ATHENS- Robert Howard Whealey died May 7, 2026 in The Plains, Ohio. The son of Brooklyn natives Howard Whealey and Ethel Rooney, Robert was born May 16, 1930.
He grew up in Baldwin, Long Island, New York, where he graduated high school. Robert attended Bates College, the University of Pennsylvania, Oxford University, and the University of Delaware, where he received a BA in history. He earned a PhD in modern European history from the University of Michigan.
After teaching at the University of Maine, Robert moved in 1964 to Athens, where he held an associate professorship in the Ohio University History Department until retirement. He published numerous academic articles and a book, Hitler and Spain: The Nazi Role in the Spanish Civil War (1989).
He was a long-time peace activist.
He is survived by his wife Lois, three children, Richard, David and Alice Whealey, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 20, 2026, at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens, 184 Longview Heights Road, Athens.