Joan Regnell; GWU Specialist in Voice Disorders

Joan Roddy Regnell, 74, an associate professor of speech and hearing at George Washington University for more than 40 years, died of acute renal failure Oct. 27 at Virginia Hospital Center. She lived in North Bethesda.

Mrs. Regnell, a passionate teacher who continued to work five days a week even after retiring, taught "legions" of students over the years, said Geralyn M. Schultz, chairman of the Department of Speech and Hearing Science.

"She had a personality you could not ignore," Schultz said. "She had a very good sense of people. You really couldn't put much past her. . . . She really cared for her students, not just that they learned the material but that they would care for their patients, their clients. Her passion was palpable."

Her specialty was in voice disorders, and she taught a popular undergraduate class on voice and diction, winning the university's excellence in teaching award in 1991. She was a dynamo clinical supervisor of graduate students and presented her research at professional workshops. She won GWU's graduate adviser award this year.

Mrs. Regnell's work with transgendered people was the subject of a 2003 Washingtonian article.

"[She] trains men to speak like women -- to cough, laugh, and clear their throats like women," the article said. "Her speech-therapy clinic has become a haven for males who are living their lives as females, or hoping to, with or without surgery. The job might seem an unlikely fit for a sixtysomething grandmother and devout Catholic, but Regnell sees no conflict between her faith and her profession. 'I never thought about it twice,' she says. 'They're just another of God's human beings who need help with their voice.' "

That attitude carried over into her family life, too, as she welcomed into her home her children's friends, some of whom were runaways or whose families were in crisis. "Oh my God, our house was literally like a -- well, not a flophouse, but all our friends hung out there," said one of her sons, Thomas L. Regnell of Alexandria. "She loved her students, and she loved having all these kids around."

A third-generation Washingtonian, Joan Roddy graduated from Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School and received a bachelor's degree in 1957 and a master's degree in speech and hearing in 1960 from GWU. She immediately went to work there as an instructor and clinician and became a full-time faculty member in 1962.

Mrs. Regnell retired in 2003, then was dismayed to learn that meant she could teach only one class a semester. She spent all her time at the school and clinic nonetheless.

She was a member of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Rockville and the Congressional Country Club and loved to play tennis, dance, travel and spend time at her home in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

In addition to her son, survivors include her husband of 52 years, Donald H. Regnell of North Bethesda; four children, Susan R. Charles of Rockville, Terrie R. Feeney of Nashville, S. Todd Regnell of North Bethesda and Michael E. Regnell of North Potomac; two brothers, N. Joseph Roddy of Kensington and Thomas P. Roddy of Washington; and nine grandchildren.