The DeKalb and NIU communities are mourning the loss of English professor Jan Kiergaard, who passed away Monday at his home.

Kiergaard, 49, was a 1969 graduate of DeKalb High School and received his bachelor and master’s degrees in English at NIU. He went on to the NIU Department of English for 17 years, teaching English as a second language. Kiergaard is survived by his wife, Ke-Yin, whom he married in December 1996, and two daughters, all of DeKalb.

Robert Self, English professor and director of the first-year English composition program, knew Kiergaard for 15 years and said he regarded Kiergaard highly as a colleague and friend.

“Jan was always perceived as a very good teacher and cared about students, their development, their success,” Self said. “He will be remembered as one who gave his full professional commitment to the classroom.”

Kiergaard taught English 103 and 104 classes to international students, and he was teaching the graduate 453 and 452 English courses as well.

Laura Bird, an English instructor who knew Kiergaard for 10 years, said he always was fascinated with culture and was a connoisseur of nature.

“He was popular with students and always set high standards for them,” she said. “He was a working-class intellectual who remained true to his DeKalb roots but became, through his teaching and curious mind, a citizen of the world.”

Rose Marie Burwell, an NIU English professor who knew Kiergaard for 25 years —— when he was an undergraduate, graduate, colleague and friend —— said that Kiergaard was one of the brightest students she ever had.

“He was one of the best instructors in the department, full of empathy and humor,” she said. “What I have to do is go from being sorry for losing him to being grateful for finding him.”

Joe Gastiger, an NIU English professor and pastor, knew Kiergaard for 21 years as a friend and colleague and officiated at his service, held Wednesday at

Ronon-Moore-Finch Funeral Home in DeKalb.

“He would want to be remembered as someone who truly loved this place (DeKalb) and also as a very passionate, gifted writer,” he said.

All of Kiergaard’s friends remarked that he had a very good memory — almost photographic —— and he never forgot a name or face.

Kiergaard spent 1998 and 1999 teaching English as a second language to international students in Shanghai, China. He occasionally consulted Arthur Andersen for teaching English to their world-wide employees. Bird said Kiergaard was a “Walt Whitman-type” who was very devoted to nature, an avid bird watcher and keen to different plant and animal species in nature.

Academically, Kiergaard was a long-standing member of the Freshman English Committee, that deals with the first-year English composition program, and the Writing Evaluation Team, which deals with the core competency testing of writing in the English Department. Also, along with three other NIU professors, Kiergaard authored “Resources Manual written for Rine Hart” in 1993, a book designed for college English professors all over the country to developing English criteria.

Bird said Kiergaard taught a generation of international students about appreciating English.

“He will be missed,” she said.