For more than a half-century, Russell Lowell Mixter inspired generations of students at Wheaton College with his keen intelligence and tenacious wit.
In what he described as “creative employment of visual aids,” the longtime biology professor delivered his lectures in a variety of unique ways–sometimes with a human skeleton seated on his lap or while mouthing his words through the jagged remains of a shark’s jaw.
“I admired him a great deal, not just his extraordinary mind, but his ability to completely captivate all those in his classroom,” said his former student Hudson Armerding, who also served as president of Wheaton College from 1965 to 1982. “You never knew what might come out of his mouth next or how it would come out.”
Dr. Mixter, 100, a former chairman of the biology department at Wheaton College in Wheaton, died of heart failure Tuesday, Jan. 16, in his home in the Windsor Park Manor retirement community in Carol Stream.
Born and raised in Williamston, Mich., Dr. Mixter was one of four children of a lay preacher. In 1931, he married his wife of 67 years, Emilie, with whom he had four children. She died in 1998.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College in 1928, Dr. Mixter received a master’s degree in genetics from Michigan State University in 1930 and a doctoral degree in anatomy from the University of Illinois in 1939.
While a student at Wheaton College, Dr. Mixter intended to major in Greek and someday become a preacher. But his plans changed when he was asked to teach a biology class, family members said.
“He felt teaching science was a better fit and something he’d be good at,” said his daughter Priscilla Gault.
In 1928, Dr. Mixter began teaching science at Wheaton College, serving as chairman of the biology department from 1947 to 1972. He was also instrumental in the formation of Wheaton’s joint program with the West Suburban School of Nursing in Oak Park, and taught there part time from 1946 to 1977. He retired from Wheaton College in 1979 after 51 years of teaching.
Dr. Mixter was also a co-founder and teacher of the Wheaton College Science Station in Rapid City, S.D.
Over the years, Dr. Mixter received dozens of notes from former students, thanking him for helping them along their chosen career paths, family members said.
“I only realized my dream of becoming a doctor,” wrote Dr. Will Hom, a retired physician and a 1952 graduate of Wheaton College, “because a wise and godly teacher once encouraged me, an insecure country bumpkin, that it could really happen.”
Other survivors include a son, Wilbur; a daughter, Joan Sweers; 10 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in Windsor Park Manor, 120 Windsor Park Drive, Carol Stream.
