Lois Self

1946 - 2025

Dr. Lois Carolyn Scoggins Self, 79, passed away on Tuesday, August 26, 2025, at Highgate Senior Living in Bellingham, WA, after a six-year struggle with Frontotemporal Dementia. She graduated in history from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC, and with her master's degree in history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She received her doctorate in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979. She had a forty-three year career as professor in Communications and director of Women's Studies at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences designated her as a Distinguished Professor before her retirement in 2009.

Lois was born February 23, 1946, to Joe Dow Scoggins and Ruby Gunter Scoggins, in Durham, NC, both of whom predeceased her. Her sister Shirley Scoggins Crouse and her brothers Donald Scoggins and George Scoggins all predeceased her. She is survived by her spouse Robert T. Self, of Bellingham, WA, and her daughter Sarah Corinne Self and her spouse Peter W. Braitsch, both of Sedro-Woolley, WA.

There will be no funeral service since her body is donated to medical research. A celebration of life will be held at a future date. Memorial donations may be made to the Dr. Lois Self Fund in the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115.