Dr. David W. H. Pellow

Dr. David W.H. Pellow was born in Brighton, United Kingdom, to William Thomas and Alice (née Phillips) Pellow. He received his early and high school education in the UK. He studied advertising at Melbourne Tech and worked for a while at Wigmores, the Western Australia importer of Caterpillar tractors and John Deere equipment. He served honorably in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1956-1959. His further education: the B.A. (summa cum laude) at Kent State University, 1963; the M.A. at Vanderbilt University in 1968; and the Ph.D. also at Vanderbilt, in 1971. Other study included European History and French Business at the Université d'été of the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris, in France, Summer history and humanities seminars at Oxford, and Spanish at la Escuela de Lenguas Extrangeras in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

His frequent travel and foreign residences required that he acquire or study a number of languages, among them French, Spanish, Danish, German, Chinese, and Arabic.

Professor of French and World History, Dr. Pellow taught in various capacities at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, American Baptist Theological Seminary, Hampton University, Fisk University and North Carolina Central University. In 1972-73 he directed a program for American students in Rabat, Morocco at the Université Nationale Mohammed V. His research frequently appeared in articles and papers presented at various national and international conferences or in scholarly books and journals.

Until he retired in 2002 he was a member of a number of professional organizations, including the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French), ACS (Association of Caribbean Studies), ALA (African Literature Association), APELA (Association pour l'Étude des Litératures Africaines), CLA (College Language Association), FCHS (French Colonial Historical Society), PHA (Pacific History Association), SAAD (Société des Amis d'Alexandre Dumas), SCAAS (Southern Conference on African American Studies), SFHS (Society for French Historical Studies), and the WHA (World History Association).

Dr. Pellow was preceded in death by his father in 1985, his mother in 2005, and his sister Norma in 2018. He is mourned by his beloved wife of 41 years, Dr. Arlene Louise Clift Pellow, by three sons, Alexander, David Naguib and Jamal; by daughters-in-law Jennifer, Sun-Hee, and Shanna; by six grandchildren, Madison, Benjamin, Naomi, Jin-Young, Aidan and Michelle; and three great grandchildren Violet, Beau, and Vivian. He leaves numerous relatives, both close and distant, in many parts of the world: the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Cameroon, Argentina and Trinidad. His love of family was central to his joy in life.

Although he coached competitive swimming and cricket, Dr. Pellow was not a sports fan, having, like scholar John McWhorter, given up chasing balls when he outgrew adolescence. His interests included politics, world affairs, foreign travel, languages, currencies, birds, dogs, trees, archeology, book-binding, carpentry, cooking, gardening, fishing, geology, and writing.

He and Arlene moved to Carbondale from North Carolina in 2013, and he enjoyed participating in the French Club, in Southern Illinois Learning in Retirement Program activities, and in the creative writing and book discussion groups at the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship. His knowledge was encyclopedic and he could (and would) talk about anything. But he was also an attentive listener and interested in learning from others. He almost reached 90, and the family thanks the many medical professionals and friends who made that goal conceivable.

A gathering of family and friends will take place at a later date.

Meredith Funeral Home in Carbondale assisted the family with arrangements. To leave a story or memory of Dr. Pellow, visit www.meredithfh.com.