Boston College High School 1952, Boston College 1956, and received his Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard University 1963. A traveling fellowship from Harvard University in 1954 allowed him to spend a year researching ancient texts held in the Vatican Library; he was named a National Endowment for Humanities Senior Fellow 1972-73. After teaching at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley, Bob joined the Classics Department at Boston College as a professor and later served as department chair. In 1977, he moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he took great pleasure in teaching and mentoring students and served twice as Classics Department Chair. A prolific writer and internationally respected scholar noted for his expertise in ancient Greek philosophy and textual criticism, he published five books and more than 140 journal articles and reviews and enjoyed the friendship of many dear colleagues and students. Devoted husband to Joan D. (Axtell) Renehan and beloved father of Martin Cole of Welaka, FL, Sharon Cole of Eureka, CA, Stephen Renehan (Bonnie) of Santa Barbara, CA, Judith Renehan Rouse (Daniel) of West Roxbury, MA, and John Renehan (Susan) of Arlington, VA. Caring grandfather to Christopher Cole (Helen), Stephanie Tennis (Seager), Robert Rouse, Katie Rouse, Liam Renehan, Colin Renehan, Lucy Renehan and great-granddaughter Emma Cole. Also survived by his dear brother Richard W. Renehan, wife Mary, and his beloved nieces and nephews Anne Renehan, Joan Renehan, Mark Renehan, and Richard Renehan (Maureen) and their children Owen, Anna, and Jack; and cousins Catherine McDonough, Jean O'Hara, Mary Jane Scola, Barbara Sullivan, and Neil Sullivan. He was predeceased by his parents Frank and Ethel Renehan, sister Joan Therese Renehan, and cousins Lida Hawk and Patricia Rein. Bob's medical team over the past few years has been exceptional. We are deeply grateful for the expert care and compassion of Dr. Gary Van Deventer, Dr. Robert Harbaugh, and Nancy Warner, FNP; caregivers Estela Chavez, Goretty Sedeno, Candelaria Garcia, and Nallely Alegria, Central Coast Hospice, and the kindness of many others. Visiting Hours at the P.E. Murray - F.J. Higgins, George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 2000 Centre St., WEST ROXBURY, on Sunday, May 5th from 2-5PM. Funeral from the Funeral Home on Monday, May 6th at 8:45AM, followed by a Funeral Mass at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Boston College, 28 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, at 10am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Burial following at St. Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury, MA. A Memorial Mass to celebrate Bob's life will be planned in Santa Barbara, CA later in the spring. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Save the Children which Bob supported for many decades or the National Audubon Society in honor of his love of all animals, especially songbirds. For directions and guestbook pemurrayfuneral.com P.E. Murray - F.J. Higgins George F. Doherty & Sons West Roxbury 617 325 2000

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Published by Boston Globe from Apr. 30 to May 5, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for ROBERT RENEHAN

6 Entries

April 28, 2020

Dear family please accept my condolence and take courage, throw all your anxiety on the God of peace, he is near to all those calling upon him. He will grant you the strength the courage as you face the coming days.

Jan Fournier

May 4, 2019

I knew Bob and his family for many years through the dental office where I worked. He was a lovely man! RIP

Paris Psaros

May 3, 2019

Bob, besides being a very witty man, and having that unmistakable Bostonian sense of humor was a kind and supportive Professor. While I worked at the Department he always had an encouraging word to everyone around him. He will undoubtedly be remember for a very long time by the many souls he has touched during his life.

The Spirited Grace Lily Bouquet - VASE INCLUDED

a loved one

Sent Flowers

Brett Robbins

May 1, 2019

Of all the Professors I had the pleasure to study with at UCSB as an undergraduate and graduate student in the 1990's, Professor Renehan is the one I have brought up in conversation and in the context of class-sessions most often, for obvious reasons to the initiated but hardly hinted at in this obituary. Renehan, you see, was the student of the student of the greatest philologist of all time, the guy who engaged in public debates with another classicist named Friedrich Nietzsche. I'll never forget visiting his office as a grad student and him pulling his LSJ off the shelf and (a parlor trick he was notorious for pulling off more often than seemed possible) opening it up to the exact word he wanted to look up; the capacious margins filled with half-ant-sized writing, the marginalia of the man who, via articles frequently featured in the most rigorously peer-reviewed scholarly journals, corrected and augmented the LSJ. He was the kind of teacher who assigns to his Greek composition class the reading of the entire syntax section of Smyth, the way others assign novels, simply because of the value of having the experience of doing so under your belt. A day I'll never forget is when he threw an empty can of Dr. Pepper (his favorite [nay, ubiquitous] beverage) at me from across the room after asking him a (probably stupid or otherwise throw-a-can-at-me-worthy) question and nonchalantly catching it and without a beat tossing it into the trash can behind me with a perfect swish to the unrestrained laughter of the room and the visible amusement of the can-thrower. It may very well be the only time I impressed him to any extent. You see, Dr. Renehan was (at least in an academic setting) on a different planet than anyone else; humble enough, yes, but in another sense not, in another sense justifiably and proudly elitist and aware of his superiority to everyone else but with a twinkle in his eye that assured you he knew you knew he knew he was no less mortal than any of us.

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