Robert Detweiler, 76, treated students as his peers

Dr. Robert Detweiler was a dedicated scholar but he didn’t take himself too seriously. The former Emory University professor often attended his graduate students’ parties, and he loved telling jokes.

“He just had a merry twinkle in his eye. He took life in general with a certain amount of humor and detachment. He had a genuine warmth for other people,” said Dr. Robert Paul of Atlanta, dean of Emory College.

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Emory University

Dr. Robert Detweiler spent six years in postwar Germany helping refugee families.

“He struck you as a kidder, but he worked very hard. He had a very strong record of academic publications,” said Dr. Paul, who was his colleague in the 1980s.

Dr. Detweiler, who taught comparative literature, served as the director of the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts at Emory from 1973 to 1982.

He became nationally recognized for his insights in the areas of religion and literature, as well as his work on authors John Updike and Saul Bellow.

His books include, “Breaking the Fall: Religious Readings of Contemporary Fiction” in 1987 and “Uncivil Rites: American Fiction, Religion, and the Public Sphere” in 1996.

Dr. Detweiler became a lifelong mentor to many of his students, guiding them in their search for jobs after graduation, said Harriette Grissom of Asheville, N.C., a former student.

“He wasn’t paternalistic about it. He always treated you as a peer, not a student,” she said.

Dr. Detweiler was born in Souderton, Pa., and was reared as a Mennonite. He earned a divinity degree from Goshen College, and after college traveled to Germany on a church-sponsored relief project to assist in the post-war rebuilding of the country. He stayed six years, helping build homes for refugee families and counseling students who had lost their families.

Former student Gary Tapp said that experience helped shape Dr. Detweiler’s outlook.

“We knew he had been through a lot in Germany. It enabled him to not take the small trials and tribulations of university life too seriously,” said Mr. Tapp, of Atlanta.

Dr. Detweiler met his wife, Gertrude Detweiler, in Germany. Although he left the Mennonite faith as an adult, he remained strongly influenced by his upbringing and enjoyed listening to Mennonite hymns.

His experiences in Germany and in his advanced studies “opened his mind but didn’t stop him from being a deeply theological thinker,” said Dr. Paul. “From his Mennonite background, he retained a communal spirit and the feeling of the sacredness of life.”

Dr. Detweiler, 76, formerly of Atlanta, died Sunday at his St. Simons Island residence after a series of strokes, his wife said.

The body was cremated. Cremation Society of the South is in charge of arrangements.

The memorial service will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at Emory University’s Canon Chapel.

Survivors other than his wife include a daughter, Bettina Detweiler of Atlanta; a son, Dirk Detweiler of Aspen, Colo.; and four grandchildren.