Devoted education professor dies at age 62

• Tweet
• 

A “dedicated” and “caring” person who inspired students to teach will do so no more.
Helen Gill, 62, associate professor of teacher education and professional development, died from an apparent heart attack in Plano, Texas, Friday.
Greg Goldsmith, who helped Helen Gill edit the Michigan Reading Journal -a quarterly of the Michigan Reading Association that was published at CMU – for the past couple of years, said she recently contracted an illness and her doctor advised her to flee from Michigan’s cold winter.
Goldsmith, who now lives in Kentucky, said via written correspondence that Gill left Michigan last week for the Southwest because her four children live there, one each in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Goldsmith said Gill’s husband, David, called him Saturday. Goldsmith then learned that Helen Gill had suffered a fatal heart attack Friday afternoon.
David Gill, could not be reached for comment.
Sue Eiszler, teacher education and professional development administrative aide, said no one in the department knew what kind of illness Gill had prior to her trip to Texas.
Gill was on sick leave for the rest of this semester when she went to Texas and had planned on returning to CMU to teach this summer, Eiszler said.
“No one knew what she had, so she was going down south to talk with some specialists to find out,” Eiszler said.
Funeral services will take place Wednesday morning in Morrisdale, Penn., at Strange, Weaver and Johnson Funeral Services.
Gill was born in April of 1967 in Morrisdale. She earned a doctorate in education from Arizona State University in 1989 and was an assistant professor of education at Texas A & M before moving to Mount Pleasant in 1993 to teach at CMU.
“I’d say that Helen was one of the few genuinely nice people I have run into,” Goldsmith said in his written correspondence. “There was no phoniness about her.”
Mary Aylor, teacher education and professional development professor, said she’ll remember Gill’s love of teaching. Aylor said Gill also enjoyed editing the Michigan Reading Journal.
“Helen and I were good friends,” Aylor said. “I think the thing that was the most striking about Helen was her dedication.
“She loved teaching and truly loved being editor of the Michigan Reading Journal. She worked harder than anyone I know to be a good teacher,” she said.
Gill worked hard to create a collaborative team for the journal, Aylor said.
“I had received a letter from Helen last week and in it she really told how she loved working with that team and that she hoped someone would take over for that team and edit it,” Aylor said.
Leonie Marie Rose, teacher education and professional development professor, said Gill was an excellent teacher, a scholar and a wonderful person.
“She was a very caring individual who took a stand for what she believed in,” Rose said.
“She was always willing to help out colleagues and was a wonderful friend.”
Rose took over teaching one of Gill’s classes Monday and she said it was difficult telling the students.
“She’s very much missed and is missed by her students,” Rose said.
“Some were very upset because they had her for other classes too.”
Rose said Gill “was always cheerful, always had a smile and had a way of relating what she was teaching with what was going on.”
Gill totally revamped the journal and it was very well received, Rose added.
Surviving family includes husband David, four children and four grandchildren. Gill’s children are Silvia Renee Johnson, of Tempe, Ariz.; Lynne Yvonne Chinn, of Plano, Texas; John Alexander Gill, of Albuquerque, N.M.; and Jerome Frederick Gill, of Citrus Heights, Calif.