Wesleyan, Carol We Love Thee

MT. PLEASANT — With the death of the first female Vice President Carol Nemitz at Iowa Wesleyan this month, family, friends, colleagues, and the community remember the woman behind all the accomplishments and awards.

“Carol Nemitz represented all that was good and great about Iowa Wesleyan,” former IW Provost DeWayne Frazier said. “She was a symbol and icon to faculty, staff and former students for her steadfast devotion to the university.”

Truly, Nemitz lived a noteworthy life during her 89 years as an Iowan. Throughout her adult life, Nemitz earned an impressive pedigree of success.

In the 1950s Nemitz attended Iowa Wesleyan where she eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1956. During her time at IW she did not hesitate to participate, much like the rest of her life.

While she spent time elsewhere teaching and learning for a short time, Nemitz returned to IW was just the start of her historic impact on the educational institution.

“Carol had an impact on every department from dorm director to President and she shepherded major construction projects like the Chapel renovation in 2009,” IW Alumni Jim Pedrick said. “You can't think of Iowa Wesleyan without Carol Nemitz. She was alive for half of its history and employed there for 49.9 years. She didn't want to say 50 years.”

During her time at IW, she spent time in Student Affairs and teaching psychology. She later took on the role of Dean of Women, Dean of Student Personnel Services, and in 1979 was appointed Iowa Wesleyan’s first female Vice President.

She served as the Vice President of Student Affairs while also acting as an active manager in IW expansion projects including construction of new campus buildings and restoration of the Chapel.

“For over half a century she nurtured young minds as the Dean of Students and even served a stint as interim President,” Frazier said.

While her influence reached far beyond IW with her memberships in national organizations uplifting women and supporting education, her impact was also felt locally through her involvement in the Mt. Pleasant community at the First United Methodist Church, Rotary International, Chapter DD of TTT and the Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities Board.

Her legacy also includes serving as a past president of Chapter Original A of the PEO, which was founded on the IW campus in 1869.

While she received many awards throughout her career for her volunteerism and many from IW itself, people remember Nemitz for more than her many accomplishments.

“Carol should not have been everyone's favorite person on campus,” IW Alumni Jim Pedrick said. “She was breaking up dorm parties, catching students sneaking in after curfew and disciplining students for more serious infractions. Yet, everyone loves her and wanted to see her when they returned for reunions. And the reason is that she related to the students in good humor and with respect.”

“She always greeted me as Mr. Pedrick and I think she greeted all students and former students with that level of respect,” Pedrick recalled. “And her wry smile and twinkle in her eye made think that she had been in your shoes before trying the same stunts.”

Frazier echoed the sentiment saying, “Dean Nemitz, as we affectionately called her, never forgot a face or name, and she had a story on each of them.”

IW Alumni Earl Harper has his own stories and memories of Nemitz, whom he met in 1964 during his sophomore year at the college.

“Carol was a great friend who had an amazing impact on IW and so many of our lives, particularly mine!” he said.

Harper worked closely with Nemitz in student government and the Interfraternity Council until he left to enlist in the Army in 1966. When he returned in 1971, Harper says Nemitz personally invited him back to IW to finish his degree, which he did in 1972.

“Although she didn’t know it, Carol was instrumental in helping me get through a very difficult transition,” Harper said. “We spoke a lot during that time and she provided the reassurance I needed to stay the course! We became good friends and remained so all these years. After graduation I went back in the Army for another 18 years, retiring in 1990.”

Harper shared other ways he saw Nemitz care for people. He recalled participating in a tennis marathon sponsored by the sororities to raise money to save the IW tennis courts.

“After a couple of days of constant tennis in the cold and rain and a couple of broken rackets caused by frozen tennis balls, she asked how much they still needed to raise and she wrote a check to end the pain,” Harper said. “The courts were refinished! She was all in to support her students!”

He also saw her compassion and care for others in the spring of 1972 when his future wife Anne Hedlund needed a course to qualify for grad school. The course wasn’t being offered that semester, but Nemitz spoke to the Biology Department Director on Hedlund’s behalf and the director created an independent student course. Thanks to her involvement, Hedlund was able to satisfy that requirement and qualify for grad school.

Harper remained friends with Nemitz well after his graduation from IW. She attended his wedding to Anne and they visited many times through the years.

“We hadn’t seen each other for many years when Anne and I returned for Homecoming in 2021,” Harper recalled. “We were all at Mt. Hamel the Thursday before and there she was! What a reunion! We returned again for our 1972 class reunion and spent some real quality time together.”

Harper even intended to visit Nemitz again for her 90th birthday which would have been Feb. 25 this year.

“Carol touched all of our lives in so many ways! To us, she was Iowa Wesleyan,” Harper said. “She was the epitome of the values taught and lived by that wonderful University. … Dean Nemetz taught us how to be better people through her example and we are forever in her debt for that and so many other things,” Harper said. “May she Rest in a well-earned Peace!”

Frazier doesn’t doubt the wide stretch of impact Nemitz had on lives like Harper’s.

“The impact she had on countless lives for good will never be truly known but I would count it easily in the thousands,” Frazier said. “Iowa lost a true champion of education in the passing of Dean Nemitz.”

As many celebrate and remember this noteworthy woman, Pedrick paraphrases the Iowa Wesleyan Hymn, “Wesleyan and Carol we love thee.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com