Professor and former Jesuit dies at 61

By Allison Sundaram

Bill Spohn, a respected professor, colleague, friend and mentor to many in the Santa Clara community died Aug. 3 at Alta Bates Hospital of complications from brain cancer. He was 61.

The religious studies professor and former director of the Bannan Center is survived by his wife, Marty Stortz; his brother, Richard Spohn; his sister, Catherine Wolff; and many nieces and nephews who belovedly knew him as "Tio Loco."

Former student Kristin Love said that he was able to take the complex and make it easy to understand. Class with him was a "transformative experience."

"I still think about it and I took that class two years ago. He was the kind of professor that got really, really excited about the subject," she said.

Love said he brought much of his personality into the classroom by sharing his many life experiences. He was a Jesuit for 32 years before leaving the order in 1994.

"I really regard the Jesuits as his family," Stortz said. "He has a family of birth, and he also has a family of brothers in the Society of Jesus, and it was very good for him to still be connected to that family. I'm very lucky to have both of those families around me now."

Spohn taught the Theology of Marriage course for a number of years and invited Stortz, his wife of nine years, to come to class and "offer rebuttal testimony."

Spohn loved to entertain friends with his wife at their home and experiment with recipes.

"He just loved life. He loved to cook, he loved good wine. He loved good friends. If Bill had his way, we'd have parties at our house every weekend. He lived life with a lot of joy," Stortz said.

She recalled when on faculty immersion trips to El Salvador and Guatemala, he would bond with local children by doing "the magic thumb trick."

Spohn's family members recall that even in his final days he never lost his spirit.

"Bill never stopped teaching, even when he got brain cancer. He couldn't teach formally in the curriculum. He chronicled this disease in a series of e-mails that he sent out to friends and colleagues and family members. In a way, these e-mails were about dying and how to die. And he was teaching us all how to die with dignity and with hope," Stortz said.

Memorial services were held in San Francisco on August 8, 2005, with about 800 people attending.

Wolff said the turnout was a great comfort to her and her family. She said her brother's most obvious legacy at Santa Clara is the DISCOVER project, which helps students and faculty find their vocation.

"His legacy to Santa Clara has many dimensions," University President and friend of Spohn's, Paul Locatelli, said in a written statement. "He helped (us) through discussions, to better articulate our Jesuit educational mission. As a superb scholar, he made significant contributions to his profession, but because he cared deeply about students, they benefited most from his remarkable mind and caring personality."

A memorial liturgy for Spohn is planned for Monday, October 3, 2005, at 4:30 p.m. in the Mission Church. A reception will follow.

Contact Nicole LaPrade at (408) 554-4546 or nlaprade@scu.edu.