GARY TROTTER

TROTTER--Gary Owen, 82. A generous soul and kindred spirit, Dr. Trotter died at peace on March 24, 2024, following a prolonged illness. Devoted husband to Katherine, his wife of 60 years, loving father to his son, Alexander, and his daughter, Holly (John) Johnston, and beloved Baba to his three granddaughters, Loreena, Annika, and Sonja. Gary will be greatly missed by his family and his many lifelong friends. He was a man of letters, with a deep love of literature and the arts, a keen concern for the lives of others, and a uniquely penetrating wit and manner of expression. He graduated with distinction from Hofstra University in 1963 with a degree in English, served as an Army officer during the Vietnam era, and earned master's and doctoral degrees in American Literature from SUNY Buffalo in 1979. Gary spent most of his life and career in Maryland, where he lived with his family and devoted 30 years to teaching classic and contemporary American literature and "the word and how it works" to his many students at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC. Gary was also widely known in the academic community for his engaging teaching style at Hofstra as a recent graduate, at SUNY Buffalo as a graduate student, and in Maryland at community colleges, an art school, and a prison. With "Gaudeamus igitur" (So let us rejoice), his favorite graduation anthem of student joy despite the shortness of life, we bid farewell to a noble heart. The services have been entrusted to the William E. Law Funeral Home in Massapequa, NY. The family plans a future memorial celebration. For more info: www.williamlawfh.com