Obituary: Harold Boudreau, Professor Emeritus of Spanish

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Harold L. “Hal” Boudreau, 90, of Hatfield, professor emeritus of Spanish, died Jan. 24.

Born March 15, 1928, by age 3 he was informed that he and his youngest sister would need to be adopted. According to family history, in early 1931, when a couple stopped at the small farm in Ashkum, Illinois, to buy eggs, they found Hal in the driveway asking, “Are you here to take me home and be my new Mommy and Daddy?” Harvey and Lucille Boudreau looked at each other for a moment, then answered, “Yes, we are.

Hal went on to be the first from his home town of Piper City, Illinois, to go to college. He studied Spanish “because someone told me it was easy,” little suspecting that would lead to a distinguished academic career teaching Spanish poetry, language and literary theory.

He was drafted into the Korean War, served as a hospital orderly and returned to teaching in Jackson, Mississippi, where he met his future wife, Mary Scarcliff. The following year he entered graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, earning his master’s and doctorate.

He joined UMass Amherst in 1958 as an instructor and spent his career teaching in the department of Spanish and Portuguese. He served as department chair for many years and retired  in 1991. He worked as a post-retirement appointment from 1991-93.

He is survived by his son Tim, of Hatfield and daughter-in-law Christy Boudreau.