Greg Kannerstein, 67, who devoted his career to Haverford College, died of complications from mesothelioma Tuesday at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse.

Mr. Kannerstein, a Haverford alum, spent 41 years working at the college, in almost every capacity - teacher, dean, baseball coach and administrator, historian, mentor and friend - earning him the title "Mr. Haverford."

"Greg knew everybody on campus, and what they were up to," Haverford President Stephen G. Emerson said in an interview today. "And he knew that for everybody from the college, since the day he walked in. He was in many ways the most beloved alum of the college."

"He was really the soul of our class," said college friend John Carroll, a former Philadelphia Inquirer editor and editor-in-chief at the Baltimore Sun and the Los Angeles Times. "He was there to serve the school and enjoyed his life doing that."

Mr. Kannerstein graduated from Haverford College with an English degree in 1963, and afterward worked as a journalist.

He became a rewrite man for the old Bulletin in Philadelphia. Part of the lore that surrounded Mr. Kannerstein was a story he often told his Haverford colleagues about the time he ran a headline accompanying a story about former Giants baseball player Jesus Alou. It read: "Jesus Saves Giants."

"Apparently a lot of readers didn't think it was as funny as I did," Mr. Kannerstein was remembered saying.

In any case, his newspaper career was short-lived.

"And like a homing pigeon he came back" to Haverford, said Carroll.

In 1968, Haverford named him an assistant dean of students, and he stayed the rest of his life.

His 41 years there included long stints as baseball coach, from 1978 to 1992, and director of athletics, from 1983 to 2006. In many ways, it was a fitting because as an undergraduate he played the school's basketball and baseball teams.

Mr. Kannerstein, who lived in the Art Museum area, became dean of the college in 2006, a position he held until recently, when he was appointed special adviser to institutional advancement and lecturer in general programs.

"The great thing about him," said class of 1982 alum Tony Petitti about his former baseball coach, "you can talk to generations of Haverford students and they have one thing in common - Greg. He wanted everybody to be successful there. He was always reaching out and making sure you were doing the best you could."

Mr. Kannerstein, who also earned a master's degree in English and folklore from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, was the author of The Spirit of the Intellect: Haverford College, 1833–1983.

At Haverford, Mr. Kannerstein was known for his "encyclopedia knowledge" of the college and its alumni, said Steve Watter, dean of student life.

"He was the embodiment of Haverford and its Quaker values," said Watter, who worked with Mr. Kannerstein for 23 years. "He saw the best in others and was the kind of person where you always felt better after leaving his office than you did when you entered it."

Dick Wynn, the college's vice president of finance, echoed the sentiment.

"If some graduate from the class of 1997, in some small city in Colorado ran for city council, Greg knew all about it," Wynn said. "He was fascinated with the careers of Haverford graduates, and followed them all. He was a caring and concerned man."

"Baseball was a big part of our lives," said his stepdaughter, Sara Sklaroff. He replaced the family's small black-and-white TV with a big-screen model so he could watch every game, she said. He even taught his 4-year-old granddaughter, Edie, how to hit a baseball.

"He had this crazy dream that she would be the first female major leaguer," she said.

Mr. Kannerstein is also survived by his wife of 23 years, Elissa Sklaroff.

A memorial service will be held at Haverford College at a later date.

Contact staff writer Kia Gregory at 215-854-2601 or kgregory@phillynews.com.