In Memoriam: Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner

Dr. Colleen Aalsburg Wiessner, assistant professor in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Adult and Higher Education, died Aug. 5. She was 55.

A native of Michigan, Wiessner received a bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College. She earned a master’s in humanistic education from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a master’s and doctorate in organization and leadership with an emphasis in adult education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

She participated in the ministry of her husband, Charles, pastor of the First Reformed Church of Cary. They previously served churches in Kerhonkson, N.Y.; Niles, Mich.; Harrington Park, N.J.; and Mahwah, N.J. She is survived by her husband of 33 years; sons Nathaniel of North Adams, Mich., and Benjamin of Raleigh; her parents, Joe T. and Margaret Aalsburg of Rockford, Mich., three siblings and many relatives, friends and students.