Michael Achary, supervisor of Loyola’s Math Center from 1987 to 2005, died Friday, March 28 at the age of 85.

According to a news release from University Ministry, Achary died at home after a long fight with cancer. He is survived by his wife Lorraine, his three children – Michael, David and Anne – and nine grandchildren.

Achary worked at the Math Center until the university’s re-opening after Hurricane Katrina, when administrators closed the lab for a semester. His ties to Loyola extended deeper than the lab, though, first in his capacity as a City College math professor and second as a Loyola alumnus.

“All of us who had the privilege of interacting with him on a regular basis were better people for knowing him,” Kurt Bindewald, dean of University Ministry, said in the release.

Sarah Smith, head of Academic Enrichment, paints a similar portrait of Achary. She likened him to the character Atticus Finch from “To Kill A Mockingbird,” saying he was the kind of person others would turn to for guidance and inspiration.

“He had the courage to take hold of reality and deal with it in the very best possible way,” she said.

Both she and Sally Smith, an administrative assistant in the Math Department, remember him as a man who used his faith as an anchor – even during Hurricane Katrina, when his house flooded up to the roof. Despite losing all of his possessions, Sarah said Achary moved forward and rebuilt his home, steadfast in his trust in the Virgin Mary.

Sarah also said, however, that he was not self-righteous, but a man who led by example. “The example that he set is really clear in the students he worked with,” she said, noting how the tutors who worked under him picked up where he left off with the Math Center. While the tutors now work without a direct adviser, she said they try to run it as he would want them to.

“He didn’t preach,” Sally said. “He lived his faith.”

Sally also said he loved mathematics and never stopped learning – he was always looking for new math books to read.

“He just had all the best traits,” she said. “He had a dedication and constancy that were admired by everyone.”

According to Sarah, Achary was simultaneously gracious, humorous and a good conversationalist, as well as a family man who was proud of his kids.

“We would have a very good world if we had more Mike Acharys,” she said.

Catherine Cotton can be reached at [email protected].