Spring Break
The Daily OrangeAnecdotes fill chapel memorial
By Katie Papo
Posted: 10/8/07, 10:44 PM EST Section: News
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Hiiemae, who died last month at age 66, was an internationally recognized scholar and had a special niche in the mechanical study of chewing, swallowing and the movements of the jaw and tongue.
Hiiemae paid keen attention to her surroundings and always provided comedic commentary on what she saw, said Dr. Shiu-Kai Chin, ECS interim dean.
"I tried not to break out laughing," Chin said. "She was most struck and appalled by someone's footwear!"
It spoke volumes about how much detail meant to Hiiemae, Chin said.
Joseph Janes, professor at the University of Washington, also vouched for Hiiemae's strong voice and humor.
He reflected upon a favorite memory of Hiiemae when he opened a letter to her from the British Library and Museum. The letter asked if Hiiemae borrowed a set of monkey teeth from the museum, because the museum wanted them to be returned.
"I returned it five years ago," Janes recalls Hiiemae saying. She brought back the set of monkey teeth a week later.
Janes met Hiiemae years ago when he was desperate for a job, but too intimidated to request a position as her teaching assistant.
"I finally asked her, 'Would you like to hire me as your teaching assistant?,'" Janes said. "Hiiemae responded, 'Well, what can you do?'"
Hiiemae was known to be outspoken. "She was no shrinking violet," said Shannon Magari, senior scientist at Colden Corporation, a specialty services firm.
Hiiemae was the best person to work through a crisis, Magari said.
"She saved my sorry tush," Magari said.
When Magari was notified that she was not provided the appropriate research materials to finish her master's thesis, she immediately sought out Hiiemae for help.
"I will be up and over next week, and we will sort this out," Hiiemae wrote back in an e-mail.
Hiiemae's selflessness was evident to all who knew her, Magari said.
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