When Dr. Maggie Riedell arrived at USC Aiken's School of Education in 1986, she brought a passion for reading and literacy - teaching college students how to bring that excitement to their future classrooms.
Riedell, 65, died Thursday after battling health issues for the past decade. Her 20 years at the university included service as the School of Education dean.
Her devotion to her craft accomplished her goal many times over. Her former students are quick to describe her contributions to their careers.
Five years ago, the School of Education established an annual 5K Riedell Run. Friends and colleagues were inspired to establish the Margaret Riedell Children's Literature Scholarship. The funds are awarded in part to a deserving education major each year.
In one of the early races, Byrd Elementary School teacher Andrea Rexroad participated in the event. She is one of Riedell's former students.
"She is an amazing person and teacher," Rexroad said then. "Everybody loved her class, and a lot of the group work I'm doing in third grade came from things we did with her."
In an interview several years ago, Riedell described how much she enjoyed working with student teachers. She said they kept her young and gave her the opportunity to see their growth.
Riedell chose to leave the dean's position in 2001 so she could return full-time to the classroom. Diagnosed with cancer four years later, she underwent brain surgery and lost motor skills on the right side of her body.
"It's so ironic," she said in 2010. "When I had my brain injury, I lost the ability to read. But it was insightful too. It was like being a child all over again and going through the reading process."
Through hard work, she did learn to read again. Remarkably, she read as many as 100 books in the past year on a wide range of topics, said USCA Professor Dr. Allen Dennis, a close friend of Riedell and her husband, Jim Yates.
"Maggie was a gentle, gracious, caring person," Dennis said. "She was a great school dean and was very committed to the development of new faculty."
Actually, Riedell was reading about 140 books every year, Yates said - often reading simultaneously a paperback, another on her Kindle and a third as an audiobook.
He said he has long been grateful for all the warmth so many people returned to her in admiration of her professionalism and her generous spirit.
"That was Maggie," Yates said, "her natural state of affairs. People were drawn to her."
Dr. Jeff Priest, currently USCA's executive chancellor for academic affairs, succeeded Riedell as the School of Education dean in 2001.
"She had a huge impact on a lot of our students," Priest said Friday. "During that time, she was advocate for them, making sure they were the very best teachers."
Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter and has been with the newspaper since 2001.