William Charles Marquardt III

William C. Marquardt III On the morning of June 19, 2014 William C. (Bill) Marquardt III (Professor Emeritus, CSU) passed away from pancreatic cancer while being comforted by family members at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. Bill was 89 years old. Bill was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana on October 9, 1924. He was the third child and only son of Lucy Pluess and William C. Marquardt Jr. Bill attended Northwestern University starting in 1942, but was not able to complete his B.S. degree until 1948 due to a mandatory walking tour of Italy with the U.S. Army Infantry during World War II. He received a M.S. in Zoology in 1950 from the University of Illinois Urbana, and a Ph.D. in 1954, also from the University of Illinois Urbana. His area of expertise was parasitology. While employed for the summer in Charlevoix, Michigan, Bill met Barbara Ann Schucker who was also working in Charlevoix. They had a wonderful summer together and were married June 19, 1948 in Mount Carmel, Illinois. Bill’s teaching and research career began in 1954 at The Veterinary Research Laboratory, Montana State College in Bozeman. He was a Professor of Zoology at Colorado State University from 1966 until his retirement in 1992. He was also Associate Director of the Arthropod-Borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory at Colorado State University from 1987 to 1995. To his professional credit he had approximately 80 journal articles, six books, and reviews, writings, reports, and society memberships too numerous to list here. Fifteen Ph.D students and 15 Masters degree students completed their work under Bill’s direction. In addition to his immense curiosity about scientific study, Bill also approached the rest of the world with the same curiosity and quick mind. His children could identify small slimy bugs under the loose rocks found in the hundreds of streams that Bill was always exploring and explaining. He loved to hike, ski, and travel the U.S. in a succession of RV’s. Bill and Barbara bicycled France when they were in their 70’s. In recent years he was involved in the Unitarian Church Sunday morning discussion group as well as the Front Range Forum where he attended and taught classes, always in search of a new approach to the subject at hand. But above all, in his last years, Bill was devoted to the care and companionship of his wife Barbara. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his two sisters, Edith Tetzlaff and Ruth Henderson. He is survived by his wife Barbara, daughters Kay Marquardt (Jim Burrell) and Joan Pluess, son Bill Marquardt (Judy Heiderscheidt), grandchildren Siobhan Lucero (Jason), Chloe Walker, Alec Walker, and Tessa Marquardt-Burrell, three great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. And lastly, he is survived by his beloved dog Riley. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Biology Graduate Program at CSU in memory of Bill Marquardt, III. Checks should be made out to the CSU Foundation, PO Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1870.

William Charles Marquardt III

October 9, 1924 - June 19, 2014