Walter Ransom ("Rance") Conley passed away at his home in Woodbury on August 14 after a long illness. He was 79 years old.  He leaves behind his wife of 51 years, Irene Harris Conley.

Rance was a professor in the English Department of Western Connecticut State University for over a decade, and upon his retirement, he was named Professor Emeritus. Before coming to WCSU, Dr. Conley taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, at secondary schools in Philadelphia and Wheeling, Illinois, and at international schools in Leysin, Switzerland and Aberdeen, Scotland.  In each position, he  shared with his students the importance  and joys of  writing and a love of literature both classical and  contemporary. His areas of specialization included composition, rhetoric and twentieth-century American authors.

Born in Brownsville, Tennessee, Rance was raised in Nashville. He graduated from the University of Richmond, where he was a local trivia champion and captain of the University's College Bowl team, and a contributor to both The Sunflower, an underground publication, and The Messenger, the university's literary magazine.  He earned masters degrees from the University of Maryland and the University of Chicago and was awarded his Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

An avid reader throughout his life, Rance turned to audiobooks after losing his eyesight due to illness. In the final months of his life he "reread" Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and the complete works of Marcel Proust.

In addition to his dedication to teaching and to literature, Rance delighted in travel. He lived briefly in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Vancouver Canada, Switzerland, and Scotland.  He and Irene travelled extensively in North America, took numerous trips throughout Europe, and over the years visited Peru, Africa, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

In addition to his wife, Rance leaves behind two sisters, Jane Hinton and Mary Ann Etter, both of Nashville, and many nieces and nephews, as well as his sisters-in-law Rochelle Wynne and Ethel Harris.

Rance will be buried in his family graveyard in Jonesville, Virginia, alongside his great grandfather Rance, and overlooking the magnificent Powell Valley of Southwest Virginia.

No local services will be held.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in memory of Rance to: Regional Hospice, 30 Milestone Road, Danbury CT 06810 or www.regionalhospicect.org.

To leave a condolence please visit www.munsonloveterefuneralhome.com.