English professor Gustaaf Van Cromphout, an NIU educator for 36 years, died at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Rockford at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

He had been in a coma since Aug. 27 due to a brain hemorrhage. He was 67.

Van Cromphout was taken off life support around noon Thursday, but kept fighting for his life for over six hours, said Janice Vander Meer, administrative secretary for the English department.

“We thought he would go very quickly, but he didn’t,” Vander Meer said. “He hung on and was very strong and his heart just wouldn’t stop beating.”

Van Cromphout suffered the brain hemorrhage, which caused him to collapse and fall, while walking back from Corn Fest with his son-in-law. He was rushed to St. Anthony’s and underwent surgery to relieve pressure from his brain.

“Prof. Van Cromphout was a man who reminds us all why we are in the business of education,” NIU President John Peters said in a statement released to the Northern Star on Friday. “Over nearly four decades of service to NIU, he demonstrated a profound commitment to higher education.”

English Professor John Knapp remembers the first time he met Van Cromphout in 1971.

“I walked into a rest room here on campus and I bumped into him,” Knapp said. “We both said excuse me and were on our separate ways. I asked a mutual friend who I had bumped into and they said, ‘That’s someone you should really get to know.’”

Within a couple months, the two went out for a drink. What Knapp thought would only take 45 minutes lasted four hours. They soon regularly met for lunch, a tradition the duo would continue for the next 34 years. The two became best friends both on and off campus.

“He was a very close friend who I would have trusted with my life,” Knapp said. “I’ve always referred to him as my walking encyclopedia.”

Gustaaf was able to speak six languages and read and transcribe 10. He was a member of the Liberal Arts and Sciences College Council, English Department Undergraduate Studies Committee, English Department Graduate Admissions Committee and the Emerson Society. He also received NIU’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 1979.

Van Cromphout wrote two books on Emerson’s writings. “Emerson’s Modernity and the Example of Goethe” was published in 1990 and “Emerson’s Ethics” was published in 1999. At the time of his death, he was working on a book about the history of the history of literature.

“He’s the only person I know who read all 42 volumes of the works of Goethe in German and he read them all twice,” Knapp said. Aside from his teachings, Van Cromphout was a family man. He spent a lot of time talking about his grandchildren, just like any grandparent would, Knapp said.

As a child, he lived through World War II. His mother escaped the Nazis by walking from Brussels, Belgium, to the French border under the cover of darkness. She hid in barns and fields during the day and pushed her son in a wheelbarrow the entire way.

“He was a genuinely kind and warm man,” said Larry Johannessen, director of undergraduate studies in the English department. “It was an honor and a pleasure knowing and working with this very special man.”

Within days of his accident, a 2-by-8 piece of paper was placed in Reavis Hall, Room 211 as a tribute to Van Cromphout and signatures and stories began filling up the makeshift card.

“It will be impossible to fill his shoes,” Vander Meer said.

By Friday morning, a single red rose sat outside Van Cromphout’s office door in Zulauf Hall.

“He was as close as NIU got to a true genius,” Knapp said.

Visitation will be tonight from 4 to 8 p.m. at Anderson Funeral Home, 2011 S. 4th St. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Newman Catholic Student Center, 512 Normal Road.

As of press time, the English department was still unsure as to the cancellation of Van Cromphout’s classes on Wednesday. Students are advised to check the English department Web site at www.engl.niu.edu for further updates.