Dr. E. Wayne Craven Jr.

Date: May 8, 2020

Name: E. Wayne Craven, Jr.

          E. Wayne Craven, Jr., age 89, of Newark, DE passed away on Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Born in Illinois on December 7, 1930, he was the son of the late Ernest Wayne and Vera Viola (Cline) Craven, Sr.

Wayne met his future wife at The John Herron Art School in Indianapolis, IN, which is now a part of Indiana University. They were married in 1953 in Rochester and that fall moved to Bloomington, IN, to attend Indiana University where he received his Bachelors and Masters degrees.

In 1957, Wayne and his wife moved to New York City where he attended Columbia University and received his PhD in art history. Lorna and Wayne especially reveled in New York’s cultural offerings of music, art and the theatre.

The Cravens next move was to Massachusetts where Wayne taught at a woman’s college just south of Boston.

Dr. and Mrs. Craven came to Delaware in the fall of 1960 when he was appointed The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Delaware. During his time at University of Delaware, Wayne was received an honorary degree and authored numerous books including “Sculpture in America”, “Colonial American Portraiture”, “Gilded Mansions”, and “Marble Halls”. Among other accomplishments, he was honored to be guest curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC in 1976 and was guest curator at the request of President Lyndon B. Johnson, sculpture section, “The Creative American”, held at The White House in 1965.  

In addition to his parents, Wayne was preceded in death by his wife, Lorna Rose (Breseke) Craven. He is survived by his sister, Rebecca A. Marino (Francis) of Elkhart, IN; nieces, Rachel Gosc and Sarah Marino; nephew, Frank Ernest Marino; great nephew, Max Gosc; great nieces, Megan Gosc, Faythe Mishler and Novaleigh Marino; and sisters-in-law, June Goodwin and Nancy Breseke.

 Interment will be at St. Vincent Cemetery in Elkhart, IN

Walley Mills Zimmerman Funeral Home

700 East Jackson Blvd.

Elkhart, IN  46516

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