Obituary of William R. Drennan

William Ryland (Bill) Drennan, age 71, fell asleep in the Lord on May 2, 2015, following a protracted battle with cancer. He was born January 24, 1944, in suburban Philadelphia and spent his childhood in Vermont, summering on Long Beach Island, NJ. At age ten, Bill and his family moved to Sarasota, FL, where he completed his primary and secondary education; at Sarasota High School, he played baseball, was president of the student council, won a statewide debate competition, and was ringmaster of the famous Sailor Circus. Bill received his BA in English (1966) from the University of Florida and his MA (1976) and Ph.D. (1983), with a concentration on the English Renaissance, from the University of South Florida, Tampa. He was also selected as a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminarian at Yale University. Aside from two years of high school teaching and ten years as a youth counselor with the State of Florida, Bill spent the bulk of his career in the University of Wisconsin Colleges, primarily at the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County, retiring as an emeritus full professor of English in 2007 and relocating to Blowing Rock, in the North Carolina mountains. In semi-retirement, he concluded his teaching career as an English instructor at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Bill published over twenty articles in scholarly books and journals and authored Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders, which has sold more copies than any other book published by the University of Wisconsin Press in the twenty-first century. At both UW-Baraboo and at Appalachian State, Bill received numerous awards for his research and classroom teaching. He was held in affection by generations of students, and Bill returned that affection. Away from the classroom, Bill was devoted to the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin Badgers, Florida Gators, and the Philadelphia Phillies; he enjoyed golf, racquetball, and acoustic guitar. He was predeceased by his parents, Philip G. Drennan and Mary G. Drennan Blodgett; his step-father, Kimball Blodgett; his sister Jane Drennan Thayer; his maternal grandparents Raymond and Nellie Ammerman; his paternal grandparents, Carl and Myrtle Drennan; and by his aunts Flora Drennan, Blanche Utley, Frances Darling, and Bessie Drennan, all of Woodbury, VT. He is survived by his inexpressibly beloved wife Beth Roney Drennan of Blowing Rock, NC; his adored daughter Emma Jane Drennan, Richmond, VA; his equally-adored step-children Sarah Teresa Hancock Roney and John Paul Roney, Nashville, TN; his former wife Suzanne Ellen (David) Drennan, Madison, WI; and his nephews Kevin (Dawn) Thayer, Micanopy, FL; Philip Thayer, Trenton, NJ; Timothy (Lisa) Thayer, Kelso, WA; and Glenn Thayer, Las Vegas, NV. He is survived as well by a host of friends, a sweet cloud of memories, and two terrific dogs. A devout Christian believer with a theological background in Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, Bill has most recently attended Christ the King Anglican Fellowship in Boone, NC. Austin and Barnes Funeral Home, 194 Queen Street, Boone, is serving the family. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Christ the King Anglican Fellowship, c/o Richard Prentiss, 446 Peaceful Haven Drive, Unit 822, Boone, NC 28607; or to Medi Home Health and Hospice, Boone Office, 400 Shadowline Drive, Suite 102 Boone, NC 28607. The family remains unspeakably grateful to both Christ the King and to Medi Home Hospice for their remarkable compassion, displaying as they did an unparalleled level of outright love, right to the end. Online condolences may be shared at the website www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com Austin & Barnes Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the Drennan family.