Lloyd Mermon Abernethy August 23, 1930 – February 03, 2019 Share this obituary Send Sympathy Gifts Sign Guestbook| Send Private Condolences| Send Sympathy Card Lloyd Mermon Abernethy, 88, of Monroe Township, New Jersey, passed away on Sunday, February 3, at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center at Plainsboro, NJ surrounded by his loving family. Mr. Abernethy was born August 23, 1930, in Catawba County, North Carolina. He was predeceased by his parents Helen (Edwards) Abernethy and Lloyd Mermon Abernethy I, sister Gloria (Abernethy) Norwood, and brothers Gene and Robert Abernethy.
He graduated in 1952 from Wake Forest College (now University), where he met his first wife and fellow graduate, Suzanne (Keith) Abernethy of Rockville Center, New York. They were married for 47 years, living mostly in Horsham, Pennsylvania, until her passing in 1999. They are survived by their three children.
Mr. Abernethy served in the U.S. Army for two years and was stationed near Frankfurt Am Mein, Germany. He went on to earn a master’s degree in political science from Columbia University. In 1957, Mr. Abernethy joined the faculty of Beaver College (now Arcardia University) near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For the next 42 years, he served with distinction as professor of American history, history department chair, and acting vice president and dean of the college. He was instrumental in the college’s development and expansion, and he earned the admiration and respect of faculty, staff and students. One faculty colleague wrote his tenure was “truly legendary”.
Mr. Abernethy taught thousands of students and his impact was lasting. In 1968, he was awarded the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. Former college President Michael Berger once wrote, “Students are unanimous in praise of your love and mastery of your subject, your interest in them as learners and unique human beings, and your character and personal integrity”.
Until recently, members of the history class of 1964 periodically gathered from across the country to have lunch with this truly beloved faculty member. Upon his retirement in 1999, Mr. Abernethy was honored with the college’s Faculty Outstanding Service Award for his exceptional record of service to the college. Mr. Abernethy’s scholarly publications focused largely on the early 20th-century progressive movement in Pennsylvania politics.
He authored a chapter on the subject in the seminal book, Philadelphia: A 300 Year History, published in 1982. He also is the author of Benton Spruance: The Artist and The Man, an interpretive biography about the 20th-century American lithographer, published in 1988. Mr. Abernethy was an accomplished artist himself.
He painted dozens of large abstract works and had showings in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Some of his paintings now hang at Arcadia University. Many others hang in the homes of family and friends.
He also was an avid tennis player, a skilled carpenter and an accomplished gardener who happily shared his bumper crops. Mr. Abernethy married Theodora Briggs Sweeney of Rossmoor, Monroe Township, in 2002. The couple made their home in Horsham until 2012, when they moved to Rossmoor.
They moved to Monroe Village, Monroe Township, in 2018. His survivors include his wife; three children, Karen Abernethy Guin, David Keith Abernethy and Elizabeth Ann (Abernethy) Darby; and four grandchildren, Caroline, Kate, Daniel and Jack. His devotion to and love for family was unwavering.
Mr. Abernethy also is survived by longtime friends and colleagues, and predeceased by many others. As one once wrote, Lloyd was a “profoundly good and decent man”. He will be deeply missed by all.
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