Jim Newcomer '33

James "Jim" Newcomer '33, on August 25, 2012. The Fort Worth, Texas, resident was 100.  

Jim was an English major. He was editor of the Collegian, joined Beta Theta Pi, and performed with the Chamber Singers. Jim was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a master's at the University of Michigan in 1939 and a doctorate at the University of Iowa in 1953.

Jim served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a first lieutenant in the 3rd Army and saw combat throughout Europe starting at the Normandy invasion and including the Battle of the Bulge. He participated in the liberation of Luxembourg and became a Luxembourg historian, writing the first history of the country written in English (The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: The Evolution of Nationhood). He also wrote The Nationhood of Luxembourg.

In a 2000 letter to the College, he reflected on the war, noting the liberation of Luxembourg. "Five of the Kenyon men who died were killed in areas where I fought," he wrote. "I handled prisoners and carried dead bodies to the cemeteries."

His career centered on academia and letters. Before the war he was assistant head master at Elgin Academy in Elgin, Illinois. He was later dean of the Hockaday Junior College and head of the English Department; dean of Olivet College; dean of the faculty and graduate school at Texas Women's University; and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Texas Christian University (TCU), where he was also director of the TCU Press. Jim retired from TCU in 1987.

Jim wrote and had published poetry, essays, shortstories, and a number of books. One book of poetry, A Measure of Grace, was published when he was eighty-five. Jim was also a musician who began playing the violin at an early age and continued to play the instrument at times with the TCU Symphony Orchestra. He also played the saxophone and performed in dance bands. He helped bring the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to TCU.

He donated hundreds of books to Kenyon and stayed in close contact with the College. In a 1996 poem he wrote, "I stall time that I might time forestall."

He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth. He was survived by daughters Jane Fuller and Mary McKinney; son, Rob Newcomer; and five grandchildren.