Dean, Chesco Historical Society President Ira Stroud Dies At 92

Image and obituary courtesy Campbell Ennis Klotzbach Funeral Home

VALLEY FORGE, PA — Ira Glenn Stroud, a popular Dean of Students at The Philadelphia College of Art and The Art Institute of Chicago, died on February the third, 2019 at his home in Devon, PA. He was ninety-two years old.

His death was announced by his son Harold W. Stroud Sr. of Fond du Lac, WI.

After serving in the United State Navy during World War II, then graduating from the College of William and Mary with a degree in Economics, Mr. Stroud began his career in college administration as registrar at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory Baltimore, where he also performed and studied piano.

Mr. Stroud moved with his family to Philadelphia in 1964 to work in what he considered to be his most fulfilling position at the Philadelphia College of Art, where he remained for seventeen years.

Mr. Stroud's son Harold said that "he was first and foremost an advocate for students, sometimes intervening when a student's parents were less than enthusiastic about a four-year investment in a fine arts degree." Dean Stroud frequently remarked that "you should study what you want to study."

After receiving a Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Dean Stroud accepted a position at The Art Institute of Chicago, then later returned to his home on the Main Line of suburban Philadelphia to pursue a second career in real estate and serve as president of the Chester County Historical Society volunteer organization.

He was preceded in death by his wife of fifty-four years, The Rev. Alice Roberts Stroud, an Episcopal Deacon, a son, Clifton C. Stroud II, a brother, Clifton C. Stroud Jr., a sister, Emily Sue Whitman, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clifton C. Stroud of Newport News, Virginia.

He is survived by a niece Susan Stroud-Speyers, four grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and a son, Harold Wilson Stroud Sr.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Washington Memorial Chapel, at Valley Forge National Historic Park, at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, February the sixteenth.

Contributions may be made in his name to The Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High Street, West Chester, PA 19380-2658. Services under the direction of Campbell-Ennis-Klotzbach Funeral Home. Condolences may be offered by visiting www.PhoenixvilleFuneralHome.com.