Obit of Phelps, Orme - Unknown County, Oklahoma

Submitted by:  Gene Phillips  <okarchives@comcast.net>    21 Dec 2008
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Phelps, Orme (96) 

Claremont, CA, July 3, 2003- Legendary Claremont McKenna College 
Professor Emeritus, Orme Wheelock Phelps, 96, died at his home in 
Claremont following a brief illness. A memorial service will be held 
at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum 
on the CMC campus. The former dean of the faculty and professor of 
economics was one of the first faculty members recruited in 1947 for 
what was then Claremont Men's College by founding President George 
C.S. Benson. Historian Kevin Starr described Professor Phelps as "A 
college professor from central casting for mid-century 
America...students appreciated him not only because he taught well, 
kept generous office hours, and published frequently, but also 
because he seemed "the real McCoy.'" He was born July 5, 1906, in 
Oklahoma Territory, the son of a Union soldier who studied with 
Abraham Lincoln's law partner. He earned three degrees from the 
University of Chicago and was a distinguished young professor in its 
graduate school of business when he moved to Claremont in 1947. He 
worked 40 jobs between high school and college, and continually drew 
upon that experience in teaching labor economics. His textbook, 
"Introduction to Labor Economics," was required at more than 80 
colleges and universities. He retired in 1974 but remained active in 
the Claremont McKenna community, attending a College awards ceremony 
in April and meeting last summer with students. An avid athlete, he 
climbed trees well into his 70s and rode his bicycle until age 90. He 
is survived by his spouse, Barbara; son, Jackson Phelps, Portland, 
Oregon; son-in-law and daughter, Ted and Sally Phelps Smith, 
Cleveland, Ohio; ten grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a 
sister, Emily Anne Woodward, and nephew, William Woodward, both of 
Guelph, Canada; a niece, Mary Woodward, of British Columbia; and four 
stepchildren. His wife of 40 years, Jean Wright Phelps, died in 1981. 
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Orme Phelps 
Scholarship Fund at Claremont McKenna College, 500 East Ninth Street, 
Claremont, Calif. 91711. Todd Memorial Chapel is in charge of 
arrangements. 

Published in the Los Angeles Times on 7/6/2003.  
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