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A year full of reasons to celebrate, 2017 was also marked by difficult losses to the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ community. We look back—in remembrance and celebration of life—honoring those who left us last year. They touched the campus in immeasurable ways. They were faculty, staff, students and affiliates. They were and remain part of the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ family and legacy. 

Faculty, staff and students

Peter Beihoffer

Peter J. Beihoffer died on Sept 9. He was studying chemistry and was in the class of 2018.

Eric C. Bolling died in early September. He was studying economics and was part of the class of 2020.

Taylor "Tate" Bonnet died on July 3. Bonnet was a biochemistry major, part of the class of 2019.

Richard "Dick" Bryant passed away on Sept. 7. He began his career at Wardenburg Health Services and then worked for many years at the University Libraries. His colleagues there say he was a great colleague and friend who will be dearly missed.

Collin J. Cross

Barry Clark died on . He was the lecturer in economics in the Baker Hall Honors Residential Academic Program. Read more.

Collin J. Cross, who died on Feb. 26, was majoring in business finance and was in the class of 2020.

Jacob Czajkowski, who died on March 5, was majoring in computer science and was in the class of 2020.

Anne E. Ferguson, a CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ staff member, died on Dec. 3.

Madeline Marie Globe, a student, died on Aug. 10. She was majoring in communications and was in the class of 2018.

Chris Herrera, who loved the outdoors, died on April 23. He was a dining mechanic on campus.

Jared Hill died on Nov. 10. He was employed at the Office of the Registrar. He was a CU graduate and had worked for the campus for many years.

Jonah Skees Hinman, class of 2018, was studying molecular and cellular developmental biology at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ.  

Laura Kriho, an employee of the College of Arts and Sciences, died in February.

Horst Mewes

Horst Mewes was an associate professor of political science. Growing up in Germany left him with an abiding interest in 20th-century German history, a strong sense of the enormous damage that can be done if democracy is destroyed and a strong commitment to teach students that democracy does not flourish without being actively defended. He died on May 22. Read more.

Raymundo Benjamin "Ben" Ollada, IV died on Feb. 4. In the class of 2019, he was studying aerospace engineering.  

Nancy Thorwardson, who died on April 11, worked as a professional research assistant and information technology specialist in the Institute of Behavioral Science.

°­´Ç²Ô°ù²¹»å&²Ô²ú²õ±è;´Ü²¹Âá°ì´Ç·É²õ°ì¾±â€‹, a student who died on July 28, planned to work in law enforcement, possibly as an FBI agent. He was a camp counselor for two summers and also had teaching aspirations.

Alessandro "Zazu" Zarzur, who died in May, arrived from Brazil to attend CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ beginning as a freshman. In the class of 2019 in the College of Arts and Sciences, he was a triathlete.

Emeritus faculty, former employees, retirees and affiliates

Harrison Bernard Albert

Harrison Bernard Albert died on Oct. 27. He was a CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ faculty member for eight years. He also worked for NBS/NIST on computer peripherals, power supplies and the atomic clock.

Helen Aumiller died on May 28. She worked part-time as a medical technician at the student health center.

Chauncey Beagle

Chauncey M. Beagle died on Oct. 7. He taught accounting at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ from 1957 to 1986. In his name, there is the Beagle Family Accounting Scholarship administered through the Leeds School of Business.

William "Cal" Callahan, who died on Dec. 20, worked for 43 years at Norlin Library, where he met his wife and many long-term friends. Prior to the library, he worked for FEMA on flood management and served in the Air Force as an air traffic controller. He also served on the board of The Center for People with Disabilities in ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ.

Bennie Chavez died on Oct. 31. He retired from CU as custodial manager in 1998.

Arthur L. Dickinson died on May 3. A faculty member of what is now called the integrative physiology department in the 1960s and 1970s, he founded the Human Performance Lab and created a wellness testing and evaluation program for police and firefighters to identify risk factors of lifestyle disease in persons working in highly stressful and physically demanding jobs.

Cleopatra Estrada

Cleopatra Estrada, for over 40 years, served in many professional roles for students of color and underrepresented students on campus via the initial Educational Opportunity Programs into their current iterations. She was a CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ alumnae and was one of the campus's first Educational Opportunity Program (1969) students, having arrived during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. An active member of the United Mexican American Students (UMAS), she went from being their work-study secretary to becoming a professional counselor with the UMAS-EOP administrative program, whose mission was to recruit and retain Chicana/o students to the university. In the Fall of 2014, the Women’s Resource Center instituted a scholarship in her name, the Cleopatra Estrada Jaramillo Activist Legacy Scholarship. Estrada died on Feb. 23. 

Mary Alice Hester

Mary Alice Hester died on May 18. After working at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ, she continued her career as a dispatcher for the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Police Department. She dedicated her career to delivering and improving emergency and safety services, believing strongly that it was saving lives and work worth doing. She was an active participant with the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ County I Have a Dream Foundation.

Brian Jordan, who died on Aug. 10, was retired from the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Police Department.

Wanda Knopinski, who died on Oct. 25, worked as an administrative assistant in the math department for 34 years.

Hardy Long Frank, who died on Nov. 26, helped establish the women's studies program and taught for many years in the writing program on campus.

Mildred and Charles Nilon

Mildred Nilon, who was the university’s first African American librarian and was married to the late English professor Charles Nilon, died on Sept. 30. Read more.

David Olson, a retired project manager with CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ's Housing Facilities Services Projects Group, died on Dec. 16.

Willard Rutledge, who died on Aug. 30, was a sports writer for the Daily Camera and went on to mentor CU student-athletes.

Joel Selbin, who died on June 8, taught chemistry for over a decade on the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ and Denver campuses.

Charlotte Short

Charlotte Short, a professor emeritus, was the director of dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance from 1973 to 1988. She died Jan. 2. 

Seana Lowe Steffen

Seana Lowe Steffen died on Sept. 16. She was the director of INVST Community Studies, a CU leadership training program focused on social justice, from 1993 to 2006.  See the CU Engage tribute.

Steven Stolz began his work life in the grounds department on the CU campus, mostly working with the trees and becoming a self-educated arborist. For many years he planted, trimmed and admired the variety of trees on campus while often introducing new ones.

William Wainwright died on May 24. In 1964, he accepted a teaching position at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ in the mechanical engineering department, where he taught for 30 years. He loved teaching and was popular with the students. He said, "The Golden Rule is to treat students as people. They have feelings and are intelligent."

Paul Wehr

Paul Wehr was a professor emeritus whose 40-year career included teaching, research and hands-on service work in social activism on four continents. Paul nurtured generations of grateful students to address social and environmental conflict while working toward justice without violence.

Thomas Joseph Yock, who died on Sept. 9, retired from Wardenburg Student Health Center in 2015 after 36 years. His career was dedicated to teaching, mentoring and counseling students.

William "Bill" Zelt, who died on April 11, worked as a scientific instrument maker at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ's High Altitude Observatory and then at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Walter Joseph Zender was a set designer for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival prior to joining the theater department at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ.

For alumni tributes, visit the Coloradan alumni magazine.