Joseph Patrick Hobbs PhD

Joseph Patrick Hobbs, PhD, notable historian of the Eisenhower years, emeritus faculty member and outstanding teaching professor at North Carolina State University, died December 15, 2012. Dr. Hobbs, born March 14, 1934 in Savannah, Georgia to Leon M. and Mary Casey Hobbs, graduated from Benedictine Military School and served in the U.S. Army. After receiving a B.A. degree from Georgia Southern University, he married Faye Burnsed in 1964. He received a national Woodrow Wilson Fellowship that he used to earn a M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins, he served as an associate editor of the Dwight David Eisenhower Papers.

Dr. Hobbs joined the history department faculty of North Carolina State University in 1969 and continued editing the Eisenhower papers. His forty-year career at State had both scholarly and teaching achievements. He published numerous volumes of Eisenhower documents, the monograph, Dear General, and articles on military and sports history. From his first year, he received citations, awards, repeated election to the Academy of Outstanding Teachers, and, in 1975, was chosen Most Appreciated History Professor by graduating majors. He received University honors as a teacher when he was named Alumni Distinguished Professor (1984) and Outstanding Advisor (1986). He took greatest pride in his record of teaching more than 7,000 undergraduates at NCSU, more than 20 Masters degree students, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of individuals in special seminars at the United States Military Academy, and programs for Voice of America radio, on public access television, at the N.C. Museum of History, U.S. Army Officer Training Courses on campus and at Ft. Bragg, correspondence courses, and special sessions for teachers across North Carolina. He continued to teach occasional courses after his 2000 retirement to maintain his connection with State students.

Dr. Hobbs's immediate family in Raleigh includes his wife, Faye, son, Michael (and wife Karen), and granddaughter, Holly. His mother and father, sister Mary Teresa, and brother Leon M. Hobbs, Jr., preceded him in death and he is survived by brothers, Edward J. of Avon, Ct, and Michael Hobbs of Somerdale. NJ.

A memorial service will be held January 6, 2013 at the North Carolina State University Club. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the SPCA of Wake County, or another charitable organization, in the name of Joseph P. Hobbs.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary's St. Raleigh, NC.