10/22/2026
Alice Tealey Gasque
Dr. Alice Tealey Gasque, a scholar, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, died Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in her long-term health facility. She was born on May 12, 1942, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to Evelyn and Earl Tealey. Alice grew up primarily in the Eau Claire area and graduated from Memorial High School in 1960. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before beginning her doctoral studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Alice is survived by her daughter, Susanna Gasque White, and son-in-law, Chris White, of Cayce, South Carolina; her grandson, Preston White, and his fiancée, Renebeth Payod, of Nashville, Tennessee; her brothers, Tom Tealey of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Fred Tealey of Wausau, Wisconsin; her sisters-in-law, Dorothy Smith of Columbia, South Carolina, and Marsha Gasque of Marion, South Carolina; and numerous nieces and nephews. She also leaves a close-knit extended family that includes her great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Thomas James Gasque, and several sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law.
Alice’s journey with her husband, Tom, began in the library stacks at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where both were pursuing doctorates in English literature. They spent most of their careers at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where they lived for many years. Alice taught and researched 19th- and 20th-century British and Irish literature, with a particular focus on the works of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. She was the first woman to chair the university’s English Department. Alice and Tom were Fulbright Scholars in Germany during the 1988–1989 academic year. Over the years, their travels took them to every continent except Antarctica; in one month alone, they visited both Japan and Peru. They retired from the University of South Dakota in 2003 and moved to South Carolina to be closer to Susanna and her family.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Alice’s memory to the Thomas and Alice Gasque Study-in-Britain Scholarship at the University of South Dakota or to a charity of your choice. To support the scholarship, donate through the USD Foundation at https://www.usdalumni.com/memorial-and-tribute-gifts and designate the fund as Gasque. Checks may be made payable to the USD Foundation and mailed to Wagner Alumni Center, 1110 N. Dakota St., Vermillion, SD 57069; please write GASQUE FUND in the notes section.
Alice will be remembered for her intellect, her bright smile, and the life she built through scholarship, travel, and family. She will be missed.
Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, is assisting the family.
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