Walter Hutson Kokernot

Walter Hutson Kokernot was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on the first day of spring, March 21, 1957 where he lived the first four years of his life. The family then moved to Baltimore, Maryland before relocating to Cali, Colombia, then Champaign, Illinois and finally Houston, Texas.

Walter earned both, a secondary teaching certificate in English and history and a bachelor's degree in history, from the University of Texas in Austin; a Master of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico; his Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio; and his doctoral degree in English from Texas A&M University in College Station. In addition, he was given a post-doctoral fellowship as the top Ph.D. graduate. Dr. Kokernot's area of expertise was Victorian literature.

He went on to teach composition, technical writing and literature at Louisiana State University and was a postdoctoral lecturer at Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas. For almost 20 years he taught literature, composition, and technical writing at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. He was a tenured professor and division chair of the English Department for five years.

A brilliant and eloquent scholar, Walter also saw the extraordinary in the simplest things. He was childlike in the way he viewed the world and the magic that generally only a child can see. He sparked creativity and imagination in his two daughters, Laura and Juliette. He wrote a five-hundred-page journal that chronicled their early years. Walter adored them more than anything else in the world.

Walter was a kind and generous man filled with passion for his family, animals, literature, and teaching. As a high school educator and then a professor, Walter had a love of teaching and for his students. He most notably referenced the works of Samuel Johnson, John Milton, C.S. Lewis, and Matthew Arnold. He also found inspiration in the works of Mark Twain and was honored to be published in Mark Twain Journal (The Burning Shame).

He was a father, brother, son, friend, and teacher. But perhaps, most of all he was a human being who, despite personal struggles, would give himself fully, unrelentingly to those who needed him most. He was generous to a fault. At his deepest he was a giver. One of the last things he was going to do, but was prevented from doing by his untimely death, was to give his time and talents volunteering at the ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace in Columbus, Ohio.

Let this unfinished act of his be a call to action for all of us to give and share and help others the way Walter did in a cheerful, jolly manner. When we think of Walter, a passage from St. Paul's letter to the Philippians comes to mind, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -think about such things."

This brilliant, compassionate, gentle man slipped away quietly on Tuesday, December 5th with his family by his side. He will be missed by all that knew and loved him. Predeceased by his father, Dr. Robert Hutson Kokernot and his wife Marlene, he leaves behind his two daughters, Laura Marie Kokernot and Juliette Marie Kokernot, their mother, Lisa Neesvig, his devoted and loving mother, Edith Babcock Kokernot Grinnell, and his three sisters, Jan Kokernot, Peggy Kokernot Kaplan (Richard) and Diana Kokernot Britton (Charles).

Donations to honor his memory may be made to the Dominican Sisters of Peace https://oppeace.org/ministries/peace-justice or to Mercy for Animals at www.MercyforAnimals.org