In addition to his classroom work and research, Dr. Case also coached the college's wrestling team that won the Mason- Dixon Conference championships in 1969 and 1970.
In 2001, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame recognized him with its Lifetime Service Award, and that same year he was inducted into the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the McDaniel College Sports Hall of Fame.
Dr. Case was one of a few faculty members who were selected to receive the college's Distinguished Teaching Award.
"My greatest reward as a teacher comes when my students understand how their bodies function, realize their own potential, and explore the interdisciplinary nature of knowledge," Dr. Case wrote in an essay when nominated for the award.
"I hope that when they leave the classroom, they will continue to set personal records for themselves, both as Olympic thinkers and creative athletes," he wrote.
Dr. Case never lost his wanderlust and his thirst for adventure and physical challenges. After being diagnosed with the leukemia that would eventually claim his life, he decided to climb a mountain.
A year after he retired from McDaniel College in 2004, he and a college friend completed an 18-day trek through the Mount Everest region of Nepal, climbing high enough into the mountains that they were exposed to altitude sickness.
"They climbed more than 14,000 feet," said his Western Maryland College sweetheart and wife of 47 years, the former Susan Snodgrass, who taught at the college after retiring from Carroll County public schools.
"He gave back in large measure to both the campus and local communities," said Ms. Muller. "Each year, he organized the faculty hike and was instrumental in establishing recognition of retired faculty in Memorial Plaza."
For more than two decades, Dr. Case volunteered for the local and Mid-Maryland Division of the American Heart Association.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Baker Memorial Chapel on the Westminster campus of McDaniel College.
In addition to his wife, Dr. Case is survived by two daughters, Lauren Case of Washington, D.C., and Sarah Case of Eugene, Ore.; a sister, Barbara Shiffer of Nazareth, Pa.; and four grandchildren.
