OCTOBER 2000: CLASS NOTES (print version)
DEATHS
Faculty and Staff
Roger A. Pillet, a professor emeritus of education and Romance languages & literatures, died May 29 in Chicago. He was 82. A scholar of French pedagogy, he emphasized teaching through filmstrips, records, and pictures rather than via textbooks and rote memorization. He created grade-school materials, including the classic storybook André François Villeneuve, which taught the language through a narrative of a puppy prince and his poodle friend.
In 1971, he was awarded the Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Cantor at the former Temple Mitzpah in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, he was the principal tenor soloist for the Rockefeller Chapel Choir. Survivors include his wife, Etiennette V. Pillet, MST'75; a daughter; a son; two stepdaughters; a stepson; two sisters; and nine grandchildren.
1920s and 1930s
Harry G. Gilbert, PhB'31, retired vice-president and controller of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, died in Greenville, SC, on October 1, 1999. He was 89. In 1931, he joined Montgomery Ward in Chicago and was promoted to assistant controller. During WWII, he was a lieutenant in the Navy. He began working for Bigelow-Sanford in 1952, retiring as vice-president and controller in 1975. He was later a member of the Financial Executives Institute and the Poinsett Club in Greenville, SC. Survivors include his wife, Aileen; and two sons.
William W. Dyer, SB'32, president of the Tennessee River Towing Co., died June 18 in Paducah, KY, at age 90. A member of Phi Gamma Delta and an intercollegiate national wrestling champion at the U of C, he competed in the 1932 Olympics. A lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy during WWII, he was an assistant chemist at Pure Oil Co. before moving to Paducah to join Igert Towing Co. Dyer was active in local civic affairs, including the Rotary Club and Girl Scouts. He is survived by his wife, Florene; two daughters; a son; a stepdaughter; a stepson; and five grandchildren.
Leo Segall, PhB'32, JD'34, a labor attorney, died May 13 in Milwaukee at age 89. In 1965, he successfully represented the Amalgamated Meat Cutters in a case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. He often worked on employee-benefits cases and drafted many plans still in use by unions. He is survived by his wife, Ruth; a daughter; a son, Ralph M. Segall, MBA'70; three stepsons, including James G. Bloch, MBA'69; and 11 grandchildren.
Margaret Cusack Irmiger, PhB'35, died August 15, 1999, in Chicago. She was 92. Irmiger was one of seven siblings to graduate from the U of C. Survivors include her brother Robert E. Cusack, AB'38; a sister; and a grandson.
Eleanor I. Johnson, AM'37, died May 14 in Denver at age 88. She entered the Red Cross after graduation, working during WWII in the India/Burma theater, where she met her husband. Survivors include three children and three grandchildren.
Bernard Adinoff, SB'39, PhD'43, a chemist, died July 7 in Thousand Oaks, CA. He was 81. Most of his career was spent in Detroit as chief chemical engineer of research and development for Rockwell International. Retiring to California in 1984, he began a second career in computer science and taught in the master's program at California Lutheran University and at Thousand Oaks Friends of the Library. Adinoff was also active in local civic affairs. Survivors include his wife, Madeline; three children; a brother; and six grandchildren.
Charles F. Banfe Jr., X'39, a former airline pilot and professor emeritus at Stanford University, died March 17 at age 82 in Tucson, AZ. In 1958, Banfe made his first voyage around the world. After working as an editor at Esquire Magazine, he became a pilot, flying for Pan American Airways. He also taught business, technology, and airline management at Stanford for 20 years. He is survived by his wife, June; two daughters; three sons; and six grandchildren.
1940s and 1950s
Martin A. Cohen, AM'41, associate professor emeritus of economics at the Illinois Institute of Technology, died May 20 in Chicago. He was 84. After serving in the Army during WWII, Cohen worked with his brother in an industrial-contracting business. He began teaching labor economics at IIT in 1964, retiring in 1980. A former vice-president of the National Academy of Arbitrators, he was also an active member of K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation in Hyde Park. Cohen is survived by a daughter; a son; and three grandchildren.
Francis J. Lynch, AB'42, an attorney, died May 11 at age 79 in Franklin, TN. A lifelong resident of the Chicago area, Lynch was a partner in the law firm Braun, Lynch, Smith, & Strobel, retiring in 1998. He served in the Army during WWII, receiving the Purple Heart. He was a member of the Civil War Round Table, a group of 150 history enthusiasts, and was attending one of its conferences at the time of his death. Survivors include his wife, Susan; five children; and four grandchildren.
C. Lois Samuelson, PhB'44, an attorney from Oak Park, IL, died January 5. She was 76. A past president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, Samuelson was a lawyer with the Chicago land clearance commission for 15 years, later joining her husband's law firm. On the board of her condominium building, she enjoyed golf and traveling, most recently visiting Antarctica. Survivors include two cousins.
Edgar Z. Friedenberg, PhD'46, a professor emeritus at Dalhousie University, died June 1 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was 79. A scholar of education and gender studies, Friedenberg left the U.S. during the Vietnam era. His 1959 book, The Vanishing Adolescent, a sociological study of teens, has been reprinted ten times and translated into several languages. He was active in the Canadian Civil Liberties Union.
Leon A. Gordon, PhB'47, SB'48, MD'52, a surgeon, died June 20 at age 73 in Los Gatos, CA. After interrupting his studies to serve in the Army during WWII, Gordon earned his medical degree and practiced general surgery in San Jose, CA. He also collected antique clocks and did carpentry in his home workshop. He is survived by his wife, Elsa L. Gordon, PhB'47, SB'50, MD'52; two daughters; two sons, including Joseph R. Gordon, MD'81; a brother; a sister; and nine grandchildren.
Charles E. Fritz, AM'50, a sociologist, died May 5 at age 79. Fritz, a resident of Montgomery Village, MD, specialized in the study of human and organizational behavior in emergencies and disasters and in the organizational mechanisms needed to manage such events. During WWII, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps and was assigned to the Strategic Bombing Survey in England. He remained in the Air Force Reserve until 1981, earning the Air Force Systems Command Meritorious Service Award. He wrote or co-wrote more than 100 books, scientific reports, and journal articles and had advised every presidential administration since Eisenhower on dealing with the effects of nuclear war. In 1995, he received the first Fritz Award for contributions to disaster research. Survivors include his wife, Patricia; a daughter; a son; a sister; and two granddaughters.E. Delmar Gibbs, PhD'50, a professor emeritus at the University of Puget Sound, died April 22 in Tacoma, WA. He was 88. An assistant dean and chair of the education department at UPS, Gibbs was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, Kiwanis, and other professional and civic organizations. He is survived by two daughters, a son, and six grandchildren.
James T. Holton, JD'50, an attorney in the Chicago area for 45 years, died April 2 in Freehold, NJ. He was 76. Interested in English legal history, in his retirement, he was writing a book on the prefaces of Sir Edward Coke, who served as attorney general under Elizabeth I. He is survived by his former wife, Felicia Antonelli Holton, AB'50; a daughter; and two grandchildren.
Archie S. Wilson, SM'50, PhD'51, a retired research chemist and professor emeritus, died June 6 at age 79 in Redmond, WA. In 1943, he joined the Manhattan Project at Iowa State College, studying x-ray diffraction studies of solid structures. After receiving his doctorate, he worked as a research chemist at the Hanford Laboratories. He authored or co-authored 57 technical works, and held four patents in nuclear-fuel processing. For 18 years, he was a professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota, retiring in 1989. Survivors include his wife, Ivon; a daughter; two sons; two brothers; and two grandchildren.
Muriel Stewart Pappert, AM'53, a health administrator, died April 26 at age 73 in Naperville, IL. President of the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, she also held medical-administration positions with the Telephone Pioneers of America, AT&T, New York Telephone, and Illinois Bell. In 1997, she received honors from the American Association of University Women. Surviving are her husband, Howard; three daughters; and two sisters.
James T. Wiley, MBA'54, an Air Force officer, died May 3 in Seattle. He was 81. A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, Wiley was one of the 24 original members of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and was in the first group of U.S. fliers to land in North Africa. He continued his service until 1965, then worked as an Air Force representative to Boeing until his 1980 retirement. Survivors include his wife, Ruby; a daughter; two sons; and eight grandchildren.
Jane Koukol SB'55, PhD'59, died May 26, 1999, in a car accident in Merced, CA. She was 67. A clinical laboratory specialist at Valley Medical Center in Fresno, CA, she is survived by a sister.
Harriet Lange Rheingold, PhD'55, a child psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died April 29 in Chapel Hill. She was 92. Interested in infant social behaviors, she studied valued traits, like sharing. In 1985, she addressed the 18th World Congress on Early Childhood Education in Jerusalem. That same year, she coordinated a symposium for the Society for Research in Child Development. She is survived by her husband, Don; two sons; and six grandchildren.
Kenneth B. Basa, SB'56, a chemist, died June 21 in Des Plaines, IL, at age 72. In 1945, Basa served in the Army Signal Corps in Korea. A researcher for Swift-Armour and NASA, Basa worked as a flavor chemist and laboratory manager for H. B. Taylor and Co. for 35 years. A member of his church choir, he was also active in the local Boy Scouts. Survivors include his wife, Amparo; a daughter; four sons; and seven grandchildren.
C. Eric Lincoln, DB'56, a professor emeritus of religion and culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died May 14 in Durham, NC, at age 75. Lincoln wrote some 20 books on the sociopolitical influences on African Americans, including The Black Muslims in America, the first academic text on the movement. Before turning to academe, he worked for Pepsi Cola, as a manager of a Memphis nightclub, as an ordained Methodist minister, and as a road manager for the Birmingham Black Barons baseball team. He is survived by his wife, Lucy; four children; a brother; and six grandchildren.
Sam Venturella, AM'56, a social visionary, died June 4 in Chicago. He was 78. Devoted to the teachings of Henry George-a 19th-century social reformer who believed in abolishing all taxes for a single tax on land-Venturella was Chicago branch president of the Henry George School of Social Science for 20 years and opened a facility for the school in 1986. He also worked as a city planner for Chicago and as a substitute elementary-school teacher. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; two daughters; two sons; and three grandchildren.
1960s to Current
Archie R. Clegg, AM'65, a social worker, died June 19 of cancer in Palos Heights, IL. He was 61. In 1973, Clegg started a mental-health program at Metropolitan Family Services, expanding the program to serve more than 5,000 people. He became known as "Mr. Mental Health of the South Suburbs." Survivors include his wife, Jantina; two daughters; a son; two brothers; and a sister.
Alan R. Krauss, SB'65, a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, died June 26 in Naperville, IL, of cancer. He was 56. As the leader of the particle-surface interaction group at Argonne, Krauss won several awards for his work with ionization phenomena. He was also an accomplished photographer; his work was exhibited this past summer in New York at the Center for Digital Art and the Nexus Gallery. He is survived by his wife, Julie R. Krauss, SB'73, and a daughter.
Robert W. Kern, AM'61, PhD'66, a history professor at the University of New Mexico for more than 30 years, died April 15 of cancer in Albuquerque, NM. He was 65. A founding member and former officer of in the Society of Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies and of the Southwestern Labor Studies Association, he wrote ten books on Spanish history. Survivors include his wife, Susan L. Brake, AM'77, and two sons.
Lawrence N. Reckles, MD'67, an orthopedic surgeon, died of a brain tumor June 26 in Duluth, GA, at age 58. After serving as a commander in the Navy Medical Corps, he entered private practice in Orlando, FL. When he moved to Georgia in 1991, Reckles joined the Medical Association of Atlanta, becoming an advocate of medical law and ethics in a collaboration with the Atlanta Bar Association. He also lectured as a clinical instructor in surgery at both Emory University and Morehouse College. He is survived by his wife, Bonnie; a daughter; a son; a stepson; his mother; and a brother.
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