Obituary of Rita Brandhorst (1942 – 2021) – Lexington, South Carolina
Obituary of Rita Dianne Brandhorst
Rita Dianne Brandhorst died on November 11, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. Dianne was born January 25, 1942 in Champaign, Illinois, daughter of Robert and Cecilia Donnelly, and raised in Decatur, Illinois. In 1960, she graduated from Stephen Decatur High School, where she played the clarinet in the marching band. Recipient of an Illinois State University scholarship, she earned a double specialization in biology and mathematics.
After college, Dianne entered the Peace Corps, where she taught physics and mathematics at the Debra Berhan Teacher Training Institute in Ethiopia. She made many lifelong friends during her time in Africa, including her husband, Allan Brandhorst, another Peace Corps volunteer. She and Allan were married in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1965.
One of the many highlights of her life with Allan was their five week honeymoon in East Africa. As newlyweds they enjoyed a river safari on the White Nile in northern Uganda, a cruise on Lake Victoria, a Volkswagen safari in a wildlife reserve in southern Kenya, one week in a white sand beach hut in a resort on the shores of the Indian Ocean and three days in a hotel halfway up Mount Kilimanjaro. Dianne sought joy at every moment, from that magical first trip with her new husband to their long and eventful marriage.
And new adventures were always on the horizon. After the Peace Corps, Dianne and Allan took the long way home, traveling for five weeks through India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, completing a world tour. She and Allan later lived in Cambridge, England for two years and made many memorable trips across Europe. In total, she would live or travel to over 40 countries during her lifetime. In retirement, she compiled an account of her time as a Peace Corps volunteer, based on more than 300 letters she mailed to her mother in Ethiopia.
Dianne’s other lifelong commitment was education. After the Peace Corps, and after a brief stint in secondary education in her hometown of Decatur, she and Allan accepted teaching positions in the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific, where she taught biology at Marshallese adolescents, including three students who would later become President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
But Dianne was also an avid student, and she learned as much from Marshallese students as they learned from her. One day during a lecture, she struggled to be heard because of the crashing waves outside her classroom. “Speak under the waves,” her young students advised her, and she did. This little local wisdom – making herself heard without competing with the white noise of the world – would guide her in her career as a teacher but also as a mother, friend and loveseat.
While living in the Marshalls, Dianne also gave birth to her first son, Kurt, in 1968. Her youngest son, Craig, was born three years later, in 1971, after returning to the United States with Allan . For eight years she worked as a stay-at-home mom before returning to class.
During her long career as a teacher, Dianne taught mathematics at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, where she was head of the mathematics department. She received a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of South Carolina in 1983 and then taught elementary and secondary mathematics teaching methods at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. From 1992 until her retirement in 2004, she taught math at Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana.
Dianne is survived by Allan, her husband and companion of 57 years and the luckiest man in the world; his son Kurt and his wife Rachel; his son Craig and his wife Allison; three younger siblings, 10 nieces and nephews, countless friends and many other students whose lives she touched with her kindness, good humor and commitment.
After a life well lived, her intellect, creativity and bubbly personality will be missed. The light will not be as bright and the colors less vivid once it is gone.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to consider making a donation in Dianne’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org
The South Carolina Cremation Society is helping the family. Family and friends can sign the guestbook online at www.southcarolinacremation.com
To plant a tree in memory of Rita Brandhorst, please visit Tribute Store
Rita Dianne Brandhorst died on November 11, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. Dianne was born January 25, 1942 in Champaign, Illinois, daughter of Robert and Cecilia Donnelly, and raised in Decatur, Illinois. In 1960, she graduated from Stephen Decatur High School, where she played the clarinet in the marching band. Recipient of an Illinois State University scholarship, she earned a double specialization in biology and mathematics.
After college, Dianne entered the Peace Corps, where she taught physics and mathematics at the Debra Berhan Teacher Training Institute in Ethiopia. She made many lifelong friends during her time in Africa, including her husband, Allan Brandhorst, another Peace Corps volunteer. She and Allan were married in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1965.
One of the many highlights of her life with Allan was their five week honeymoon in East Africa. As newlyweds they enjoyed a river safari on the White Nile in northern Uganda, a cruise on Lake Victoria, a Volkswagen safari in a wildlife reserve in southern Kenya, one week in a white sand beach hut in a resort on the shores of the Indian Ocean and three days in a hotel halfway up Mount Kilimanjaro. Dianne sought joy at every moment, from that magical first trip with her new husband to their long and eventful marriage.
And new adventures were always on the horizon. After the Peace Corps, Dianne and Allan took the long way home, traveling for five weeks through India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, completing a world tour. She and Allan later lived in Cambridge, England for two years and made many memorable trips across Europe. In total, she would live or travel to over 40 countries during her lifetime. In retirement, she compiled an account of her time as a Peace Corps volunteer, based on more than 300 letters she mailed to her mother in Ethiopia.
Dianne’s other lifelong commitment was education. After the Peace Corps, and after a brief stint in secondary education in her hometown of Decatur, she and Allan accepted teaching positions in the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific, where she taught biology at Marshallese adolescents, including three students who would later become President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
But Dianne was also an avid student, and she learned as much from Marshallese students as they learned from her. One day during a lecture, she struggled to be heard because of the crashing waves outside her classroom. “Speak under the waves,” her young students advised her, and she did. This little local wisdom – making herself heard without competing with the white noise of the world – would guide her in her career as a teacher but also as a mother, friend and loveseat.
While living in the Marshalls, Dianne also gave birth to her first son, Kurt, in 1968. Her youngest son, Craig, was born three years later, in 1971, after returning to the United States with Allan . For eight years she worked as a stay-at-home mom before returning to class.
During her long career as a teacher, Dianne taught mathematics at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, where she was head of the mathematics department. She received a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of South Carolina in 1983 and then taught elementary and secondary mathematics teaching methods at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. From 1992 until her retirement in 2004, she taught math at Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana.
Dianne is survived by Allan, her husband and companion of 57 years and the luckiest man in the world; his son Kurt and his wife Rachel; his son Craig and his wife Allison; three younger siblings, 10 nieces and nephews, countless friends and many other students whose lives she touched with her kindness, good humor and commitment.
After a life well lived, her intellect, creativity and bubbly personality will be missed. The light will not be as bright and the colors less vivid once it is gone.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to consider making a donation in Dianne’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org
The South Carolina Cremation Society is helping the family. Family and friends can sign the guestbook online at www.southcarolinacremation.com
To plant a tree in memory of Rita Brandhorst, please visit Tribute Store
Posted by the South Carolina Cremation Society – West Columbia on December 11, 2021.