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William B. Coley II

1923 - 2020

William B. Coley II obituary, 1923-2020, Litchfield, CT

William Coley Obituary

Coley II, William B.
William B. Coley II, died peacefully at home in Litchfield, Connecticut, on January 7, 2020. He was born in New York City in 1923 and was the eldest son of Bradley Lancaster Coley, MD, an oncologic surgeon and his wife, Phyllis McDonnell Coley. His grandfather was William B. Coley, MD, a prominent surgeon who, because of his early investigations into the power of the immune system, is widely considered the "Father of Immunotherapy". This work was the inspiration for the founding of the Cancer Research Institute by Bill's aunt, Helen Coley Nauts, in 1953.
Bill's childhood was spent in both New York City and at his family's country home in Sharon, Connecticut. He graduated from Pomfret School and heeled the Yale Daily News during his freshman year in college. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for four years before returning to Yale University to earn his BA, MA, and Ph.D.
Bill joined the faculty of Wesleyan University in 1952 and taught English there until he retired in 1991. He was awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He published numerous books and articles, including Hogarth on High Life (with A.S. Wensinger, Wesleyan University Press, 1970). He edited three volumes of Henry Fielding's journals. They and his Executive Editorship of the monumental, 16-volume edition of Henry Fielding's work published by Oxford University Press and Wesleyan University Press over the course of several decades, constituted his chief scholarly achievement.
With his students, Bill was a challenging, scrupulous and thoughtful instructor. He cared deeply about them and about the university as a whole. His role as a teacher brought him great joy -- this was apparent to those who knew him. One of his former students noted, "Bill was both a mensch and a mentor to me. He made me feel known and my writing valued and made my time at Wesleyan more meaningful." His longtime friend and colleague, Richard Ohmann, with whom Bill co-edited College English, noted that Bill was one of those who "drove the transformation of Wesleyan from a white, male, "Greek" dominated campus into the more cosmopolitan and politically committed institution it became.
Bill's passion for his craft meant endless hours spent at the British Museum Library in London and the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University. He loved the English language and while he found inexplicable joy in the rather arcane art of the footnote he also had a robust collection of bawdy limericks with which to entertain. He was very connected to the outdoors and served as President of the Jackson Peck Land Company in Sharon for many years. He was an avid distance runner and his love of hiking and camping prompted much travel including a trip to Africa that included summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro at the age of 70. Bill was a music lover with a broad range of tastes from Jelly Roll Morton to Shostakovich. He was a lover of food and drink – again with a broad range of tastes from single malt scotch to ice cream with ginger snaps. Finally, he was most definitely a dog lover and took great comfort in having Lola, his wirehaired pointing griffon, as his constant companion in his final years.
He will be missed by many including his wife of 45 years, Emmy (Kearney), his daughters, Lissy (Phyllis) Coley, Kitty (Katharine) Coley and step-daughters Soni Clubb (Tom Balcezak) Sukoshi Clubb (Sam Adlerstein) and Elizabeth Clubb (Allan Keiter). He leaves a loving family including his brother Peter and wife Amanda, and his sister-in-law Kathleen Coley, his grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Bill was pre-deceased by his brother Geoffrey, his son-in-law Tom Kursar and his late wife Katchen Coley. A service will be held on May 25, 2020, at his home in Litchfield, CT. Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be made to the Cancer Research Institute in New York, NY, or the Audubon Society of Sharon, Connecticut.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Litchfield County Times on Feb. 14, 2020.

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