Dr. Jill Eichhorn passed from this life into the great mystery on Sunday, Oct. 2, after a brief illness. Dr. Eichhorn, or Jill as she preferred to be called, was an assistant professor in the Department of Languages and Literature at Austin Peay State University, where she taught courses in composition and women writers, and for 20 years served as the coordinator of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. She was an educator, an activist, a loving wife and mother, an unequaled friend, an advocate for social justice, and a community leader. She will be missed.
Born in Gary, Indiana, on August 1, 1957, she was the first child of Frederick and Judy Eichhorn, and is survived by three siblings: Tim Eichhorn, Tom Eichhorn, and Linda Eichhorn (Tom Laudari).
She graduated from high school in Gary, then attended the University of Montana (BA, Journalism and German Literature, MA English) and Miami University of Ohio (PhD English). With her husband, Barry Kitterman, she taught at one of the premier universities in the People’s Republic of China (Nankai University) and helped to establish the foreign language program at a new university in Qingdao. She completed her years in Asia, teaching at a school for young children in Taiwan. Jill was a traveler, and found much to love about Tennessee, but her heart was forever attached to Montana and the Rocky Mountains. Dr. Eichhorn was a beloved professor, as can be attested to by the many tributes paid to her in these days following her unexpected passing.
Even during her brief hospital stay, members of the hospital staff came to her room to thank her for her compassion and guidance when they were students. She brought APSU into the national dialogue surrounding the issues of women’s rights and gender equality. She was an outspoken advocate of GLBTQA acceptance. She did not tolerate her friends; she celebrated them.
Jill sponsored Austin Peay’s participation in the Clothesline Project, offering people of all genders the opportunity to speak up about violence and the oppression of the many by the few. Her courageous work with The Vagina Monologues helped to demystify women’s sexuality as it provided men and women the opportunity to live better lives. She performed for many years in the Roxy Regional Theatre’s productions of The Vagina Monologues, and she organized student productions of the play at APSU during her entire time as a faculty member there. Her efforts helped raise more than $20,000 for Clarksville’s Sexual Assault Center, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee, and the Urban Ministries Safehouse. In 2019, she was awarded the APSU Distinguished Community Service Award. She provided leadership and a steadying presence at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clarksville, where in recent years she played her recorder for Sunday services.
In addition to her siblings, Jill is survived by her husband, Barry Kitterman, and their two children, Hannah Eichhorn Kitterman and Ted Eichhorn Kitterman (with his wife Hannah Scruton). A visitation will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (3053 Hiway 41A South) on Wednesday, October 12 from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. A campus service for Dr. Eichhorn will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13, in the Clement Auditorium.