David H. Burton Ph.D

David H. Burton, Ph.D, age 91, of Bryn Mawr, PA, passed away on October 22, 2016. Born in Oil City, PA, he was the son of the late Henry D. and Isabel Burton (nee Duplaine). Dr. Burton attended St Joseph's High School, Oil City PA 1943; University of Scranton, BA History, Magna Cum Laude 1949; and Georgetown University, MA, 1951, PhD History, 1953. He served in the United States Army as a PFC from July 26 1943-March 31 1946 334th Infantry, Company G. He fought and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge (Central Europe Rhineland). He received the following decorations and citations: European, African, Middle Eastern Service Medal; American Service Medal; Distinguished Unit Badge; Purple Heart; World War II Victory Medal; Good Conduct Medal and the Bronze Star. While he was working on his PhD thesis, he was a research specialist in Ordnance Strategic Intelligence at the Pentagon (Department of the Army); then he worked in the DC public library. He came to St. Joseph's College in 1953. He left for a year in 1955 and worked at Duquesne University to be nearer his father, who was dying of cancer in Oil City. His father died in 1956 and he returned to St. Joe's. He taught at Cabrini College from 1958-63. He taught night school twice a week at St. Joe's for many years. He also lectured at Georgetown, at Heythrop College, University of London, and at the Polytechnic of Central London while on sabbatical leaves. He was the Department Head of History for 24 years at St. Joseph's University. He won a Lindback award for teaching proficiency in 1962; the Themis Award from the Delaware County Bar Association in 1970; the Tengelmann Prize for Teaching and Research in 1990; and the Brother Sheehan, SJ, award for institutional service. He is the author/editor of some twenty books, many of them in the field of historical biography, including the lives of Theodore Roosevelt, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., William Howard Taft, and Clara Barton. He also edited the correspondence of Holmes and Canon Sheehan and Holmes and Franklin Ford for publication in cooperation with the Harvard Law School. In addition to biographies, he has penned ancillary monographs, viz., Theodore Roosevelt: Confident Imperialist and Theodore Roosevelt: American Politician, and Oliver Wendell Homes: The Political Ideas of Justice Holmes. Another major theme of his scholarly work centered on the Anglo-American "special relationship," beginning with Theodore Roosevelt and His English Correspondents. In seeking to develop an understanding of the "special relationship" he wrote a biography of Sir Cecil Spring Rice, a close friend of Roosevelt, in addition to An Anglo-American Plutarch and British-American Diplomacy, 1985-1917. His collection American History-British Historians was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1976. And The Learned Presidency was named by CHOICE as one of the outstanding academic books for 1988. He is the editor of The Collected Works of William Howard Taft, 8 volumes, and the author of a Taft trilogy: Taft, Holmes and the 1920s Court; Taft, Wilson and World Order; and Taft, Roosevelt and the Limits of Friendship. William Howard Taft: Confident Peacemaker rounds out his efforts to being Taft into sharper focus, and complements his 1999 appearance on the C-Span series on American presidents when he was the "expert witness" in the case of Taft as a notable but too little appreciated chief executive. His hobbies and interests included the orchestra, opera, theater and watching professional baseball and college basketball. He is survived by his beloved wife of 56 years, Geraldine Ferrari Burton, his daughters Antoinette, Monica and Victoria Burton; son-in-law Paul Arroyo; grandchildren Nicholas David Burton Arroyo, Olivia Marie Burton Arroyo and David Francis Burton. Relatives and friends are invited to his Viewing Thursday October 27th, 2016 7:00-9:00 PM The Donohue Funeral Home, 366 West Lancaster Avenue Wayne PA 19087 and Friday, October 28, 2016 8:30-9:45 AM St. Thomas of Villanova Church on the Campus of Villanova University, 800 E. Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA and to his Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory to The Burton Fund, c/o St. Joseph's University, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131 would be appreciated.