Deaths: 1940s and 1950s

Irwin J. Biederman, AB'40, MBA'42, a retired accountant, died March 16 in Highland Park, IL, at age 79. A WWII veteran, he worked for Biederman, Stetter, and Silverman Co. for more than 50 years. He received the University's Alumni Service Citation in 1993 for his fund-raising work. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie; three sons, including Jerry H. Biederman, JD'71; and six grandchildren.

William L. Slayton, AB'40, AM'43, an expert on urban renewal, died August 7 in Washington, DC, at age 82. Slayton left a post with the Ford Foundation to become commissioner of urban renewal under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He later served as president of Urban America, Inc., and deputy assistant secretary of state for foreign buildings. He is survived by his wife, Mary; two daughters; a brother; and four grandchildren.

Eleanor Thorberg Hartmann, AB'45, AM'49, died May 26 in Evanston, IL, at age 78. Hartmann, a participant in the civil-rights movement, was a social worker for the state of Illinois and for the Chicago School for the Retarded. Upon her retirement in 1983, she and her husband founded Artisans' Stained Glass. Survivors include her husband, Henry; a son; a sister; and two grandchildren.

Priscilla Joice Spiess, PhB'45, SB'47, died June 19 in Naples, FL, at age 72. Spiess was a statistician for the Swift Company before joining the Joseph Spiess Company, where she rose to vice president of business and to the board of directors before her 1978 retirement. She volunteered for the YMCA and the Junior Service Board. Survivors include her husband, John; three daughters; a brother; and eight grandchildren.

Herbert C. Berthold, MBA'46, a retired executive with Marshall Field's and Company, died June 13 in Wheaton, IL, at age 94. Berthold worked for Marshall Field's for 40 years, retiring as controller of the contract division in 1970. Survivors include his wife, Ruth; two daughters; a son; and six grandchildren.

Roberta Shinn Emerson, X'46, a retired artist and teacher, died May 22 in Huntington, WV, at age 76. Emerson, an artist and teacher at the Huntington (WV) Museum of Art, became its director for 16 years until her retirement in 1987. She also founded the Arts Advocacy Committee of West Virginia.

Peter Wolkonsky, PhB'46, SB'50, MD'52, died July 25 in Chicago at age 76. After serving as chief resident of internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York and medical director of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, Wolkonsky became president of the Arthritis Foundation in 1974 and chair of its executive committee in 1978. In 1993 he was given the Freedom of Movement Award by the organization. He is survived by his wife, Mary; a stepson; and three stepgrandchildren.

Audrey Holzer Douthit, AM'48, died August 11 in Indianapolis, IN, at age 74. Douthit was a social worker for the Marion County Association for Retarded Citizens and New Hope until her retirement in 1984. Survivors include her husband, Harold; a daughter; and two grandchildren.

Alexander S. Farkas, AB'49, former president of Alexander's department stores, died July 28 in Long Island, NY, of cancer. He was 69. Farkas helped build the chain--founded by his father in 1928--into a 16-store business with more than $500 million annual revenue. Farkas resigned in 1984. He is survived by his wife, Linda; two daughters; one son; and three brothers.

Charles L. Venable, AM'51, a former CIA officer, died November 14, 1998, in Albuquerque, NM, at age 71. Venable served in the CIA for 30 years until his retirement in 1982, when he worked as a part-time real estate appraiser. He is survived by a daughter and two sisters.

Donna R. Allen, AM'52, founder of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press, died July 19 in Washington, DC, at age 78. Allen taught at Cornell University in the early 1950s, then founded Women Strike for Peace, a group that opposed nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War. She founded the Women's Institute in 1972. Author of two books, she was also editor of the Women's Institute newsletter. Survivors include a son, three daughters, and a brother, Donald C. Rehkoph, AM'54.

Mark Nugent, AB'54, SB'56, a mathematics teacher, died June 12 in St. Louis of a heart attack. He was 65. After serving in the Army, Nugent worked as a high-school and college mathematics lecturer, spending 30 years at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is survived by his wife, Sookja; a daughter, Lynne S. Nugent, AB'94; and a son.

Albert V. Alhadeff, MBA'57, died December 9, 1998, in Vallejo, CA. Alhadeff was a founding member and former cellar master of the Marin International Wine and Food Society. He also was treasurer of the German Wine Society, executive secretary of the Society of Medical Friends of Wine, and publisher of The Wine Register. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; a daughter; a son; and two siblings.

Barbara J. Bellman, AM'57, author of the best-selling 1987 novel Hot Flashes, died July 23 in Baltimore, MD, from complications after vascular surgery. She was 63. Raskin was a flight attendant before teaching English at Catholic and Georgetown Universities. She wrote a second novel and also wrote for numerous publications, including the New York Times. She is survived by a daughter, two sons, a brother, and seven grandchildren.

Warren D. Gilreath, MBA'59, a retired executive, died July 14 in Sarasota, FL, at age 79. Gilreath, a WWII veteran, was a past vice president of Inland Container Corporation and former president of Eastex Packaging. Survivors include his wife, Jane; three sons; a sister; and eight grandchildren. 1960s Ronald L. Danzig, SB'64, died April 26 in Marietta, GA, at age 57. Danzig was the director of the Bucks Rock Creative Arts Camp in New Milford, CT. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; his mother; and two sons.