Ralph Edward Morton (86) of St. Peter

Ralph Edward Morton, age 86, of St. Peter, Illinois passed away at 11:00 p.m. Saturday, January 7, 2017 at his residence surrounded by his family.

Funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 11 at the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church with visitation from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. prior to service. Reverend William Emrick will be officiating. Burial will be in the St. Peter’s Lutheran Cemetery. Memorials may go to the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church or the Donor’s choice.

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Robert was born on March 29, 1925, in Queens, New York, the son of Nels and Irene (O'Leary) Nelson. He married Marilyn (Brummer) May 25, 1991 in Urbana, IL. Robert served in the United States Army from June 1943 to February 1946. He graduated from Columbia College with a Doctor of Philosophy degree specializing in the Romance Languages. Robert's career included teaching at Yale, University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. He also served as a visiting professor of French at Stanford University and University of Reading (England). He completed his life-long work in education as a professor of French at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where he retired. Robert received many honors including a Fulbright Student Award and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. He wrote nine books and hundreds of articles in his field of study.

Robert is survived by his wife, Marilyn (Brummer) Nelson of Effingham; son, Andrew Nelson of Urbana, IL; daughter, Alexandra Nelson-Chin of Chicago, IL; step-son, Scott Dust of Charleston, IL; step-daughter, Juliana Martin of Effingham, IL; six grandchildren, and one sibling Patricia McCormick of McLean, Virginia.

He was preceded in death by his parents and seven siblings.