"I am so sad to hear of Jill?s passing. So many memories of her in grade school and high school but what stands out the most is her sense of humor and infectious laugh. Jill will be missed so much. Sending my sympathies and prayers to the DuPont Famimy???"
In loving memory of
Mary Jill Dupont
November 14, 1963 - August 16, 2021
Mary Jill Dupont, 57, of Duluth, Minn., and formerly of Phoenix, Az., passed away in Scottsdale, Az. on August 16 with family at her side after a brave six-year battle with metastatic breast cancer.
For nearly three decades, Jill taught, researched and wrote about American and African American History at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, the University of North Texas in Denton, and the University of Chicago, where she earned her Ph.D.
She authored numerous articles for academic publications, held important positions on college and community boards and committees, and won prestigious awards from schools and students, including St. Scholastica's 2017 Inclusive Excellence Award, given to the faculty or staff who best advanced that principle.
But Jill saved her best effort for what mattered most to her--classroom instruction and interaction. Her students at St. Scholastica rewarded that effort in 2013 by selecting her for the Tassie McNamara Award, the highest honor given by the school's student body.
A pivotal encounter with Tennis legend Arthur Ashe cemented Jill's conviction to choose Black History as her academic concentration. In January 1992, a year before his death, Jill was assigned to be a primary student escort for Ashe during his two-day visit at the University of Chicago.
True to his reputation, the Presidential Medal of Freedom winner took a personal interest in those who accompanied him. He drew Jill out about her career direction, and strongly supported her uncertain passion to research and write about African American issues and athletes.
Among the many manuscripts she would write over the ensuing years, Jill penned papers on boxing champions Jack Johnson and Joe Louis, baseball legend Jackie Robinson, track Gold-Medalist Carl Lewis, and basketball superstars Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
Air Jordan was a particular favorite of hers. She attended dozens of Chicago Bulls games with her father Don, including key playoff contests during each of the Bulls six NBA championships during the 1990's.
Jill was the youngest of Don and Janet Dupont's four children , and her deep love of athletic competition sourced first from her father. In 1971, Don was an original founder of Arizona's Fiesta Bowl--which hosted several college football title games--and he was an undefeated Golden Gloves champion in his youth.
Jill's first athletic achievement came as a pint-sized eight-year-old during halftime of a Phoenix Suns basketball game in 1972, when women in the crowd were invited to take off their shoes and come down on the court to shoot a free throw to win a promotional box of soaps and shampoos.
Suns radio announcer Hot Rod Hundley emceed the goings-on, and when he spied tiny Jill he tried to coax her to move closer to the basket. Jill refused to budge from the 15-foot charity stripe. Swisheroo for two! Then she went to the back of the line and did it again. The Dupont household was soon swimming in $25 boxes of Armour-Dial products.
Two years later, she finished second in the state of Arizona in the Girls Division of the National Elks Club Free Throw Shooting Contest, after winning the Phoenix Regional. She played summer-league softball at Madison Richard C. Simis Elementary School, and participated with her mother Janet in YMCA Adventure Maidens. And then she grew up.
From 1978 to 1982, Jill was a star athlete at Phoenix's Central High, one of Arizona's largest public schools with an enrollment of nearly 3,000. She was a four-year starter as a pitcher on the Bobcat softball team and point guard on the basketball team. She was voted MVP of both teams in 1982, and also chosen the school's Outstanding Senior Female Athlete.
Her basketball coach was Arizona High School Hall of Famer Ken Troutt, who started Central's girl's program in 1978 after 20 years of coaching the boy's team. He bonded strongly with his first female point guard, and taught Jill the principles of court vision, ball distribution and defensive footwork, skills that served her greatly in the rough-and-tumble world of collegiate academics.
Jill earned undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and History at the University of Texas at Austin, and she participated in two archaeological excavations as part of her degree work. In 1983, she went to Tel Yinam, Israel to help with pottery reconstruction at a Late Bronze Age dig site, and in 1985 she traveled to a Pueblo Indian dig outside Glenwood, New Mexico to assist with mapping of other Pueblo sites.
While preparing for her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago during the 1990's, she began her teaching career by lecturing and precepting Graduate History and Social Science courses. Jill took time away from her studies in the mid-1990's to act as the family's primary caretaker for her mother Janet, who died of pancreatic cancer in May 1995.
Her professional career kicked off in earnest at the University of North Texas in Denton, where Jill was an Assistant Professor from 2001 to 2007. She taught eight different history classes, organized UNT's annual Black History Month lectures, and was nominated for the J.H. Shelton Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006.
At one point, she was the only female faculty member in UNT's History Department, and she tried to crash the Good Old Boys Club by acting as a consultant on a PBS documentary film called "Racing Dixie," which examined the cultural and historical roots of stock car racing.
Jill moved to Duluth in 2007, and she was an Associate and Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Politics at St. Scholastica from 2007 until 2019. She taught 13 different history classes, and was Department Chair from 2012 thru 2019.
In the summer of 2011, Jill was a faculty leader for the College's Tanzania Service Learning Trip, where she supervised a cohort of 15 St. Scholastica students on a five-week educational trek across the East African nation. The group explored Tanzania's culture and history, and performed service projects with the Benedictine Sisters of St. Agnes at the St. Scholastica Monastery in Chipole.
The most prominent of Jill's many civic engagements in Duluth was her six-year run (2009-2015) as a Board Member of the St. Louis County Historical Society. She was Board President from 2013 to 2015, and she placed nine St. Scholastica students in Historical Society internships during her time there.
Jill owned a charming historic home that was built in 1923 in Duluth's Woodland neighborhood, and one of her favorite local pastimes was scouring the shores of Lake Superior looking for and collecting beautiful agates.
Jill was a loving aunt to her two nieces, Katie and Molly, and to her great-niece, Stella, and a doting parent for 16 years to three black cats--Zora, Scout and Wrigley--that she rescued from shelter pens and overgrown bushes. When the last of that brood (a feral boy she found abandoned as a kitten who never quite became fully civilized) passed in early August, Jill realized her earthly responsibilities were complete and she finally let go after a courageous six-year fight with breast cancer.
On Jill's behalf, her family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Dr. Anne Silva-Benedict of St. Luke's Regional Cancer Center in Duluth, and to her other physicians and caregivers at St. Luke's and at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Az., who provided excellent care to Jill and never gave up on her.
Jill is survived by her sister, Anne, of Centennial, Colo; her brothers Mike, of Albuquerque, N.M, and Mark, of Chicago, Ill.; her nieces Kaitlin (Thomas) Boileau and Maureen Phenix, of Ft. Collins, Colo.; and her great-niece Stella Boileau, of Ft. Collins, Colo.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Don and Janet (Bahl); her grandparents, Joseph and Vi Bahl, and Joe's second wife, Marie, and Ralph and Marge Dupont; her aunts Bette (Dupont) Dale, Shirley (Dupont) Bahl, Susan (Bahl) Wilson; her uncles Robert Allen, Robert Betts, Del O'Hea, Edward Lange, Jack Dale, and Charles Bahl; and her first cousins, Michelle Bahl, Karen Lange, Jean (Bahl) Kliebenstein-Koren; John Allen, Doug Bahl, and Gary Betts.
At Jill's request, no public memorial service is planned, and her remains will be cremated. For those who may wish to make a donation in Jill's memory, her family suggests two charities that were close to Jill's heart: METAvivor (fostering research and support for those with Stage IV breast cancer), 1783 Forest Drive #184, Annapolis, MD 21401; and World Pulse (an independent, women-led social network for social change), 401 NE 19th Ave, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232.
Tributes
"I was heartbroken to learn of Jill's passing. I have so many fond memories of serving with Jill on a committee at the College so many years ago. Jill was such a kind and loving person and was so passionate about defending the rights of people who have been wronged in life. It is my hope that her family can know that Jill touched the lives of many at The College of St. Scholastica and left this world a better place for having dedicated her life to serving others. Rest in Peace Jill. "
"Sending my deepest condolences to all of Jill's family and friends. I had some great visits with her at CSS. She definitely was an impactful person. Rest in Peace Jill. "
"As my colleague and department chair at St. Scholastica, Jill was always supportive, complimentary, and available, whether for questions about college policy, class preferences, suggestions about student issues, or those brief, casual hallway connections. Her impressive and eclectic scholarship was matched by her abundant concern for students. My sincere condolences to her family. Bill Miller"
"Jill was such a kind neighbor to our 6 young grandchildren who lived across the street from her in Duluth. She was very empathetic to me when she learned of my metastatic cancer diagnosis. Our family is deeply saddened by her passing and we pray God?s peace and comfort to all her family. She is missed and remembered. Katy & Mark Gorghuber and the Gorghuber family of Duluth, MN "
"This is devastating news. I have such a feeling of pain right now, because I always intended to reach out to her regarding some of the things she taught me at UNT. It might be the best reflection of impact that a random student in a random class from 2004-2005 still vividly recalls her way of challenging thoughts and stretching perspectives. I would not be the professional I am today without her encouragement and support. Until we meet again ma'am, Tate"
"I have been wrestling all night about what to say about Dr. Jill Dupont. She saw something in me at UNT when didn?t know myself. My best memories of UNT was in her class. She was such a kind person. She was always there for her students. Once you were her student, you were always her student. She loved looking at what I was doing with my own students. When my position was cut, she constantly encouraged me. She looked at my resume and made suggestions on things to add. With her help I found a better position. As an educator myself, I hope to make half the impact she did. I love you Dr. DuPont. I carry you in my spirit. I will strive to be the educator you were."
"Thank you Jill for listening and for your fighting spirit. I will miss you. "
"I am so sad to hear that Jill has passed away. While it wasn't a shock, knowing all that was going on with her diagnosis, it is no less devastating. As a colleague at CSS I had the opportunity to work with Jill, to dip into her office for late afternoon visits, host film screenings with her on campus, to dream and vision with her about our Women & Gender Studies program, and to always, always ask her what she was reading. Last year, in the depth of the difficulty of a pandemic academic year I received a stunning flower delivery to my home. I couldn't imagine who would have sent it, but it came from Jill with an incredibly supportive note. When I saw Jill at the spring retirement party on the lawn at work, I was so surprised and happy that she was able to come in person. I had a hard time walking away at the end of that party, and I think it is because I knew a day like this was somewhere on the horizon. I just want to express what a light Jill was, and how inspired I am by her and the work she did, both with our CSS community, and just in general as a human being. I hope she knew how loved she was. I'm going to miss her very much. "