University News
Services Set for LEJA Assistant Professor Emeritus Dennis Bliss
February 24, 2015
MACOMB, IL -- Services for Western Illinois University School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration (LEJA) Assistant Professor Emeritus Dennis Bliss will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen in Macomb. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the service Feb. 26. Burial will take place at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 27 at Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin. Bliss, 65 passed away in Macomb Saturday, Feb. 21.
A 1972 WIU graduate, Bliss joined as an instructor in the law enforcement department at Western in 1976. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1980. He taught courses in juvenile delinquency, corrections and law enforcement management until his retirement in 2007. He was currently serving as a part-time instructor in the School of LEJA.
"The Western Illinois University community mourns Dennis' death," said President Jack Thomas. "We extend our condolences and our thoughts to his family and friends."
He served as a consultant for the Illinois and Iowa Department of Corrections, and spent several years with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services advocate/counselor project. He was also the chair of the task force to study a prison riot that occurred in 1986 at Iowa State Penitentiary in Ft. Madison.
Bliss received his master's degree from WIU in 1975, and his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in 1981. Prior to joining WIU's law enforcement faculty, he work as an instructor at Carl Sandburg College and the University of South Dakota.
He is survived by his daughters, Michelle Martin and Kimberly Woods; seven grandchildren; and a special friend, Dana Morrell.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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