Megan Partch was a wife and mother, and the John B. Rogers Professor of Banking and Finance in the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, of which she was department head for nine years.
Saturday at 1 p.m., Partch, who died Oct. 24 at the age of 58 of cancer, will be honored in 182 Lillis Hall.
Wendy Mitchell, assistant dean for the business school’s undergraduate programs, said the memorial service was initially scheduled for a different room, but a larger space was necessary to accommodate the large number of mourners she anticipates.
“She was just an amazing woman,” said Mitchell, a friend and colleague of 20 years. “It’s a huge loss for the college, she was just incredible.”
Partch’s memorial service will include photos, singing and eulogies given by several people, including her sisters and former classmates at the University of Wisconsin, where she earned master’s degree in 1979 and her doctorate two years later.
“One of the things so impressive about her was not only her grace and dignity, but her strength and courage,” Mitchell said. “She’s been battling cancer for the second time around for five years and she’s never allowed herself to be defined by the disease.
“There was so much more to her than her cancer. She lived her life of strength and dignity and kindness and giving to others, and that’s how she is remembered.”
Partch is survived by her husband, Wayne Mikkelson, the business school’s Engemann Professor of Finance, and two sons, Evan and Lewis Mikkelson.