Remembering Dr. Tom Auffenberg

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Dr. Tom Auffenberg, a professor of history for 40 years at Ouachita, passed away last week following a brief illness. A British historian with degrees from Texas Christian University and Vanderbilt University, Dr. Auffenberg was highly respected among his peers and students, and his story is best told in their words:

“Being friends with Tom Auffenberg was as much fun as reading Tolkien.  He and I created a small world within this larger world, and we lived in it.  He was an affable, mild-mannered history professor who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he was also, when he left town, a feared Mafia ringleader whose monicker was The Chinchilla.  He lived in Castle Porkmonster.  We played a silly game involving restaurants in Hot Springs.  I was Beefboy to his Spanish Porky, and the two of us once ate in a restaurant in Lyon on Rue de Boeuf. Neorxnawanga, Queen of HEL, cooked coq au vin for him on numerous occasions and, owing to his way of pronouncing ‘vin,’ she always thought of herself as cooking “chicken in the wind” for him.  Spending time with Tom was sheer delight.  Greedygut that I am, I keep sobbing inside myself that forty years weren’t enough.  I want more.  That’s what a Heaven’s for.”

— Dr. Johnny Wink

“The thing that captures Tom’s essence more than anything else are the things that he has said over time, a combination of two of his favorite phrases. One, he was always searching for a ‘satisfactory life.’ That’s all he ever claimed he wanted; that’s the gag. You pair that with the fact that he always joked that he wanted us to pour his ashes off of Cape Disappointment in Washington state. It’s real; there’s a real Cape Disappointment. So here’s a man looking for a satisfactory life who expects to have his remains disposed off of Cape Disappointment. And that is just perfect Auffenberg-ian humor coupled with his life philosophy. But beyond that stuff, he was ridiculously devoted to his students; he would really make himself available to them. He was absurdly knowledgeable about British history. He was brilliant, compassionate, witty and earnest.”

— Dr. Kevin Motl

“Tom was, without a doubt, one of the gentlest, kindest, and most loving human beings I have had the privilege of meeting  forty years ago this week. He was an intellectual powerhouse; he was an outstanding teacher loved and admired by his students and colleagues. He was a scholar par excellence, and he never allowed his scholarly accomplishments to go to his head. He was a Renaissance man whose interests reached across all disciplines, and his love and concern for people of all backgrounds across the globe was legend. Even though his area of expertise was British History, Tom genuinely loved teaching Contemporary World and other CORE classes. He was a citizen of the world in the best definition of the word. He was a strong advocate for justice, fairness, and equality for all. I can honestly say that his students and his colleagues are better people because of the example set by him. Even though Tom has physically departed from our midst, his legacy will live on in the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of students, colleagues, and friends across the globe.  Tom will be sorely missed.”

— Dr. Raouf Halaby

“During Tom’s Trojan War lecture, he pulled up a picture of Brad Pitt, from the movie ‘Troy,’ and said, ‘Look! Someone had their camera phone and took a picture of the Trojan War!’ He used made this joke time and again with different movies. It tickled me everytime.”

— Ian Deetz

Dr. Auffenberg’s Memorial Service: