The UND community experienced several tragedies this summer after a few faculty and staff members passed away.

Don Croeker

Don Croeker, an instructor and adviser for the TRIO Programs, passed away in late May from natural causes.

Croeker started his three-decade teaching career in Grigla, Minn., before teaching social studies for the Grand Forks school system. During this time, he was awarded North Dakota Geography Teacher of the Year.

“He loved teaching,” Don’s wife, and Director of Health & Wellness Promotion at UND, Jane Croeker said.

After Don passed, former students reached out to her to let her know how much Don cared about them.

When he wasn’t teaching, Don kept himself busy by reading, bird watching, bike riding and fishing. But he also had a strong passion for music, which began when he first picked up the guitar as a teenager.

In later years, he performed at local events and even recorded an album of original material, “A Month of Saturdays,” performing both guitar and vocals.

“He was a really good father and a wonderful husband,” Croeker said.

Hanying Xu

In mid-July, Hanying Xu, Director of the Environmental Analytical Research Laboratory in the College of Engineering and Mines, passed away after a three-year battle with brain cancer.

Xu first arrived in the U.S. from China in 2004. After growing fond of American culture, he picked up fishing, hiking and gardening as hobbies. Yet he still kept the Chinese community close by becoming the leader of the Grand Forks Chinese Bible Study and aiding new Chinese students on campus.

“He helped students in many ways,” Xu’s wife and associate professor of chemistry at UND Julia Zhao said. Xu provided transportation for Chinese students on campus and even picked students up from the airport when they first arrived.

There were two parts to Xu’s teaching career, Zhao said. He had his work on campus ,and he had the work he did at tribal colleges in western North Dakota.

From 2008-11, Xu took part in North Dakota’s Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education program, developing projects he presented to Native American high school students to engage them in chemistry.

Xu’s generosity will live even after his death. Shortly before he died, he established the Hanying Xu International Spirit Scholarship, which is given to an international UND graduate who has shown great understanding of new cultures and surroundings — something that Xu strived to get international students at UND to do.

Vincent Andriello

Lecturer Vincent Andriello passed away in mid-July, following a fight with cancer.

Andriello served in the U.S. Air Force for eight years, two of which were in Vietnam. After leaving the military, he became an air traffic controller in Colorado and California from 1976 until he retired in 2000.  Four years later, he began his teaching career.

For six years, he served as a math teacher at a middle school in Pueblo, Colo. He started at UND in 2011, where he was able to share all of his years of experience in air traffic control as a lecturer in the Department of Aviation.

James Rudd

In early August, Assistant Professor James Rudd passed away after a short illness.

Rudd started his UND career when he arrived as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer in 1974. After a brief break from UND, he returned in 1989 as Head Athletic Trainer and Program Director — a position that led him to one of his greatest accomplishments.

Rudd helped develop the Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training degree in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences in the 90s. He was the first to do this, said Makoto Tsuchiya, assistant professor in the UND Division of Sports Medicine, who worked with James for years.

He not only was a great leader, “but also a great mentor to his colleagues and his students,” Tsuchiya said.

Rudd semi-retired in 2004, but went on to teach classes within the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

After his passing, a memorial service was held in the Hopper Danley Spiritual Center on campus. The entire chapel was filled with former students who came all the way from New York, Colorado and everywhere in between, Tsuchiya said.

“He influenced a lot of people,” Tsuchiya.

The University Counseling Center is available to students to help with the grieving process. Appointments can be made by calling 701-777-2127 or at und.edu/health-wellness/counseling-center. If needed, faculty and staff members can consult UND’s Employee Assistance Program.

Jamie Hutchinson is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].