The image on the online obituary of Beatrice Spade, who passed away on June 8, 2012. Photo courtesy of http://easyfhweb.com.
Beatrice Spade was one the many staff members at Colorado State University-Pueblo that will always be remembered.
Spade, 71, passed away Saturday, July 14, 2012 at her home in Rocky Ford, Colo.
Spade began work at the CSU-Pueblo on August 27, 1990 and retired on June 8, 2012.
As an associate professor of history, Spade is remembered for her kind and gentle manner, knowledge of university and major requirements and strong rapport with all the advisees that pass through her office.
Spade earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, her master’s degrees from the University of Hawaii and Taiwan National University and her Ph. D. from Harvard University.
She had extensive teaching experience at several institutions, including Louisiana State University, Shandong University and CSU-Pueblo. Her research focused on medieval Chinese history, particularly pilgrimage and migration.
Her teaching interests included world civilizations, empires, Chinese history and research methods
Dr. Spade began as a full-time assistant professor in 1993, rose to associate professor in 1995 and retired at the end of the spring 2012 term as an associate professor.
Audra Easley, a senior at CSU-Pueblo, took Spade’s “History of China” class, and was advised by her.
“Dr. Spade was a quiet and humble person, but if you got her talking she was hilarious. She was one of those teachers that would do anything to help you in life and academics,” Easley said.
Spade, who won two university-wide advising awards, advised hundreds of students, and served as faculty advisor to the student history club Past Masters and the student national history honor society Phi Alpha Theta.
“If I feel that a student shouldn’t be a history major, but rather something else that could help them succeed in the future, then I will tell them so,” Spade said in an article previously written upon her retirement, when asked about what kind of advice she gives to her advisees.
Fellow History Department colleague, Matt Harris, shared that Spade “had a way about her” and was an amazing advisor who had handled the lion’s share of the department’s advising for many years.
Spade saw advising as being far more than approving course registration, but she considers how those semester classes will enhance a student’s academic career and life path.
The History Department, the History Club and the Alpha Theta Kappa Branch of the National History Honor Society will be holding a two-day celebration in honor of Spade from April 18-19.
Faculty and students are invited to the events, for Spade was known not only in her own department of the school, but by many other faculty and students throughout CSU-Pueblo.
“Dr. Spade motivated her students to succeed, and made sure you worked hard to do so,” Easley said. “Spade wasn’t just a teacher, but also a friend and an advisor for life.”