Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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NORMAL OFFERING 21 For some time it had been his ambition to study medicine, but in order to obtain the funds needed for this purpose he taught for several years in Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts. While here he had a physical break down and was obliged to abandon his long- cherished plans. In the fall of 1908 he returned to Harvard and took up graduate work in the department of Romance Languages. After receiving his master's degree in 1909, he was given an instructorship in Leland Stanford University, in 1910 resuming his study at Harvard, where he remained till he won the degree of Ph.D. During this time he taught for two summers in the Harvard Summer School, and also took a trip to Spain to gather material for his thesis. Early in 1914 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Romance Languages at Leland Stanford Uni- fx versity, and planned to offer a course in comparative literature and one in the history of civilization. When the war broke out he immediately gave up this work, for which he had so l if carefully prepared himself, and, al- though he was not called to the colors, sailed for France on the first steamer that returned with French reservists. Though he had never become an American citizen, he was under no legal obligation to join the army, yet his love for his fatherland was so strong that he felt it both his duty and his privilege to serve her to the full extent of his powers. The following account of his ex- ROBERT PELLISSIER. periences, as told by his sister, shows qCourtesy of wnusnon Bu11etin.y the sterling character which he possessed: He had so constantlytrained himself in all kinds of physical exercises that, after two months of military drill, he was not only placed with the men of his class, but with the elite. He became first a chasseur-a-pied and later a chasseur alpin. One of the men belonging to the same company said when writing to a friend 'M. Pellissier est

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20 NORMAL OFFERING Gllara Giuffin lirinrv. 9' OR more than thirty-seven years a devoted and inspiring teacher 'I I in the Bridgewater Normal School. A daughter of music, who has shown thousands of students how to attune the melodies of their lives to the Infinite Harmony. The keynote of her life is LOYALTY-to her students, to her col- leagues, to the school and all its best traditions, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. May she live long to shed upon us the benediction of her friend- ship and influence! 'Qinhvrt IE. Iiellianirr. HE first Bridgewater graduate to sacrifice his life in the great I European struggle has been Sergeant Robert E. Pellissier C1903D, who was killed in action at the Somme, by Clery, August 29, 1916. ' He was born in France in 1882, the youngest of seven children. His early education was received in that country, but when fourteen years of age he came to New York to live with one of his sisters. He entered a public school in Brooklyn, and after the first year made rapid progress, finally graduating from the high school. In the fall of 1899 he entered the Bridgewater Normal School and remained four years. As a result of his good record, he was able to enter the senior class of the Lawrence Scientific School in the fall of 1903. Despite the fact that he was obliged to carry a very heavy course, and in addition had to spend many hours correcting French composition-books, he gradu- ated with honors the following June.

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22 NORMAL OFFERING un homne tres courageux, je me suis trome, avec lui dans plusieurs com- bats, il est toujours le premierf Robert was Wounded in the shoulder near Steinbach at the end of J anuary, 1915. After spending four months in the hospital, he found that although his Wound was healed he could not carry a knapsack. He therefore resolved to take the examination for admittance to Saint-Cyr, the French West Point. He passed the examinations and spent four months in Saint Maizent, a military school for officers. He Went back to the front With the grade of sergeant and on several occasions, hetook the place of a lieutenant for several weeks at a time. When in action at the Somme during the latter part of August, his battalion suffered heavily. He remained till the last in order to secure the connection with the battalion which was to replace his own, and he was mortally wounded by the shot of a mitrailleuse, dying the same day at the ambulance. He was about to be appointed second lieutenant and was a candidate for the military medal. F To every person connected with our Alma Mater, the career of this true son of Bridgewater should be a lasting inspiration. His keen ness of mind, his high ambition, his strength of purpose, but, above all, his vision of his duty, Which led him to give even his life for a noble cause, -these constitute an ideal which each one of us should aim to attain. Of him we may say in the Words of the poet: Be thy virtues With the living, And thy spirit ours! J. HARDING ARMSTONG, 1902.