To: All Faculty and Staff -- Date: November 13, 1980 Donald A. Scovel -- In Memoriam:
The family of Dr. Donald Scovel and his university colleagues, former students, and friends were united in worship at St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Wednesday, November 12, 1980. Dr. Scovel, Professor of Social Studies, Department of Teaching, died at Sartori Hospital Monday morning, November 10, 1980. He had been granted a disability leave in the fall of 1976. Despite his absence, his associates were able to periodically confer with him about the "Exploration in Iowa History Project" and other programs for which they were seeking external funding. This project and a companion curriculum--the Black History and Culture Program that also originated with Dr. Scovel--have received considerable acclaim and widespread adoption in the schools of Iowa. They are two of numerous large-scale projects he instituted that have brought the benefits of his scholarship, imagination, and resourcefulness to teachers and students in this state.
Dr. Scovel joined the Department of Teaching faculty in 1961 and became chairman of the social studies department in 1965. He came to Cedar Falls with his wife, Mary, after having taught for fifteen years in other communities in his native state. Donald Scovel was born and raised in Marshalltown. After having his undergraduate program interrupted by three years in the U. S. Army Signal Corps, he returned to then Iowa State Teachers College to complete his B. A. degree. Ten years later, 1957, he received a master's degree in history from the University of Iowa, followed eleven years later with a Ph.D. degree also from the University of Iowa, in Social Studies Education and History.
During his tenure at the Laboratory School Dr. Scovel published numerous articles in professional journals. He produced curriculum guides, units of instruction, evaluation instruments, and other practical resource materials which were distributed through the Extension Division and the State Department of Public Instruction. He was frequently called upon to serve on NCA evaluation teams, direct workshops and institutes, and conduct curriculum studies. He was well known to social studies teachers as an officer and resource person in the Iowa Council for the Social Studies and for his active role in numerous allied professional organizations. A lifelong and ardent Republican, Donald Scovel was an immensely well informed and highly respected political analyst. He was frequently called upon by state and local officials and representatives of education associations to examine legislation for its political impact upon education and on the electorate. Annual trips to the legislature, buttressed by thorough preparation and extensive debriefings, are often cited by his former students as one of their most memorable high school experiences. Friends and associates will remember Don Scovel for his remarkable command of American history and for his facility for tracing the antecedents of current political thought and practice. His students will recall his skillfulness in using questions to apply the lessons of history to contemporary issues. His wife and son, Leonard, will no doubt treasure the memories of those years when he enjoyed good health and they enjoyed the fruits of his labors in the garden and his culinary talents in the kitchen. All who knew him will remember him as an individual who, as a teacher, exemplified those qualities that make teaching a noble calling.
Randall Bebb Len Froyen Ferd Riechmann
Dr. Donald A. Scovel Services for Donald A. Scovel, 58, of 1814 Shelden Avenue, will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church with burial in the church cemetery. He died Saturday at Sartori Memorial Hospital. A scripture service will be 8 p.m. Tuesday at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home, where. friends may call until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Dr. Scovel was born October 30, 1922, in Marshalltown, the son of Donald E. and Arla Rawlihg Scovel. He married Mary G. Gardner December 27, 1955, at Rhodes. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Northern Iowa and his master's and doctorate from the University of Iowa. He had been a teacher at Price Laboratory School since1961. He was a veteran of World War II. Survivors include his wife; a son, Leonard M. A. Scovel at home; and two brothers, Conard J. and Ted, both of Greenville, South Carolina. A memorial will be established at a later date.
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