NCFR Fellow Jetse Sprey, Ph.D., died on June 1, 2019, at age 93. He was a member of NCFR for 59 years. 

Born in the Netherlands, Dr. Sprey moved to the United States to attend Yale University where he earned a master's in Southeast Asia area studies and a doctorate in sociology. In his first faculty position at Franklin and Marshall College, he was assigned a course in the sociology of marriage and family, which became a primary focus of his scholarship. In 1964, Dr. Sprey joined the sociology department at Case Western Reserve University where he remained until his retirement in 1991.

During his career he contributed numerous articles to family and sociology journals, primarily on family theory, as well as many book chapters. Dr. Sprey was the editor of Journal of Marriage and the Family (JMF) from 1982-1985.  He was also a founding member and regular presenter at the Theory Construction and Research Methodology (TCRM) Workshop, part of the annual NCFR conference. 

Dr. Sprey remained active in his retirement as a contributing author to JMF and to Journal of Family Theory & Review, as recently as 2013. He was awarded NCFR Fellow status in 2004. 

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