William Gilbert McBride

William (Bill) G. McBride, (93), died on June 2, 2022. Bill was born in Primrose, Nebraska, to Robert W. and Fern Kurth McBride. The family moved to Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 1936. Bill attended rural Colorado schools through the eighth grade and graduated as valedictorian with the Rocky Ford High School Class of 1946. He attended Colorado A&M College (now Colorado State University), graduating in 1950 with a degree in Animal Science. He returned to the farm but accepted a teaching job in Manzanola, Colorado that fall. In 1952, he enlisted in the army and served with the 7th Armored Division in Germany. In 1954, he returned to Manzanola as the English/speech/journalism teacher in grades 7-12. On June 2nd, 1956, he married Vivian Cook, a fellow teacher. They had two children: Diana and William J. Bill completed a master’s degree in English in 1957 at the University of Northern Colorado. In 1960, he and Vivian, with daughter Diana and son Bill, moved to Fort Collins where Bill had accepted a job to teach English at Fort Collins High School. In 1962, he also became the director of dramatics. When Poudre High School opened in 1964, Bill transferred there as an English teacher and department chair. He left Poudre High School in 1967 and moved with his family to Lincoln, Nebraska, to complete his doctorate. Upon the completion of the doctorate in 1969, Bill returned to Fort Collins to teach English and English education at Colorado State University. In 1963, he became a charter member of the Colorado Language Arts Society, the state’s professional English language arts organization for teachers K-graduate level. Subsequently, he served the organization as president, editor of the journal, and executive secretary-treasurer. In 1989, he was elected to a four-year term on the Secondary Section Steering Committee of the National Council of Teachers of English; he also served as a member of the NCTE Editorial Board and as a member of the International Consortium Executive Committee. He co-chaired the English Task Force for the Colorado State Board of Education in 1982 and served on the Poudre School District Board of Education from 1983-1991. In 1992, he was selected for a Pacesetter English Task Force, a group of people chosen by NCTE and the CollegeBoard to develop a twelfth-grade English language arts curriculum. He worked with that program and its various iterations until 2011. In 1966, Bill was named Colorado Teacher of the Year; in 1973, he received, from Colorado State University, the Harris T. Guard Distinguished Service Award “in recognition of excellence in teaching and scholarship”; in 1986 he received the Literacy Award from the Colorado Council of International Reading Association; in 1989 he received an Outstanding Educator Award from the Colorado State Board of Education; in 1999, he received a Distinguished Service Award from Colorado State University College of Liberal Arts; in 2009, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, and in 2016 the Colorado Language Arts Society presented him with the first CLAS Literacy Award. Bill is survived by Vivian, his wife of 66 years, his son Bill (Tami), granddaughter Maggie and grandson Wil; his daughter Diana (David) Green, granddaughters Elizabeth and Kathleen; other cousins, nieces, nephews, and numerous colleagues, friends, and former students. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother and sister-in-law. Bill spent six decades as a teacher. His life centered on his family and his students, friends, and colleagues with whom he shared his life and his profession. When he retired from Colorado State University in 1998, the McBride Endowment was established as a way to provide financial support, in the form of an award, for educational and professional development of current and prospective English language arts teachers. Any donation to the McBride Endowment would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be sent to Colorado State University Foundation, Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1870. To post your memorials or expressions of sympathy, go to https://www.bohlenderfuneralchapel.com/obituaries and post on the tribute wall. At this time, there will be no services. Bill wrote his obituary. The younger generation would like to add a little more…. Bill was such a beloved teacher and presence in the community that to this day, his first class of Manzanola 6th graders, and students well beyond that, have kept in touch. We know he made such a difference to students, teachers, students becoming teachers, peers, and the community. We are so grateful for the time we had with him and the impact he had on our own lives. He was so dearly loved as a father, grandfather, and husband. His contributions to his work and family will be remembered forever.

Tributes

William Gilbert McBride

April 3, 1929 - June 2, 2022