In Memoriam Daniel P. Harmon

Submitted by Deborah E Kamen on

Daniel P. Harmon

May 3, 1938 – July 25, 2021

Dan, as he was called by family, friends and colleagues, was born on May 3, 1938, in Chicago and raised in Western Springs, Illinois, the son of Bernard L. and Dorothy (Lesser) Harmon. After graduating with a BA in Classics from Loyola University of Chicago in 1962, Dan continued his studies at Northwestern University, where he received both an MA (1965) and PhD (1968) in Classical Languages, Literature and Linguistics. He also attended the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. Dan’s areas of scholarly interest were broad and included Latin Poetry, Archaic Rome, Greek and Roman Religion, Linguistics, Roman and Italic Archeology and Etruscan Studies. Immediately upon completion of graduate school, Dan came to the University of Washington in the Fall of 1967 and spent his entire professional career in the Department of Classics until he retired in 2004. In addition to teaching and research, Dan chaired the Department of Classics from 1976-1991, was co-director of the UW Rome Center from 1994-2000 and over the years served on numerous committees both campus-wide and in the Society for Classical Studies. Dan painted, played the piano and loved to travel, making frequent visits to Ireland and Italy, where he founded the Classical Seminar in Rome in 1987. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Bernard L. (“Ben”) Harmon, Jr., and his nephew Matthew Harmon and is survived by his sister-in-law Dr. Elizabeth O. Harmon, his niece Anne Harmon Grout, her husband Zach Grout and their children Lauren and James. A Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, August 26, at 1:30 PM in St. James Cathedral. In lieu of flowers, friends and family are asked to consider making a contribution to the Department of Classics Endowment Fund.

Dan's Seattle Times obituary (including a guestbook) can be found here.

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