William Miller Speidel

William (Bill) Miller Speidel, 90, of Charlottesville, Va., died on September 24, 2025 in his childhood home, surrounded by family. He was born on May 12, 1935 in Seoul, Korea to Gerald Corwin Speidel and Mary Miller Speidel. Bill is survived by his wife of 68 years, Elena Rasch Speidel; his children, Robyn, Kiki, Joe, and Lisa; eight grandchildren; his brother, John Speidel and nephew Brett Speidel (son of Bill's late brother Jerry Speidel).

Bill was raised in Charlottesville, Va., where he graduated from Lane High School in 1953 and then graduated from Oberlin College in 1957. At Oberlin he met Elena and they were married the day after graduation. He obtained his PhD degree in Chinese history from Yale University in 1967. Bill and Elena spent fourteen years in Taiwan studying, teaching, and raising their four children. From 1967 to 1973, Bill was Senior Representative for the Oberlin Shansi Program at Tunghai University. From 1975 to 1980, he served as director of the Inter-University Program at National Taiwan University. Bill then was hired to set up the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China which occupied the next eight years of his life. He served in his final professional position from 1993 to 1999 as the first Country Director of Peace Corps China in Chengdu, Sichuan.

Bill's professional life definitely influenced how he was as a father, emphasizing the importance of learning from other cultures, and that we Americans did not have all of the answers. He liked simpler things in life-the blooming trees in the spring and the autumn colors in the fall, picnics and hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, being with family, eating a good dessert, seeing a baby-all of which brought him great joy. Bill was a teacher, a researcher, a historian and collector of information, constantly reading and wanting to discuss what he had learned. He loved to ask people where they were from, to chat with strangers, and walk with visitors out the back door to say goodbye.

His kindness, curiosity, sense of humor, laughter, and support will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a member station of Bill's favorite syndicator of news and cultural programming, National Public Radio (NPR), which is currently facing the threat of closure. Donations can be made through this website: https://www.npr.org/donations/support. For information about his celebration of life event on October 18, please contact Lisa Speidel at speidelfoster@aol.com.