Students were concerned when their beloved, normally punctual professor didn’t show up for their history class.
Alan Cecil Petigny, a UF alumnus, author and tenured associate professor, passed away unexpectedly in his home last week from natural causes.
He was 43.
Ida Altman, chair of the UF history department, said she attempted to get in touch with Petigny on Thursday, after students said he hadn’t been to class for several days.
“It wasn’t until early evening that I was able to talk to his mother, and she told me that she hadn’t heard from him,” said Altman. “At that point I became alarmed and called the police.”
Petigny was raised in Tampa, where he attended the University of South Florida and graduated with honors in 1992. He won awards for his contributions to a Tampa public radio station and served as a policy analyst for the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.
His book, “The Permissive Society: America, 1941-1965,” was published by Cambridge University Press in 2009.
His mother, Pearl Petigny, 83, said he attended UF as a graduate student to be closer to her.
“He called me every single day,” she said. “And if I didn’t seem all right, then he would call two or three times.”
The youngest of five, Petigny was always a voracious reader.
His mother recalls when they briefly lived in Paris, she would go to the English bookstore to buy him books on history, which he taught himself to read.
“He was the most selfless person I’ve ever known,” she said. “He never had a single thought for himself, always for his students, his family.”
Petigny was said to have a way with words and a voice made for radio. He had a great sense of humor that always kept his students and colleagues entertained.
“The faculty is still in shock,” said Louise Newman, an associate professor of history at UF and colleague of Petigny’s.
Newman and Petigny first met 20 years ago when she attended one of his presentations.
“His speaking skills were remarkable, even then,” she said. “He understood how to make a presentation interesting. This was before PowerPoint; there were no visuals. He did it all with his voice, painting pictures and telling a narrative.”
Petigny, who played racquetball with his colleagues in his spare time, was an inspiration to many of his students.
Margaret MacDonald, now an adjunct professor of history at Stetson University, sat in his classroom 13 years ago. She compares her relationship with Petigny to Jimmy Stewart’s role in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“If this one person, Dr. Petigny, had been removed, my entire life would have been different,” she said. “He was always there at the right moment.”
MacDonald had originally come to UF with the intention of getting her degree in education, but after taking a history course with and being encouraged by Petigny, she chose to pursue history instead.
“He went above and beyond the call of duty for his students to encourage them,” MacDonald said.
The memorial service is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 18, Altman said.
Petigny is survived by his mother, Pearl, his older brothers Arthur and Ludlow, and his older sisters Michelle and Sheila.
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/1/2013 under the headline "UF teacher remembered for history lessons, love of reading"
