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Peter Celms

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Peter Celms

Posted: 11 Jun 2015 2:57PM GMT
Classification: Obituary

CELMS, Peter Professor of History Emeritus at Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio, passed away peacefully at his home on June 6, 2015 with his beloved wife by his side.
He was born in Riga, Latvia on June 23, 1936, the son of Dr. Theodore and Vera (Vikrova) Celms.
With the Soviet invasion of Latvia in 1944, his family fled to Germany where they lived under difficult circumstances during the next five years before emigrating to the United States.

Peter attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois and upon graduation with high honors, he was awarded both a Woodrow Wilson Foundation scholarship and a Danforth Fellowship for graduate study.
He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he received the M.A. degree in 1960, and then, after receiving a Fulbright grant for a year of study in Germany, he earned his Ph.D. in 1967.
Wittenberg University hired him sight unseen while he was in Germany.
He continued to teach at Wittenberg for thirty-seven years, chairing the Department of History for several of them. Professor Celms' academic field was modern European history with special emphasis on intellectual history.
Among his professional honors was a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in Residence for College Teachers, which he spent at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Celms is survived by his wife, Barbro (Appelgren); daughter, Kristin Celms; son-in-law, Darin Teske; and two grandchildren, Theodor and Eva.

He was preceded in death by his cherished son, Paul; his parents; and two sisters, Isolde and Dagmara.
He is also survived by a sister-in-law, Doris Nelson; and Brother-in-law, Bruce Appelgren; and their families. A gathering of family and friends will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 10-11 AM in the LITTLETON & RUE FUNERAL HOME.

A memorial service will begin at 11 AM in the funeral home with Pastor James R. Christian officiating
. Memorial gifts may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, Md., 21741-5014, to the Wittenberg University History Department, Box 720, Springfield, Ohio

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Published in Springfield News-Sun on June 11, 2015 - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/springfield/obituary.aspx?n...

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