Dr. Robert Steacy Sprague Sr., who taught chemistry at Lehigh University for 33 years, died of chronic heart disease in hospice care at Moravian Hall Square in Nazareth on Friday, Dec. 23. He was 94.
Dr. Robert Sprague Sr. lectures on chemistry at Lehigh University in 1968.
He was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Oct. 20, 1922, to Wilford Wakely and Florence Mildred (nee Grubbs) Sprague and was raised in Avalon, Pa. He was an only child and graduated from Avalon High School, where he was a sports and railroad fanatic. He attended Washington and Jefferson College and graduated just before entering the U.S. Navy in October 1943. After completing his World War II naval service, he was awarded a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1949. He taught several years at Harvard, worked in the chemical industry at Mallinckrodt Chemical in St. Louis and began teaching at Lehigh in the fall of 1957. He taught the freshman inorganic chemistry class until his retirement in 1990. His course was known to be difficult, but his outstanding teaching ability and leadership was recognized by two awards, the Hillman Faculty Award in 1987 and the Stabler Award in 1971.
He is survived by his wife of 74 years, Elizabeth Marie (nee Lewis) of Washington, Pa. The couple is survived by four children, 13 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a daughter and a grandson.
Dr. Sprague was involved with a variety of community activities, such as being assistant scoutmaster for a boys’ troop, but he was focused on the church, where he sang a mighty bass in the choir and contributed his considerable theological knowledge to Sunday School and the occasional sermon.
A memorial service will follow a reception in Kortz Hall, Moravian Hall Square, 175 W. North St., Nazareth, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31. The family requests that no flowers be sent and that any donations on his behalf may be made to Moravian Hall Square’s Good Samaritan Fund or to your favorite charity. There will be no interment service.
Arrangements are being made by the Joseph Reichel Funeral Home, Nazareth.
