(BEAVER FALLS, Pa.) – Geneva College announces the death of beloved Professor Emeritus of English Norman M. Carson, PhD, age 95, on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Carson taught in the Department of English at Geneva from 1957-1991.
Dr. Carson was born April 20, 1925 in Denver, CO, and was adopted as an infant by Rev. Charles T. and May Carson. His early years were spent in Sterling, KS and Beaver Falls, PA,. graduating from Beaver Falls High School in 1943. In 1944-1945, he served in the medical corps of the U.S. Army and in India as a cryptographer with the Office of Strategic Services.
He graduated from Geneva College in 1947 and in 1949 received a Master of Arts in English from the University of lowa. He earned an MDiv degree from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh in 1952 and earned a doctorate in English Literature from Boston University in 1961. In 1968, Carson was granted a leave of absence from Geneva to enable him to pastor the Dublin Road Reformed Presbyterian Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He returned to Geneva in 1969 as Chairman of the Department of English, a position he held until 1981. In 1993 he was awarded the Geneva College Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Carson was an elder for College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church for many years. He was a member of the national Conference on Christianity and Literature, serving as its national president in 1972. He also served in the Meals on Wheels program. Upon retirement he taught English Literature at Christ’s College in Taipei, Taiwan in 1991-1992. He pastored the Trinity Christian Community Fellowship in Larnaca, Cyprus for several months on two occasions – in 1997 and 2007. He is the author of the books Received in Grace and Precious Son.
He leaves his wife of 68 years, Beverly (Hanson) Carson, whom he met in Boston, MA. They were married on June 12, 1953.
Dr. Carson was preceded in death by a son, Mark, and by a sister, Jeanne (Wells) Keating and brother Samuel Wells. He is survived by a daughter, Rebecca Carson of Boulder, CO; a daughter, Bonnie Irvin and husband, Richard, of Wapwallopen, PA; a son, David Carson and wife, Andriani, of Durham, NC; and by eight grandchildren: Blake, Lauren, Erik, Brendyn, Cameron, Caleb and Elise Irvin and Christopher George Carson. In 1987, he reconnected with his birth parents, the late Samuel and Elizabeth Wells of Las Vegas, NM, and their surviving family, Parker Wells and wife, Floraida, of Ohkay Owingeh, NM; Samuel Wells and wife, Dixie, of Miami, OK; and Jeanne (Wells) Keating, with whom he established a continuing relationship.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva’s programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s “2019 Best College Values” list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.
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