LETTERS: A TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE

To the editor:

With the passing of Jake K. Wells, the community, the region and the nation have lost a great artist, an inspirational teacher, a humanitarian and a man beloved by all who knew him.

During the 20-plus years that I worked beside him as a colleague in the art department at Southeast Missouri State University, I can truly say that no other art teacher had more students return to visit him and tell him how much he had inspired them and provided them with the knowledge of art that caused them to succeed in their lives. Many of those former students became accomplished artists and outstanding educators throughout the United States. Their love and respect for this man was enduring.

I believe Henry Adams summed it up best when he said, "A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops." Jake was just such a teacher and administrator.

Everyone who came into contact with Jake knew that when he created watercolors -- whether they were of Missouri mills, old farm buildings or pastoral scenes of the countryside with rocks and streams -- his interest in their historical significance was always evident. That knowledge, often prodded him to include a few handwritten comments, on the back of his watercolors, about each place painted.

He was a prolific writer who loved nature and wrote eloquently to me about his many sojourns in the countryside. His family and his ancestral roots were an ever-present sense of pride and comfort to him. He was an avid scholar of regional history, and that interest in historical detail brought him to great heights, literally, as when he spent countless hours producing the Kent Library mural. No doubt, thousands of people will continue to admire his artistic accomplishments for years to come, and his name will remain a legend for all to remember.

Countless individuals will surely be enriched when they view his beautiful watercolors wherever they may be seen in the private collections, galleries and museums throughout our nation.

Jake was a man for all seasons, one who will be sorely missed by many, and his art now belongs to the ages.

BILL NEEDLE

Cape Girardeau