Claire Faust — former top-level college administrator, city council member, public service advocate and all-around good guy — died Monday at age 89.
His health had been ailing in recent weeks. And after his son sent an e-mail to friends and family urging them to stop by and say good-bye, Faust had a steady stream of well-wishers stopping by his room at Hillcrest Health Care Center.
Faust’s life and work in the Mankato area touched many. He spent 25 years working at Minnesota State Mankato, starting when it was still called Mankato Teachers College. He was a faculty member, principal at the experimental Wilson High School, and top-level administrator under President Margaret Preska.
He took over as vice president for administrative services in the early 1980s when labor unions had just gone on strike.
But Faust’s tenure at MSU wasn’t characterized by controversy. Instead, he was known as a consensus builder, and someone who truly valued the people around him.
Donna Hensel of the Facilities Management division said Faust was the kind of man who, every time he came by, would stop and talk to her. He wouldn’t merely just say hi. Faust remembered Hensel’s family, their names, what they did, and he seemed genuinely interested in hearing updates on the Hensel family.
And that’s how he was, friends say, with so many people on and off campus.
For the complete Free Press story, go to http://mankatofreepress.com/local/x1230896082/Life-Remembered-Claire-Faust-a-builder-of-connections
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