JOHN JAMES TEUNISSEN

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JOHN JAMES TEUNISSEN

On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, John James Teunissen rejoined in eternity his late beloved spouse, Evelyn Hinz. They have resumed their long conversation interrupted by her death on December 10, 2002. He was Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Manitoba.

John was born on October 5, 1933 in Calgary to John William Teunissen and Mary Helena Foesier. Predeceased by his parents, his brother-in-law, Lawrence Mason, he is survived by his sister, Helen Mason, his nephew, Brian Mason and his niece, Laura Rogi and her husband Richard, and by great niece, Chelsea Ouellette and great nephew, Garrett Rogi, all of Calgary. Also surviving are his adopted daughter and son, Alexandra and Jeremy and Hinz sister-in-law, Lillian of Muenster, SK.

John graduated from St. Mary’s Boy’s High School, Calgary, in 1951. He spent a year as a Novice of the Congregation of St., Basil in Richmond Hill, ON, and later received officer training as a member of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment (14th Armoured). He was employed in the Consumer Products Division of Canadian Fairbanks-Morse, and was at different times responsible for the cities of Lethbridge and Red Deer and their surrounding rural areas. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, B.A. with Distinction and High Honours, and M.A. then proceeded to the University of Rochester, from which he was awarded the PH.D. in 1967. John taught at the University of Saskatchewan and at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst before joining the U of M as Professor and Head of its Department of English in 1972. At various times as well, he was visiting professor at Clark University, Worcester, MA; Bowling Green State University, OH; and Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. He also taught in the U of M’s short-lived degree program at Stony Mountain Institution, 1974, where he was made an honorary inmate by his students.

In addition to his three terms as Head, John served twice as President of the then U of M Faculty Club, and in numerous academic and administrative capacities, while, at the same time, as an award-winning teacher he supervised the graduate research of many students at the M.A. and Ph.D. levels. As an internationally recognized scholar, he published widely in American British and Canadian literatures, frequently in collaboration with Evelyn. He was also active in the wider academic community. He was a member of the founding editorial board of English Literary Renaissance. For ten years he edited the Canadian Review of American Studies, and was elected twice as president of the Canadian Association for American Studies. He served several times as a member of advisory committees at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and was variously a member of the executive committees of the Canadian Association of Chairmen of English, the Association of Canadian University Teachers of English, and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities.

What John loved most, and thought he did best, however, was teaching, both in large undergraduate classes and small honours and graduate seminars. He was an innovative teacher, having team-taught with Evelyn the first course in women’s fiction offered at the U of M and, on his own, the first course in fantasy and science fiction. What he regretted most about his many other duties and activities is that they took him too much away from teaching, and he felt that no memorial after death could compare with his award from the Modern Language Association of America for excellence in teaching basic courses in English, nor with the pleasure of knowing that many of the students he taught and whose research he supervised at three universities were themselves successful and influential teachers in high schools, colleges, and universities.

John wanted no ceremony besides a family gathering to mark his passing.

Cremation has taken place.

"Gladly would he learn, and gladly teach."

Tribute Link: www.thomsonfuneralchapel.com

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 05, 2025