To the Mary Baldwin University Community,
Yesterday (August 15), our college community lost a gentle lion of great stature when Dr. Frank Southerington, Mary Baldwin professor emeritus of English and Virginia Worth Gonder Shakespeare Fellow, passed away. Witty, caring, and passionate, he was an inspiring teacher, valued colleague, and beloved friend to many whose impact on the community far outreached our campus borders.
Dr. Southerington first came to Mary Baldwin in 1968 and retired in 2007 after 39 years at the college, capping his 45-year academic career with six years as director and professor in what was then called the Master of Letters/Master of Fine Arts program in Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in Performance. A scholar of Thomas Hardy and August Strindberg, he was active in Mary Baldwin and community theatre, including especially the Oak Grove Theatre and Theatre Wagon. He continued to act in area productions, direct plays at Mary Baldwin, and teach classes until very recently.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Terry Southerington ’72, also a longtime and much valued colleague on the Mary Baldwin faculty, their children, and their extended family.
We invite you to post memories and tributes on the Mary Baldwin Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
You may also read his obituary in today’s Staunton News Leader at
https://www.newsleader.com/
We understand that there are no plans for a service at this time.
Sincerely,
President Fox