Staff, Faculty and Students Honour Late Colleagues

By Suzanne Soto

When Bob Auger, the former U of G associate registrar for enrolment statistics and systems as well as records, was first diagnosed with asbestos-induced cancer in April 1996, his doctors were so upset by the news, the Auger family had to comfort them, recalls Auger's wife, Susanne.

Later, when Auger was in day hospice due to his illness, people at the Guelph facility thought he was a volunteer rather than a patient because of his tireless efforts to help others in hospice care.

"That's the kind of person he was," Susanne says. "He was somebody who really cared about everyone. He was so giving."

And that's exactly how Auger, who died March 28, 2000, from malignant mesothelioma, is remembered by his former colleagues in the Office of Registrarial Services.

"Bob was a special person, and we still miss him," says international admissions co-ordinator Mary Haggarty. "He cared very much about the staff who worked for him; he was always supportive and always willing to go to bat for them."

Peter Landoni, associate registrar (student financial services), adds that "those who knew Bob liked him very much and held him in very high regard."

It's these kinds of memories that recently led a group of Registrarial Services staff to establish the Robert G. Auger Humanitarian Fund, a fund-raising project that has become part of U of G's campus community campaign. The fund is designed to help "the most needy students on campus," Landoni says.

From time to time, and usually toward the end of a semester, some students find themselves without enough money to buy food or textbooks, he explains.

"It's not widespread, but we do see some students in real need. We thought it would be nice to be able to help these students right away."

The fund will enable registrarial staff to hand out food vouchers redeemable at city grocery stores and book vouchers redeemable at the Campus Bookstore, on the spot.

"The fund is such a wonderful idea," says Susanne. "It is so Bob. And a great legacy for Bob's two-year-old granddaughter, Skya."

Landoni says the fund has already received donations, including gifts from people outside the University who knew Auger. He also hopes campus people outside Registrarial Services who were acquainted with Auger during his 18-year-career at Guelph will donate to the fund.

Susanne adds that the fund means the world to her and her family: daughter, Catherine Cameron; son-in-law, Zio Hersch; and son, Rob. She says the fund would also have been particularly meaningful to her husband, who, as a young man, worked three consecutive summers taking down asbestos from boiler rooms at a Kitchener plant - all to pay for his university studies.

"Bob lived every day with love, and his spirit will live on through this fund," she says.

In addition to remembering Auger, campus community members are honouring the memories of other former University employees.

Physical Resources staff have created the David Hellewell Fund in remembrance of David Hellewell, who worked at U of G for more than 25 years - most recently in the Grounds Department - before his unexpected death from an aneurysm in November.

Grounds manager John Reinhart says both Physical Resources and Grounds staff wanted to remember Hellewell, a colleague and friend to many. As part of the campus community campaign, staff are now raising funds to create a tribute to his memory.

Members of the School of Literatures and Performance Studies in English have identified the Betty King Memorial Graduate Scholarship as one of their community campaign fund-raising projects. The scholarship was established in 1998 by graduate students in memory of Betty King, a graduate secretary who died of cancer that summer.

"Betty was really dedicated to her job, she was really good at what she did and she really liked students," says Jennifer Hewitt, who graduated with an MA the year King died and was among those who initiated the fund. "So many people remember her fondly."

Several other campus departments have chosen to contribute to the campus community campaign by providing support for students while honouring people with ties to the department. These include a scholarship named for retired geography professor Fred Dahms; the Marion McKenzie Prizes for Outstanding Achievement in History; the Ralph and Edith Kidd Memorial Scholarship in Music, named for the first chair of the music department and his wife; a graduate scholarship prize in fine art named for University professor emerita Margaret Priest; a scholarship named for retired political science professor Fred Vaughan; and a fund named for retired consumer studies professor Richard Vosburgh.