Educator/Archaeologist James P. Bressler Dies

Published 07.14.2014

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Faculty & Staff

James P. Bressler, by the eponymous Heritage Trail on Loyalsock Township's Canfield IslandThe funeral will be Saturday for James P. Bressler, whose 30-year contribution to Penn College's predecessor institutions was matched by a reputation as the area's pre-eminent archaeologist. A full obituary for Bressler, who died Tuesday, July 8, at the age of 99, is published in the July 14 editions of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. Among the initial faculty members recruited by Williamsport Technical Institute President George H. Parkes in 1945, Bressler established an agricultural education program on farmland in Muncy Township and later taught English. He served as dean of applied arts when WTI became Williamsport Area Community College in 1965; he retired a decade later as director of vocational education, lending full-time attention – and his very name – to a number of local archaeological pursuits. Bressler's rich legacy was featured in the Fall 2012 issue of One College Avenue magazine; he also was interviewed as part of the college's Oral History Project. The service will be at 3 p.m. Saturday at Faith Alliance Church, 2405 Bottle Run Road, Williamsport, preceded by a half-hour visitation.