Kelly Yeaton, a former Penn State professor of theatre arts, died Thursday from congestive heart failure. He was 93.

"Teaching was his life," his wife, Ruth Yeaton, said. "Watching students develop and create on their own is every teacher's dream."

Ruth Yeaton said most of all, Kelly Yeaton loved Penn State.

"He had offers to teach elsewhere, but he really wanted to stay at Penn State," she said. "Penn State was just beginning to expand and develop, and was open to a lot of suggestions for improvement -- it was very conducive to the things he wanted to do in the theater department."

The Pavilion Theatre is one of Kelly Yeaton's legacies at University Park, Ruth Yeaton said.

She said one day on a walk around campus, Kelly Yeaton brought her inside a cattle-judging pavilion.

"There was straw on the floor and it smelled like a barn, but Kelly said it would make a great arena theater," she said. "He had such vision."

Before the Pavilion was built, students and professors had to create portable sets in buildings across campus.

"Every week they had to tear it down," Ruth Yeaton said. "It was kind of exasperating."

Kelly Yeaton was also instrumental in the creation of Millbrook Playhouse in Mill Hall, friend and former student Daniel Reinhold said.

"Kelly taught me everything he knew," he said. "Millbrook Playhouse is the second oldest barn theater in the United States and without Kelly, there would be no Millbrook."

His family and friends said his passion for the theater affected all of his students.

"He was a super acting teacher and an absolute perfectionist in training," Reinhold said. "If there was a scene with a duel, you could bet that fencers would say it was all perfectly accurate."

His son, Michael Yeaton, said during his childhood, he spent a lot of time in audience seats watching rehearsals his parents energetically directed.

"Mandatory retirement just about killed him," he said.

Kelly Yeaton's interest in the theater was awakened when he attended Tufts University as a psychology major.

"He went into a theater company and acted a small role," Ruth Yeaton said. "That opened up the theater for him, and he realized how much he enjoyed it."

Ruth Yeaton said her husband loved the theater because it enabled him to examine human behavior.

She added that besides the arts, he loved gardening, sailing and any other hobby that interested him.

"He had a very active life. He was always exploring something different," Ruth Yeaton said. "Whatever took his interest, he followed it and explored it."

A memorial service and celebration of Yeaton's life will be held on at 3 p.m. April 16 in the Pavilion Theatre.