JOHN SEYMOUR BELEW
November 3, 1920 – August 9, 2023
John Seymour Belew, aged 102, passed away on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, at The Delaney on Lake Waco. A Celebration of John Belew's life will take place at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, August 26, at the Seventh & James Baptist Church in Waco. A time for visiting with family and friends will occur after the service. The family will hold a private burial earlier that day.
John was born November 3, 1920, in Waco, Texas to his parents, George Haggard Belew and Mary Seymour Belew. He grew up in Waco and graduated from Waco High School in 1937. John attended Baylor University, earning a B.S. degree with a major in Chemistry in 1941. He enrolled in the master’s program in chemistry at the University of Texas in the fall of that year. However, the United States Civil Service Commission persuaded him to become active in the war effort. Withdrawing from school after only three weeks at UT, John trained at Chanute Army Airfield, Illinois, as a civilian instructor in the United States Army Air Corps Tech nology Training Command. Later, he taught recent Army Air Corps recruits at Shepherd Army Airfield in Wichita Falls, and at Amarillo Army Airfield in the Texas Panhandle.
During this year and a half, John was promoted to supervisor in the aircraft propeller mechanics department. Overall, he taught more than a thousand soldiers how to maintain propellers in perfect condition.
In 1943, John entered the Army Air Corps and was first stationed at an installation near New York City. Upon John's return to Waco to attend his sister Katherine’s wedding, a long-time friend of the Belew family, Doris Mitchell, requested that John sit next to her friend, Ruth McAtee, to look after her well-being during the three-day rail journey from Waco to New York. John was returning to military duty, while Ruth was seeking advanced study with the Humphrey-Weidman studio/dance group in NYC. As John and Ruth 'talked and talked and talked' on that train trip, they fell in love. During John’s numerous visits, he stayed at the YWCA's hostel. Frequent letters cemented the relationship. Ruth and John were married at New York's Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration on June 3, 1944. Ruth and John had spent seventy-one joyous and meaningful years together. It gave the family great pleasure that he was able to worship with the congregation of the 'Little Church Around the Corner' in Manhattan on the day of their wedding anniversary just two months ago.
During the fall of 1944, John was transferred to Kahuka Point and Hickam Army Air Base on Oahu, where he spent more than a year as an aircraft propeller specialist in the 316th Troop Carrier Squadron. While sailing to Hawaii, John cast his first vote for U.S. President. Since then, John never missed an election. John served in elective office as a Midway Independent School District trustee (1962-1973) and was appointed by Governor Ann Richards to the Texas High-Speed Rail Authority in 1992.
During the final days of World War II, Sergeant Belew briefly served on Guam, Okinawa, and the Philippines before returning to the United States to be honorably discharged in 1946. John and Ruth Belew then relocated to Wichita, Kansas. John enrolled in the chemistry graduate program at Wichita State University, earning a Master of Science degree in 1947. The Belews then moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where John entered the chemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. John earned his Ph.D. in 1951. John and Ruth then moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where Brown University employed Dr. Belew as a chemistry research associate.
Later that year, Ruth gave birth to James (Jay). The Belews moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1953, where Dr. Belew served as a non-tenured acting assistant professor, his first chemistry faculty position. In 1954, they welcomed Janet into the family.
In the summer of 1956, they returned to Waco. John was employed by Baylor University as an assistant professor of chemistry.
Dr. Belew was soon promoted to associate professor and eventually to a professor. During the 1960s, Dr. Belew and his team of postdoctoral and graduate student research chemists discovered several never-before-known compounds and crystals and enhanced the understanding of ozone and certain organic mechanisms in Baylor’s newly installed laboratories in the recently opened Marrs-McLean Science Building. Dr. Belew published articles in chemistry journals and presented papers at professional meetings. Among the most noteworthy was his paper read at a prominent chemistry conference in London in July 1962. This presenta- tion represented the first of several papers and meetings with distinguished chemists occurring throughout the decade including in Karlsruhe, West Germany; Rome, Italy; throughout Great Britain; and even East Berlin, past Checkpoint Charlie behind the Iron Curtain’s infamous Berlin Wall. His family accompanied Dr. Belew every summer between 1964 and 1972 on these adventures, visiting a myriad of cathedrals, art museums, ancient Roman and Medieval ruins, picturesque villages with storybook castles, and idyllic mountain landscapes.
With his Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences appointment in 1973 and promotion to Dean the next year, Dr. Belew entered a new chapter of service in Baylor's administration. In 1979, Dr. Belew was named Provost. He served with distinction and a quiet urgency to leave Baylor a better place than he found it.
John's most dramatic impacts as Provost were made in Baylor's literary studies. Long the source of internationally renowned literary research, the Armstrong Browning Library emerged as Dr. Belew’s favorite refuge for accomplishing certain tasks of his administrative work. The long-term efforts of John’s parents, sister Katherine Ann, and her children led to the establishment of the Belew Scholars Room. As Provost, Dr. Belew guided the process of expanding the Browning Library's scope to encompass Victorian-era literature. To provide top-quality scholarly resources in support of the expanded mission, Dr. Belew led the intricate process of collaborating with top-level rare book dealers, such as the University of Cambridge's Colin Franklin in acquiring sev - eral thousand first editions and other highly valued published volumes from around the globe. His creative efforts contributed to the acquisition of approximately 2,000 such volumes by the time he retired as Provost in 1991. This number has grown to more than 7,000 rare books with high research significance for studying Victorian literature.
Retiring as Provost in 1991, Dr. Belew subsequently served as the Jo Murphy Chair of International Education. Dr. Belew suc cessfully established academic relations and faculty exchange programs with institutions of higher learning in Europe, the Caribbean, Japan, Thailand, China, and Hong Kong. Through Dr. Belew’s steady collaboration, a particularly warm relationship devel- oped between Baylor and the University of Kunming in China. In recognition of his remarkable labors, John Belew was awarded the Doctor of Laws by Hong Kong Baptist University in 1995 and was invited to serve on the boards of the American-Thai Edu - cation Foundation and the American-Philippines Education Foundation. Although he retired from the Jo Murphy Chair in 1996, Dr. and Mrs. Belew continued visiting their friends in China, Hong Kong, and Thailand until 2010, thereby cementing for future generations a permanent bond of trust and fraternal affection b etween Baylor University and those specific universities in thos e nations nurtured through Dr. Belew’s follow-up efforts.
Dr. Belew's final professional contribution to Baylor University was by returning to the chemistry classroom. He taught sev - eral different chemistry courses, mostly during the summer, well into the 2000s. In recent years, his favorite authors became John Bunyan and John Ruskin. He derived special inspiration from J. M. W. Turner’s transformational artworks. His membership in the Turner Society further nurtured his passion for whom he considered to be Great Britain’s most celebrated artist.
John Belew was baptized during his youth and became a member of First Baptist Church of Waco. During the 1970s, the Belews joined Harris Creek Baptist Church. In 1997, John and Ruth joined Seventh & James Baptist Church in 1997, where he was ordained a deacon.
John Belew was preceded in death by his parents George and Mary Belew; his sister, Katherine Ann Gorham; and, in 2014, his beloved wife Ruth.
John Belew is survived by his son, James (Jay) Belew and wife, Sonia; his daughter, Janet Dizinno and husband Gerard (Gerry). He is also survived by his granddaughters, Natalie Belew and her husband Gary Collins; and Jacqueline (Jackie) Edwards and her husband, A. J. John Belew is furthermore survived by his great-grandsons, Kevin Edwards and Lester Edwards and numerous nieces and nephews and their families.
If you prefer to make a memorial gift in lieu of flowers, the family offers for your consideration several of John Belew's most cherished organizations, including Baylor’s Browning Library, Martin Museum of Art, and Baylor Theater; Janet Belew Dizinno
scholarship fund at St. Mary's University; Trinity University's EAST Program, which supported granddaughter Natalie Belew's studies in China; and the YMCA/YWCA, which taught young John how to swim, provided Ruth her first permanent job, provided John dependable room and board during his courtship with Ruth, and provided precious fresh milk during his free time from Air Corps duty in Honolulu. Alternatively, you are encouraged to make a donation in John Belew’s name to the institution of higher learning of your choice.
The family invites you to leave a message or memory of John Belew on our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.