Jeffrey Alan Ersoff
June 21, 1946 - April 16, 2013

Dr. Jeffrey Alan Ersoff, Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Salem College, died Tuesday, April 16, 2013, after a lengthy but determined battle with AL Amyloidosis. He was a gifted teacher and mentor. After completing his BA in Psychology at Cornell University, he spent three years in the Peace Corps in a small village in Malaysia teaching science to elementary school students, keeping their attention by occasionally blowing things up. One of his students came to the US to study and later became the Maylasian Minister of Agriculture. Jeff received his MA at Florida Atlantic and his PhD in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and after a one-year term at NDSU in Fargo, ND, dedicated his career to teaching psychology and mentoring students at Salem College for 34 years. He also initiated and taught the first computer science courses at Salem. Jeff derived deep pleasure from music, was an excellant cook, and an avid dog trainer. He loved his family and was very proud of his daughters. He and his wife were 30-year members of Better Marriages. He is survived by his wife, Caroline Davenport-Ersoff, and by his daughters, Rachel Elena Ersoff and Zarah Sophia Ersoff and her partner Lauren Steely, as well as by his "boys," Buzz, Jake and Tai, all of whom miss him deeply. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Xue-Qiao Zhao and brother-in-law Gordon Davenport, nephew Bobo Davenport, neice Caroline Davenport-Riggs (Brian) and great niece Aiden Riggs, long-time friends John and Sue Ureda, and by his sister Renee Lansat (Paul). He was preceded in death by his mother Helen Coopman and stepfather Sidney Coopman. He was a genrous man and will be greatly missed by all his friends, colleagues and students. The family thanks Dr. Francis Buadi of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN.