Wesley Updike yearbook photo father of John Updike

Wesley Updike yearbook photo of him playing football Father of author John Updike

Wesley Russell Updike (1900-1972) was an American educator, soldier, and father of author

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

, husband of writer

Linda Grace Hoyer Updike Linda Grace Hoyer Updike (1904-1989) was an American writer from Plowville, Pennsylvania. She was the mother of author John Updike and grandmother of writer David Updike. Linda Updike also served as the model for several of her son's characters, ...

, and grandfather of

David Updike David Updike (born 1957) is an American writer and academic. Updike was the son of author John Updike who used David as a model in several pieces of fictional writing including ''Wife-wooing, Avec la Bebe-sitter, Son'', and ''Separating''. David U ...

. Wesley Updike served as a prominent model for many main characters his son's works, including as the central character in ''

The Centaur ''The Centaur'' is a novel by John Updike, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1963. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. Portions of the novel first appeared in ''Esquire'' and ''The New Yorker''. National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

, and Updike's family history is broadly paralleled in ''

In the Beauty of the Lilies ''In the Beauty of the Lilies'' is a 1996 novel by John Updike. It takes its title from a line of the abolitionist song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The novel received the 1997 Ambassador Book Award, Ambassador Book Award for Fiction. In ' ...

'' (1996).

Early life and education

Wesley Russell Updike was born on February 22, 1900 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

educated

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister, who suffered employment difficulties due to a throat ailment. Updike had an older brother, Archibald. and sister, Mary. As a child Updike had to wear braces due to malnutrition-related developmental issues. In high school he suffered an injury while hauling newspapers and had to leave school, but a donor allowed him to return and attend St. Stephen's Episcopal Boarding School (later known as

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

). During World War I Wesley Updike served as a private in the

Student Army Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

from October 30, 1918 until December 13, 1918. Wesley Updike enrolled at

Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a 170-acre campus. History 19th century In 1867, members of the German Reformed Church began plans to establish a college w ...

in Pennsylvania in 1919 on a football scholarship and was a chemical-biological major.

Marriage, Birth of John, and Career in Shillington

Updike met his future wife, Linda Hoyer, on his first day of college, and married her in 1925. After graduation Updike worked various jobs including teaching at schools in Florida and Delaware, superintending a small oil and gas field in Ohio, and working as a hotel desk clerk in Reading, Pennsylvania. From 1927 to 1932 Updike worked as a lineman for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

. Updike's only child, John, was born in 1932. After being laid off during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1932, Wesley Updike became certified as a teacher after studying at

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1856. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when Union Seminary opened. Present-day Albright was formed by the mergers of several ins ...

, and then in 1934 he obtained a job as a math teacher in

Shillington, Pennsylvania Shillington is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 5,273 at the time of the 2010 census the borough is nestled amongst other suburbs outside Reading. It is perhaps best known for being the location of the h ...

with the help of his wife's cousin. Updike was a popular and humorous teacher and many of his antics were re-told in ''

The Centaur ''The Centaur'' is a novel by John Updike, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1963. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. Portions of the novel first appeared in ''Esquire'' and ''The New Yorker''. University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. The Updikes lived with Linda Updike's parents in Shillington until 1945 when they repurchased the family farm in nearby Plowville, which the family had sold in the 1920s, and they family moved back there over Wesley and John's objections. Wesley Updike was also active in the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church in Shillington and Plowville. Updike died April 16, 1972 in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

and was buried in the Robeson Lutheran Church Cemetery. Many of Wesley and Linda Updike's papers were donated to Ursinus College by their son.1923 Ruby Yearbook Ursinus College Senior Class Ursinus College

References

{{reflist 1900 births 1972 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I American Protestants People from Trenton, New Jersey Albright College alumni Bard College alumni Ursinus College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Mathematics educators