La Salle helps form memorial fund for translation professor

By Beth Reilly
Collegian Reporter
August 30, 2006

Can you imagine having the ability to teach yourself to speak a different language? How about 28 different languages? Well, that’s exactly what Professor Theodore Eggleston Morrow did.

Morrow’s active enthusiasm for foreign languages led him to his former position here at La Salle, where he assisted Dr. Bernhardt Blumenthal with translation courses in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Professor Morrow learned to speak 28 languages with the help of the Bible and by taking courses in foreign language at Houghton College of New York. Mary Morrow-Farrell remembers that her father always carried copies of foreign language Bibles with him no matter where he was going.

“He took particular interest in people who thought the ‘original’ Bible was the King James version. With a chuckle he would remind them that if they learned Greek and Hebrew they could read the ‘real original’writings,” she said.

In honor of his memory, his family has formed the Theodore Morrow Memorial Fund, which works alongside La Salle’s Diplomat in Residence Program.

Together they are working on providing opportunities for studying world issues and languages in the interest of promoting dialogue between nations. The Memorial Fund brochure states, “In accordance with Theodore Morrow’s conviction that dialogue between nations is inconceivable without mutual mastery of language, the Memorial Fund Committee will present annual stipends to undergraduate and or graduate students with a demonstrated interest in international studies and /or a career requiring multilingual competence.”

The DRP and the Memorial Fund hope to remind students of the importance of foreign languages in the world. Morrow-Farrell, who works in the La Salle Art Museum and various SDR booths around campus, thinks that her father would be slightly disappointed that La Salle no longer requires a foreign language for graduation, but would be extremely satisfied with the DRP’s efforts.

Some of the most notable points of Professor Morrow’s career included being invited to the Vatican to help translate, Everybody’s Pope, a book about Pope John XXIII by S.C. Lori, for the Pope in 1963.

He also received three bronze stars and a United Nations Medal for service to his country and the world as an interpreter and translator for over 50 years. He even turned down the opportunity to work with the United Nations in order to stay close to his family.

In addition to his efforts at La Salle, he taught courses on the Old Testament history and cults for seven years at the Main Bible Institute of Philadelphia. He also served as president of the Delaware Valley Translators Association.

“My father’s position at the Delaware Valley Translators Association brought him in contact with many members of the academic community who, like himself, were actively engaged in freelance translation.  At one point he headed an Environmental Protection Agency Project which afforded him the opportunity to provide much needed work for his translator colleagues,” said Morrow-Farrell.

Professor Morrow’s children and grandchildren carry on his love of foreign languages. His granddaughter, Cathy Farrell is currently a senior at La Salle with a duel major of Philosophy and Japanese. Morrow-Farrell stresses that her father was adamant about his children learning different languages,

“The greatest lesson I ever learned from him was when I started kindergarten. He reminded me that there are special words in every language which one should learn—‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘you’re welcome’, ‘excuse me’ and ‘What’s your name?’ But above all else he tried to emphasize to us that “the greatest of these is love.” 

reillyb1@lasalle.edu