Herbert C. De Ley Jr., of Urbana, passed away on Friday, July 24, 2010 at 4:50 at Provena Covenant Medial Center. The visitation will be held Monday, July 26 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Renner-Wikoff Funeral Home. The funeral will be Tuesday, July 27 at 10:00 also at the funeral home, Rev. Steve Shoemaker officiating, with burial services to follow at Woodlawn Cemetery. He is survived by his wife Pamela De Ley, his son Balthazar De Ley, and his sister Suzette MacSkimming, and his step children, Erica Hughes and Patrick Morrow. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Herbert was born in Altadena, Ca on Nov 24, 1936 to Herbert C. De Ley Sr. and Lillian Stone De Ley. He went to the Altadena P.S., Eliot Jr. High School, and to Pasadena City College for his high school, where he was a distinguished gymnast on the side horse. He received his bachelor's degree from U.C.L.A., where he joined the Lamba Chi Alpha fraternity and lettered in gymnastics. His junior year was spent abroad studying French Literature and became fluent in French at the Sorbonne in Paris. He did his graduate work at Yale University where he earned his doctorate degree in French Literature. He was a copy boy at a local newspaper in Los Angeles with his life long friend Stuart Toy. He taught at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA from 1961-1962, during which time he married Margo Corona. He then began his career at the University of Illinois teaching French Literature for over 40 years. During his distinguished career at the U of I, he published five books on Proust and the Memoires of Saint-Simon, as well as La Fontaine. These include Fixing Up Reality, La Fontaine and Levi-Strauss, Le jeu classique. Jeu et thAC.orie des jeux au Grand SiAcle, Saint-Simon Memorialist, The Movement of Thought, and Marcel Proust et le duc de Saint-Simon. In 1990, he married Pamela Donze-Morrow, having many beautiful years together, both in Urbana and in Europe.

Herb was honored by the French Government in 1992 with the Palmes Academiques. This was a honor he treasured dearly.

Herb loved to travel, taking every opportunity to live, study, and write in France. He became an avid cyclist in the 1970's, taking numerous trips across France with his family. He was a life long music lover, and appreciated music from Debussy to alternative rock, most specially his son Balthazar's music. He also loved to cook and entertain friends, family, students and colleagues, hosting many cocktail and dinner parties. He will always be remembered for his catching smile, his brilliant mind, and his giving heart.

Condolences may be offered at www.renner-wikoffchapel.com.