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Western civilization won't end with the passing of Karl Joachim Weintraub, but you could be hard-pressed to prove that to a legion of his former students.

For half a century, Dr. Weintraub taught a course on Western history and culture that University of Chicago alumni recall as the centerpiece of their education. Alan Mendelson came to the university as a graduate student in 1965 and sat in on Weintraub's class.

"Chicago was famous for that course," said Mendelson, a religion professor at McMaster University in Canada. "I've been shamelessly drawing on what I learned from Weintraub in my own classes ever since."

Spring at U. of C. long was marked by students sleeping out on campus to maintain a place in the long line of those hoping to register for Dr. Weintraub's Western Civilization class. The student newspaper once reported the annual event under a headline: "Waiting for Weintraub."

Amy Kass, a U. of C. senior lecturer in humanities, said she was inspired to embark on an academic career after meeting Dr. Weintraub, known as "Jock," her freshman year on the Hyde Park campus. She has taught at Duke University.

"Students there slept out to get basketball tickets," Kass said. "That's the difference between other schools and Chicago. Here it was for Jock."

Dr. Weintraub, 79, died of a brain tumor Thursday in the university's Bernard Mitchell Hospital. Though in failing health, he met with his classes until 2002. Technically retired, he had continued his teaching and refused to accept a salary.

His wife, Katy O'Brien Weintraub, said that was his way of quietly protesting changing styles in higher education. The Western Civilization course was being downsized and altered by a younger generation of faculty--except in the two sections the Weintraubs still offered. Having been his student in the 1970s, Katy O'Brien Weintraub became Mr. Weintraub's wife and colleague. "He was shocked that other people couldn't see the value of his course," she said.

Dr. Weintraub was born in Germany to a Jewish father and a Christian mother. During World War II, he was hidden by a Christian family in Holland. Afterward, the Quakers arranged for him to come to the United States. He completed his doctorate at U. of C. in 1957.

His experiences with Nazism deepened his determination to keep his course alive. "I had enough of life without civilization," he said during the struggle over the course.

One Thanksgiving, Dr. Weintraub cooked dinner for a group of students. Afterward, he told how he survived the Holocaust.

"On the way home, I realized why he'd told us that," Mendelson said. "It was a kind of Thanksgiving hymn he wanted to share."

Dr Weintraub also is survived by his sister, Tatjana Wood. The university is planning a memorial service.

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