Wardropper, Spanish lit expert, dies

Bruce Wear Wardropper, William Hane Wannamaker professor emeritus of romance studies, died Jan. 6. He was 84.

Wardropper served on Duke's faculty from 1963 until his retirement in 1989. He specialized in Spanish literature of the Renaissance and Baroque periods and also served as a comparatist. He wrote a number of books and articles in these fields, including Spanish Poetry of the Golden Age and Critical Essays on the Theater of Calderon.

Wardropper was born in Leith, Scotland, in 1919. He grew up in Essex and Birmingham, England, studying in the latter at the King Edward School. He earned a bachelor's of arts degree in 1939 and a master's of arts degree in 1942 from Cambridge University.

He taught during World War II at the Wolmers School in Kingston, Jamaica, where he married Joyce Vaz in 1942. The couple moved to the United States after the war where their son, Ian Bruce, was born.

Wardropper earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1949, going on to teach at the Johns Hopkins University and at Ohio State University. His wife, Joyce, died in 1959, during his stay at Ohio State. Wardropper married Nancy Palmer in 1960 after returning to Johns Hopkins.

He is survived by his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, Sarah McNear, and a granddaughter, Chloe.

Memorial remembrances may be made to Duke Community Hospice, 4321 Medical park Drive, Durham, NC 27704; the Animal Protection Society of Durham, 2117 East Club Blvd., Durham, N.C., 27704, or the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Box 09626, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708.

A memorial gathering will be arranged soon.