Eric Avern Sturley

Eric Avern Sturley
Personal details
Born	9 June 1915 Dibden, England
Died	23 March 2010
Nativity	Great Britain
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	01046290
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel

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Eric Avern Sturley (9 June 1915 – 23 March 2010) was a Britain-born Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie and later taught mathematics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Biography

Eric Avern Sturley was born on 9 June 1915 in Dibden, England. He spent a year of high school in Germany and later took part in the Experiment in International Living. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Yale, did graduate work there in 1940–41 while serving as a freshman counselor, and taught mathematics, German, and skiing at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, the following year.

Sturley was inducted into the Army in May 1942 and commissioned a second lieutenant that November at the Antiaircraft School at Camp Davis, North Carolina. After stations at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, Fort Washington, and Camp Ritchie, Maryland, he went overseas in April 1943 and served as an interpreter and intelligence officer in North Africa and Europe. He remained in the Army Reserve after the war and retired as a lieutenant colonel.

He later completed a Doctorate of Education at Columbia University, taught briefly at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, and joined the faculty of Southern Illinois University at Alton before the Edwardsville campus was built. At SIUE he held graduate-school and Dean’s College administrative duties and led education-partnership teams to Bamako, Mali, and Kathmandu, Nepal. He died on 23 March 2010.

Research notes

• Yale / wartime service summary from a 1937-era Yale seven-year book excerpt in the RB Archive folder (street address omitted).

Gallery

• 
  Yale seven-year book excerpt for Eric A. Sturley (RB Archive)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	95
row_source	demographics

Timeline

• 9 June 1915 — Born in Dibden, England.
• Yale — Bachelor’s in mathematics; graduate work and freshman counselor, 1940–41.
• 1941–42 — Taught mathematics, German, and skiing at Berkshire School, Sheffield, Massachusetts.
• May 1942 — Inducted into the U.S. Army.
• November 1942 — Commissioned second lieutenant, Antiaircraft School, Camp Davis, North Carolina.
• Camp Edwards, Massachusetts; Fort Washington; Camp Ritchie, Maryland.
• April 1943 — Went overseas; interpreter / intelligence officer, North Africa and Europe.
• Postwar — Army Reserve; retired lieutenant colonel; Ed.D., Columbia; faculty at Allegheny College and SIUE.
• 23 March 2010 — Died.

Sources

• Yale seven-year book excerpt for Eric A. Sturley
• Weber Funeral Home — Eric Sturley obituary
• Yale seven-year book excerpt for Eric A. Sturley (RB Archive “Eric A. Sturley”; scan uploaded to Gallery)
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-18 (1 post)