Wanda Beard spent more than two decades as a teacher, starting at the now defunct University High on the UCM campus.

Beard, 83, died Aug. 18 at Warrensburg Manor Care Center.

She retired in 1997 and became professor emeritus of human environmental sciences after 22 years of service at UCM.

Harold Beard, her husband and UCM professor emeritus of psychology, retired the same year.

She taught at University High from 1974 to 1977. In 1978, Wanda began teaching many courses at UCM and was the faculty advisor for the home economics student organization, according to an obituary.

“We both liked teaching,” Harold Beard said. “I’ve had a number of students come down and say she was a role model for them in terms of personal presentation…she was a great friend to them.”

He said Wanda greatly enjoyed her work, even though at times it was tiring.

“I think she found a lot of satisfaction in being able to intercede or to help…not only making suggestions to students, but sometimes improving what they did,” he said.

Rebecca Limback, former professor of business, said she knew Wanda when they taught home economics together. She said Wanda was always a positive influence in class.

“She was always a role model for her students; a very gracious person,” Limback said. “Never heard her say an unkind word about anyone or anything. She could always find the good in whatever or whoever it was.”

Harold said a colleague who used to work with Wanda had a great quote about her in an article when she retired.

“He basically was saying that they kind of leaned on her in the department for those kinds of input. He described her as the ‘moral compass’ of the department,” he said. “It was a very nice compliment to her.”

Harold said some of Wanda’s hobbies were cooking and gardening. He said she would often share her cooking with her students.

He said one of her biggest hobbies was to can strawberry jam. She enjoyed sharing her home-grown corn-on-the cob with people from their garden. But he said the most important thing to her was family.

“She took great care of her kids and was a super-mother,” Harold said. “She just found a lot of satisfaction being a homemaker and caring for the children.”

Limback said Wanda was always soft-spoken and very organized in her teaching.

“I think the students learned a lot about foods from other countries but, along with that, the cultures and the different people from different areas of the world with what she was doing in her classes,” she said. “We got to benefit from tasting those wonderful things that they came up with.”

She said students looked up to Wanda as a teacher.

“I would say she was always an inspiration to them,” she said. “Something to aspire to. I think some of them did go on to be home economics teachers. She just set a good life example for them.”

Jeanne Counts, former teacher at Holden High School, said she knew Wanda as the supervisor of the home economics department at University High and said Wanda came to her produce business to pick all kinds of fruit.

“She was a pleasure to work with,” she said. “Easy to talk to. Just a fine lady. Very intelligent in her subject matter and we just got along real well.”

Harold said Wanda was a teacher who gave criticism with no judgment and was friends with her students. He said she had a lot of amazing qualities inside and outside the classroom.

“I think her genuine kindness and thoughtfulness of people was one of her great personal qualities,” he said. “She was probably one of the most genuine and kind people that I’ve known, not just because she was my wife.”