Over winter break, ISU lost a former administrator to a heart attack.

Jude Boyer, who held numerous positions at ISU, including associate vice president for Student Affairs, was en route to visit her family in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday, Dec. 23 when she passed.

Boyer was a member of Student Affairs from 1973 until her retirement in 2000. She was also a director for the ISU Annuitants Association, co-president for the University Club and an adviser for the Red Tassell chapter of the Mortar Board.

Fondly remembered by former colleagues, Boyer continued committing her time to ISU for the 12 years after her retirement. Jess Ray, University Club treasurer, recalls her concern for the university.

“She was someone who was always concerned about students and what was happening with students,” Ray said.

During her time as associate vice president for Student Affairs, she was responsible for moving the commencement ceremony from what she considered to be the crowded Horton Field House to Redbird Arena. She also divided the ceremony into separate ceremonies for the separate departments.

In addition, she created the December commencement in 1995 in order to allow students leaving ISU after the fall semester to graduate in the winter.

“As a faculty member, I knew her because she was in charge of lining up faculty at commencement,” Larry Alferink, president of the ISU Annuitants Association, said. “Jude was very well respected. People paid attention to her.”

Robert Preston, president of the University Club, called her the “heart and soul” of the University Club. As co-president, she helped found the Gourmet Dinners and the University Club scholarships awarded to undergraduate and graduate students each December.

“[Jude] was a very kind person and very efficient … She was very reliable and we trusted her with many activities,” Robert Preston, University Club president said.

“She applied her enormous capacity for excellent administration and management to the University Club and other things she did [after retirement],” Preston added.

During University Club meetings, Boyer would ask speakers what they were doing for students. She was also a generous contributor to the club scholarships, Ray said.

Her efficiency and dedication to ISU was finally demonstrated by her involvement in the ISUAA.

Boyer was an elected director and maintained the ISUAA archives in order to keep record of the group’s activities, Alferink said. The membership directory was compiled by Boyer as well — something that Alferink said she was exceptionally good at due to her attention to detail.

Her dedication to the ISUAA earned her its Distinguished Service Award in 2011.

A funeral service was held in her home of Des Moines, Iowa. Memorial services in Bloomington-Normal are pending.