by Anna Hampton
Daily Lobo
Former UNM President Ferrel Heady was involved with his community and took action on a personal level to advance his institution, said Ted Martinez, one of Heady's colleagues.
"No matter where he was or who he was dealing with, he was always concerned about others' welfare," Martinez said.
Martinez spoke at a memorial for Heady in the SUB on Saturday.
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Heady died Aug. 17 at age 90. He was the president of UNM from 1968 to 1975 and was known for keeping the campus under control during the years of student protests.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, Heady's neighbor, declared Aug. 26 as Ferrel Heady Day throughout the state of New Mexico.
During the eulogy, Heady was credited with the advancement of women's sports at UNM and with being a great mentor and author whose college-level texts are widely used.
Heady was a dignified gentleman, said Bob Lalicker, Heady's former assistant.
"He met problems with courage, humor, patience, understanding and fairness to all," Lalicker said.
Richard Heady, one of Heady's four children, said his father personally dealt with out-of-hand student protests of the Vietnam War.
"He never got a big head. He never talked down to anyone, and he always treated everyone with respect," he said, after describing a night when his father stayed on campus past midnight to encourage peaceful student demonstrations. "As president, his job was to keep the University running, and he never forgot that."
The naval officer served his country, family and community well, said the Rev. Rick Donoho, who led the memorial.
Heady was always positive, Lalicker said.
"I never heard him utter a discouraging word about another person," he said.
Two of his neighbors, Jack and Carol Treadwell, who knew Heady during his short time at the Mesa del Sol retirement community, remember him as an ordinary guy who liked to have dinner with everyone.
"He had a marvelous dry sense of humor, and he'd get this look in his face and then he'd make some remark that would just have us in stitches," Carol Treadwell said.
In his autobiography, One Time Around, Heady wrote, "My belief in immortality is a limited one, an aspiration far less ambitious than an expectation of eternal life. The limited immortality that I am confident each of us can count on is in the minds of others - family, friends, acquaintances and whoever is or becomes aware of one's life experience."
