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John Terry Chase ’59

A picture of Terry Chase

Terry Chase ’59 with his wife, Sara Hunnun Chase, and their son Robert in 1978.

John Terry Chase ’59, June 1, 2014, in Mitchellville, Maryland, following a stroke. Terry received a BA from Reed in history and went on to study at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs on a fellowship. He demonstrated a lifelong commitment to teaching, whether in the classroom or as a volunteer, and served as an editor and publisher for numerous companies, including the Congressional Research Service and the American Historical Association. During the Carter administration, he was a speechwriter for the Environmental Protection Agency. He wrote essays and history books, including The Study of American History, Gum Springs: Triumph of a Black Community, and he coedited two poetry anthologies with his wife, Sara Hannum Chase. In 1987, Terry earned an MA in history from George Mason University. (He returned to George Mason in a doctor of arts in education program in the early ’90s.) For many years, he taught at the French International School in Bethesda, Maryland. Sara died in 1997 and Terry married again in 2000, losing his second wife to cancer in 2002. In his later years, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Terry worked to complete an autobiography, The Seasons of My Life: The Reflections of a Septuagenarian on His Life and Times. He read a great deal and enjoyed listening to classical music. He also traveled the Aegean Sea, where he fell in love with the Greeks and the eastern Mediterranean. Survivors include his son, Robert.

Appeared in Reed magazine: March 2015

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