Former Hillsdale College Spanish lecturer Javier Barrios died at his Ypsilanti, Michigan home on Nov. 4 at the age of 53. According to the Stark Funeral Professionals, Barrios is survived by his sister, two nieces, and his three dogs.

Barrios loved to learn, whether it be Spanish, literature, or history.

“We often commented upon how he would start out a sentence in Spanish and end it in English and hardly even know he was going between the two,” former Spanish Professor Sandra Puvogel said.

Even on his deathbed, the former lecturer continued to pursue knowledge. Barrios decided to delve into the nearly 700 page novel “Middlemarch,” according to former Spanish Professor Carmen Wyatt-Hayes.

“It was this quest for knowledge and for the joy that comes in literature that was just always part of him,” Wyatt-Hayes said.

Wyatt-Hayes said Barrios knew he would not finish the novel. His curiosity overcame him, and he decided to watch an adaptation so he could know the ending.

Barrios’ love for learning and compassion for people intersected at a correctional facility, where he taught Spanish to inmates.

“He really enjoyed participating in a process that might give someone a second chance,” Spanish lecturer Amanda Stechschulte said.

Barrios’ care and compassion for others extended outside of the classroom. He would take more of a workload at times just to help a colleague in need, according to Wyatt-Hayes.

Barrios took over one of Wyatt-Hayes’ classes after her mother became sick.

“We were halfway into the semester, and Javier agreed to teach the class for me,” Wyatt-Hayes said. “This was no small thing in that, unlike many professors at Hillsdale, he lived in Ypsilanti.”

Barrios made the more than hour long commute four days a week to teach Wyatt-Hayes’ 9 a.m. class so that she could stay home with her mother, who was battling cancer.

Even at the end of his life, Barrios continued uplifting others, Puvogel said.

“Even when his cancer incapacitated him and robbed him of his career, he was deeply concerned about the wellbeing of others,” Stechschulte said.

Spanish Department Chair Todd Mack said despite Barrios’ own suffering, he always asked about others.

“He knew what he was facing, and he never complained about it,”  Mack said. “He just was interested in other people.”

Puvogel and Wyatt-Hayes visited Barrios at his home in his final months. They said his selfless and generous personality remained constant even as he continued to suffer.

“He had given us a gift,” Wyatt-Hayes said. “We thought we were giving him a gift by visiting him, and he had given us a gift by the very person he was.”

Barrios will be missed for his enthusiasm as a professor and for his compassion for others, Stechschulte said.

“The world is just a tiny bit of a sadder place now that he’s gone,” Mack said.