Edward J. Hamblet ’59 died on September 13, 2020, in Plattsburgh, New York.

(The following was provided by Press Republican in September 20, 2020:)

Edward J. Hamblet ’59

Edwin Joseph Hamblet died September 13, 2020, in Plattsburgh, following a brief illness, having lived there for many years. He was born in Portland, Maine, on February 15, 1937, the oldest child of Melvin and Evelyn Hamblet graduating from Deering High School in 1955. He then graduated from Bowdoin College in 1959 with a major in French, which began a love of the language and culture, and become one of the passions in Ed’s life.

While still in high school, Ed joined the Marine Corps Reserves and was in ROTC during his years at Bowdoin. From Bowdoin, Edwin joined the U.S. Army where he served as a translator during his active duty from 1959 to 1963. After the Army, Edwin returned to his studies and received his master’s degree in French from Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1954. He became a teaching fellow at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his PhD in Romance Languages. After receiving his PhD, he went on to professorships and teaching at Emory University in Atlanta, McGill University in Montreal and on to State University of New York at Plattsburgh, where he was the coordinator of the French program. He retired in Plattsburgh after many years at SUNY-Plattsburgh. While in Montreal, Edwin authored and published a book in 1970, Marcel Dube and French Canadian Drama, a book about theater life in Montreal. In 1987, he authored a second book, La Literature Canadienne Francophone, a book published in French.

Edwin was a long-time member of St. Peter’s Church of Plattsburgh.

He was predeceased by his siblings, Daniel Hamblet and Elizabeth Hamblet. He is survived by his brother Daniel’s widow, Deborah Hamblet of Windham, Maine. Also he is survived by his niece, Kristi (Hamblet) Hunley of Summerville, S.C., and her husband, Brandon, and their children, Kaelyn and Jaxson.