Marvin Morillo

September 6, 1926 - December 11, 2015

Marvin Morillo died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, on December 11, 2015.

He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on September 6, 1926. He was the son of Ralph Louis Morillo and Alma Dixon Morillo.

He graduated from St. Andrew's School in Charleston and then went to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he studied English, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1946 and a Master of Arts in 1948.

He earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Michigan in 1958.

While studying, he also taught at Emory University and Carleton College, and when he graduated, he took a job at Newcomb College at Tulane University in New Orleans.

While at Michigan, he met and married Carolyn Reeder. They had two sons, Stephen (1958) and John (1960).

In his career at Newcomb, Marvin published on Donne and produced an annotated edition of a 17th-century play.

But his true passion was teaching. He introduced generations of students to Shakespeare and specialized as well in 17th-century poetry.

His students invited him to give the Newcomb College graduation speech in 1963, and a number of his graduate students went on to successful careers of their own, remaining lifelong friends.

In New Orleans, Marvin developed his expertise in cooking, including New Orleans specialties such as gumbo, barbecued shrimp and stuffed redfish, as well as coq au vin, roast duck and orange Bavarian cream.

He loved to watch sports on TV while listening to the Metropolitan opera. Mozart was his favorite, and he also sang with chorale groups and played the piano.

He never liked rock 'n' roll but still bought the first Monkees album for his sons.

He liked to play tennis and was a lover of travel. He and Carolyn took the family on long summer camping trips across the country when the boys were young. Later, he and Carolyn globe-trotted to China, Egypt, Tibet and other exotic locales.

Finally, his love of literature was not just professional; he loved reading murder mysteries and anything by John Cheever.

Having taught for 35 years at Tulane, he retired in 1993 and a year later moved to Port Angeles near Carolyn's hometown of Tacoma, Washington.

He is survived by his sisters, Rae Cowan and Lynda Hord, and by Carolyn, Stephen, John, as well as his four grandchildren, Robin, Dione, Raphael (by Stephen) and William (by John).

At Marvin's request, there will be no services.