NEIL FRANCIS BRENNAN, FEBRUARY 4, 2006 - of Rosemont, PA and Sister Bay, Wisconsin died peacefully Saturday at the age of 82.

A retired Professor of English Literature at Villanova University, he had taught earlier at Cornell University, Auburn University and the University of Illinois, and was the author of a literary critique of Anthony Powell.

He was born into a military family in Savannah, Georgia. An Army lieutenant, captain and tank commander, he fought with the 735th Tank Battalion at the Battle of the Bulge, and received the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and Five Battle Stars (Europe).

After the war, while obtaining a Masters Degree at the University of Chicago, he was awarded the Anne Watkins Fiction Fellowship in 1948. He received a diploma with honors (Mention Bien) from La Sorbonne, University of Paris and a Doctor of Philosophy (English) from the University of Illinois.

He is survived by his wife of 57years, Maxine Lindem Brennan, a son Michael, daughters Julia Fisher (Art), Bernadette (Barry Gale) and Margy Grasberger (Don), and grandsons Maxfield and Grant Brennan and Cole Fisher, brother John (Lucy) and sister Mary Devine Foster (John).

A Memorial Service will be held at Corr Chapel, Villanova University at 11 a.m. on February 18th, 2006, with a reception to follow. Mass will be offered for him on March 1st at 12:05 pm in Villanova Campus Church, which would have been his 83rd birthday.

Contributions in his memory may be made to Doctors Without Borders USA P.O. Box 1856, Merrifield, VA 22116-8056.

Funeral arrangements by McConaghy Funeral Home, Ardmore.