Samuel James Mitchell

MITCHELL, SAMUEL J. Samuel J. Mitchell, age 89, died January 29, 2011 at his home in Vestavia Hills. A professor of English from 1952 at Howard College and Samford University until his retirement in 1988, he continued even until this past year to be active in the academic development and support of the university, as well as the promotion of the study of English literature and composition through his service to state and national organizations. A native of Arkansas, he held the B.S. and M.A. degrees from the University of Texas, and did advanced studies there and at the University of London. His broad and deep knowledge of and expertise in teaching literature, theater, and writing were greatly admired by his professional peers and his grateful students. With a colleague who later became his wife, Lizette Van Gelder Mitchell, he was among the founders of the Alabama Council of Teachers of English, which he served for three terms as president. He was also president of the Association of College English Teachers of Alabama and filled various offices in the National College Teachers of English, Conference on College Composition and Communication, South Central Renaissance Conference, the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, and the national honor society Phi Kappa Phi. In summers in the 1960's he taught graduate courses in literature to high school teachers at the University of Kentucky. He was widely published in literary and professional journals. He was also cherished for years by his colleagues at Samford for the trenchant wit in his monthly minutes of faculty meetings. He was a constant supporter of the arts in Birmingham and of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. His former students today staff countless positions in schools and organizations in which they extend his enduring influence. His wife, Lizette, predeceased him in 1998 and he leaves no immediate survivors. Funeral Services will be under the direction of Ridout's Valley Chapel, 1800 Oxmoor Road, Homewood on Tuesday, February 1, at 2:00 p.m. in their chapel. Memorials may be made to the Mitchell Scholarship Fund at Samford University.