Former Orange Coast College Dean of Literature Virgil Sessions Dead

Virgil D. Sessions, longtime dean of Orange Coast College’s literature and languages department, has died after a brief illness, college officials said Wednesday.

Sessions, 64, died Oct. 15 in Spring City, Utah, where he moved after his retirement in 1984, college spokesman Jim Carnett said.

Sessions, a native of Utah, joined Orange Coast College in 1958 as a speech and English professor. He was elevated to dean in 1964, a position he held until his retirement. Sessions is credited with founding Orange Coast College’s highly successful speech and debate team, which has taken five national championships in the last decade and has not finished lower than fourth place since 1979.

“He was great--a real people person (who) was very, very popular on campus,” Carnett said. “He always spent time with his students, even after he became dean.”

Until recently, the veteran educator continued to teach part-time at Utah’s Snow College.

Sessions is survived by his wife, Jean, their four daughters and a son. The couple also had 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A funeral was held Oct. 19 in Spring City, Utah, and he was buried with military honors, in recognition of his seven-year stint in the U.S. Navy.

The Orange Coast College Foundation has established a scholarship in Sessions’ name, Carnett said.