Debate Coach Ruth Bisel Yoder Passes Away at 101

From http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/11/08/news/local/doc4915729f50b05350457897.txt

Ex-teacher and debate coach, dies at age 101

Ruth Bisel Yoder


Many of her students went on to become local and national success stories.
By LORETTA SWORD
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN


When she filled out her mail-in ballot, Ruth Bisel Yoder told friends she was concerned that it wouldn't be counted if she died before Tuesday's election.

At the age of 101, it was a valid concern.

She lived just long enough to learn that her candidate had been elected to be the next president of the United States. Yoder died late on election night.

Her name was a familiar one to local Democrats. She was an enthusiastic activist who never considered running for office but worked behind the scenes to help many others win campaigns, according to Pueblo lawyer Bill Mattoon. But it was her savvy as a debate coach and her style as a teacher that endeared her to hundreds of Puebloans since the 1940s, when she left the Thatcher School to join her new husband, legendary Centennial High School debate coach Homer Bisel, as his assistant.

Mattoon was one of those students.

His friendship with Ruth Bisel began when he was in fifth grade at Thatcher and she was teaching fourth grade.

"Why we hit it off and became friends, I don't know, but we did. She and Homer later were pretty good friends with my mother and father," he said.

That likely was during the years Mattoon studied debate under both of the Bisels.

"She was one of these wonderful teachers who had a significant effect on a lot of lives," Mattoon said before rattling off a long list of lawyers, judges and successful businessmen who, in many ways, were primed for their success by their experiences with the Bisels.

They include: The late Judge Tom Phelps, businessmen and civic leaders Marvin Stein, Mark Longfield, Bob Jackson and the late Brett Kelly; a few who left Pueblo for far-off horizons, including Mattoon's former partner Dick Heath, who ran a foreign division of the Peace Corps before a stint as state manager of Arkansas that was followed with a longtime tenure as manager of the San Francisco International Airport. Doug Unfug, a veteran professor of history at Emory University and founder of the Journal of Central European History, was another of Mattoon's contemporaries who honed his confidence under the Bisels' strict but benevolent tutelage.

Homer Bisel retired from coaching debate at Centennial in 1957, and from teaching in 1965. But it wasn't long before he and Ruth were recruited by the leaders at Roncalli High School, where they coached another generation of local heavy hitters and national success stories: Chieftain Managing Editor Steve Henson; County Attorney Dan Kogovsek and his brother, Larry, an award-winning social activist and volunteer advocate in Washington state; La Junta District Judge Mike Schiferl; John Shosky, speechwriter for Presidents Reagan and Bush, and many others.

The Bisels were known among their students as "Chief" and "Mrs. Chief." They also were known to dig into their own pockets (they were paid $100 a year at Centennial) to finance their debate teams at both schools, paying for travel to out-of-town meets and meals, as well as many of the team's day-to-day expenses.

Ruth remarried after Homer died, and was widowed again years later.

Mattoon said he and many of her former students stayed in close contact with her over the years.

"Until maybe 15 years ago, she used to have a party every year at her house for her former students," he said.

"She remained exceptionally vital until the last year, and even then she was very vital for her age."

She had gone blind, but she still listened to the nation's political news and friends read local headlines and stories to her.

Mario Avalos was particularly dedicated to her, coming from his Colorado City home most days to check on her in Pueblo, Mattoon said.

He was with her the night she died.

Avalos was not available for comment Friday.

A memorial service has been set for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Christ the King Church. George McCarthy Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

Mattoon said those who wish may make memorial donations to the Pueblo Zoological Society, or to a scholarship fund in Homer Bisel's name for debate students at Colorado State University-Pueblo.