Time was something Cindy Kieffer gave generously to others, making it all the sadder when her time ran out unexpectedly and all too soon.
Kieffer, director of the UO’s American English Institute, died Sept. 4 at age 64. Friends and colleagues will gather this Friday, Oct. 17, at the Many Nations Longhouse for a celebration of life.
The informal event will begin at 2 p.m. and is open to all who knew her.
Kieffer’s loss was felt deeply at AEI, where she was known for her giving spirit and willingness to help others. Colleagues say she will be remembered as a person who never hesitated to reach out when someone needed help and who was always willing to listen.
“When any one of us met with her about any concern, she always made us feel like our concerns were important and gently guided us with her kind words,” said Robin Rogers, a member of the AEI faculty. “Her professionalism and dedication to her work, along with her support for other faculty members, will be greatly missed, along with her encouraging smile.”
Even when deadlines loomed or the work load was particularly heavy, Kieffer could be counted on to lend a hand or a kind word where it was needed, colleagues said. Alison Evans, AEI’s former associate director and a longtime coworker, called her an “unsung hero” who often worked behind the scenes to help others.
Kieffer also was a mentor to many newer faculty members and coworkers, Evans said, working to help people adjust or advising them when they faced challenges.
“She was both a mentor and a supervisor with a sometimes-tough exterior but a giant heart of gold,” Evans said. “She did so many things to help others, yet she never wavered in her dedication to AEI students and faculty, and to the university.”
An instructor and manager at AEI for 35 years, Kieffer spent most of her professional career at the UO, arriving as an AEI instructor in 1978. She was instrumental in building the AEI from its inception, and was also widely known and respected both in the US and abroad for her active roles in professional organizations and the AEI's eLearning programs.
She rose to senior instructor in 1988 and has been director or co-director since 2005. She had planned to retire soon.
Kieffer was born in Everett, Wash., and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Washington State University in 1972 and master’s in English with a concentration in linguistics from State University College at Buffalo in New York in 1975. She worked as a teacher in New York, Ohio and California before moving to Eugene.
At AEI, Kieffer worked in many programs and at various times coordinated testing and placement, the reading and computer labs and the Intensive English Program. She put that background to work helping newer staff and faculty members, who felt her loss as keenly as those who knew her much longer.
“She was there for me with some gentle honesty during some unique work situations that I had never before faced,” said Brandy Collier, who has been at AEI for three years. “It’s amazing what an impact she had on everyone.”
Kieffer is survived by her husband, Ken Fuller; a daughter, Vanessa Fuller Martin of Eugene; and a son, Andrew Fuller of Atlanta, Ga. She also is survived by two grandchildren, Zeno and Phoenix, of Eugene.
—By Greg Bolt, Public Affairs Communications