Deaths: 1920s and 1930s

David Bush, PhB'23, a retired teacher, died January 29 in Nashville, TN, at age 98. He taught the first class in modern Hebrew in the Chicago high schools, as well as courses in English, Latin, and math. After retiring in 1969, Bush wrote poetry and toured with Free Street Too, a senior theater company, throughout Chicago and the nation until 1986. He is survived by two daughters, including Nancy Bush Sherman, PhB'45, JD'48; a son; and two grandchildren.

Fannie Berliss Rosenbaum, PhB'29, died September 5, in Vienna, VA, at age 91. Rosenbaum was a homemaker and active volunteer with many civic and charitable organizations in Chicago and Cook County. She is survived by a daughter, a son, and four grandchildren.

Marianne Stevenson Harper, PhB'33, died January 2 in Lake Forest, IL, at age 89. An adventurer who skied, rode horses, and climbed mountains, Harper also established an international-studies program for the art school at Lake Forest College. She is survived by a daughter; two sons; a brother, James M. Stevenson, AM'59; and six grandchildren.

Sydney H. Kasper, PhB'33, a writer, editor, and public-affairs officer with several government agencies, died February 5 in Olney, MD. He was 88. In the 1960s, he was chief of press services for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Kasper spent five years with the Labor Department's manpower administration as director of information before retiring in the 1970s. Survivors include his wife, Helen; three children; and three grandchildren.

Miriam Hamilton Keare, JD'33, died January 17 in Highland Park, IL, at age 91. Keare taught English as a Second Language to children at the Highland Park YMCA, was PTA president at Highland Park High School, and sat on the school board. She served on more than 30 boards and committees throughout her life. Dedicated to environmental and population-control issues, she was a local board member for Planned Parenthood and was on the national board of the Sierra Club for seven years. Survivors include two daughters, two sons, and 14 grandchildren.

Robert F. Picken, AM'33, former president of Peerless Confection Company, died December 24 in Hyde Park at age 89. Picken, a political consultant and social activist for nearly 50 years, became president of the business five years after joining Peerless Confection, known for its red-and-white peppermint candies. Picken was also an active fund-raiser for the U of C and a Simpson College trustee. He is survived by his wife, Rita, and a daughter, Kathleen Picken, AB'72, AM'74.

Ida Goldberg Terkel, PhB'33, a retired social worker and activist, died December 23 in Chicago at age 87. Terkel did relief work, worked with children, and fought for peace, fair housing, and civil rights. She also helped husband Studs Terkel, PhB'32, JD'34, with his books, appearing under pseudonym as a character in several, including Hard Times. Terkel is survived by her husband, a son, a brother, and a sister.

Stanley A. Walton Jr., PhB'33, a retired bank executive, died November 30 in Willowbrook, IL, at age 88. A WWII veteran, Walton began his career as a mail boy for Lake Shore National Bank-now Bank One-working his way up to vice chair of the board by the time he retired 40 years later. Afterward, Walton served as president and manager of several smaller banks and was on the board of directors for OEI Business Systems in Itasca until 1997. He is survived by his wife, Joan; three sons; two stepdaughters; a stepson; and six grandchildren.

James L. Zacharias, PhB'33, JD'35, a retired businessman and legal activist, died October 29, in Winnetka, IL, at age 87. After practicing law for three years, Zacharias entered the plastics industry, served in the Army, and then joined his brother as a partner in Precision Plating Company. He retired in 1989. Zacharias was a member of the board of directors, executive committee, and advisory council of the ACLU and in 1999 was awarded the group's Roger Baldwin Award for longtime commitment to civil liberties. Zacharias also helped to develop the Dove Bar ice-cream bar. Survivors include his wife, Bobette; two daughters; a son; and a grandchild.

Ethel Fessler Niemann, SB'35, a retired teacher, died May 17, 1999, in Rockville, MD, at age 85. After teaching high-school math in the 1930s, Niemann worked as an accountant and taught shorthand and typing in the 1940s. Active in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, she retired in 1973 after conducting Red Cross first-aid and nutrition classes. Survivors include a stepson, two sisters, and a grandson.

Walvin R. Giedt, MD'37, a retired doctor and laboratory chief, died September 30 in Seattle at age 94. Giedt served as Washington state's epidemiologist and chief of laboratories for nearly 30 years. In 1985, a new Department of Health laboratory was built and named for Giedt, who was the West Coast team leader for Jonas Salk's polio trials and a specialist in Rocky Mountain spotted fever. He is survived by two daughters and four grandchildren.

G. McMurtrie Godley, X'39, a retired foreign ambassador, died November 7 in Oneonta, NY, at age 82. Godley joined the Foreign Service in 1941 and had a number of international posts before being named ambassador to Congo in 1964. As ambassador to Laos during the Vietnam War, he helped to direct Laotian and Thai guerrillas fighting North Vietnamese troops. Godley then became ambassador to Lebanon. The founder and president of the Glimmerglass Opera, he chaired the boards of Fox Hospital and of Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth; two sons; a brother; and a sister.

John W. ("Jack") Webster, AB'39, died October 15 in Hinsdale, IL, at age 83. He is survived by two daughters, a brother, and three grandchildren.