Obituary: Theodore Sargent, Professor Emeritus of Biology

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Theodore D. (“Ted”) Sargent, 81, of Leverett, professor emeritus of biology, has died.

Born in Peabody on Oct. 25, 1936, he showed early interests in nature and outdoor activities and became an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Peabody High School in 1954 and received his B.S. in zoology from UMass Amherst in 1958. He went on to the University of Wisconsin in Madison for his M.S. (1960) and Ph.D. (1963), specializing in animal behavior.

He returned to UMass Amherst in 1963 as a lecturer in the department of zoology and spent his career as a faculty member, retiring in 1998. 

He conducted extensive research on predator-prey interactions, especially the behavioral adaptations of cryptic moths preyed upon by birds. He published extensively in a variety of scientific journals, and directed the research efforts of many graduate students.

His 1976 book, “Legion of Night: The Underwing Moth,” led to his active participation in the Lepidopterists’ Society. He served as editor of that international society’s journal for many years and was elected president in 1980. 

He dabbled in antiques and collectibles throughout his life, and ran a retail store, Metamorphosis, in Chatham on Cape Cod for several summers in the 1980s. Later he became a dealer in postcards, specializing in western Massachusetts scenic cards. He also worked for many years at the Whately Antiquarian Book Center in North Hatfield.

His special collecting interests included natural history books (especially on butterflies and moths), New England poetry, fine rock and mineral specimens (especially the rarer agate varieties), and old New England glass (Sandwich, Stoddard, etc.). 

He loved old-time country and bluegrass music and played dobro in the local band “Mountain Rose” for a few years. He also played autoharp and Appalachian dulcimer. He also managed to write a little poetry, and composed a number of folk and country songs.

After his retirement, he developed new scholarly interests in local history, and he wrote “The Life of Elaine Goodale Eastman,” which was published in 2005. Elaine Goodale had been a famous child poet in the Berkshires who married a Sioux Native American and then lived a long and interesting life, mostly in Amherst and Northampton. Sargent’s last published paper was also devoted to aspects of the marriage of Elaine and Charles (Ohiyesa) Eastman).

He is survived by his wife Kathy and children David and Meryl.