Deaths: 1940s and 1950s

Ray H. Freeark Jr., AB'47, AM'53, coach, teacher, and lawyer, died August 12 in Ranch Santa Fe, CA. He was 74. Freeark's love of sports led to a career teaching and coaching at Belleville Township High School in Illinois. Founder and partner in the law firm Freeark, Harvey, Mendillo, Dennis, Wuller and Cain in Belleville, Freeark extensively worked for the Illinois Medical Society. An avid fan of horse racing, he edited and published the Illinois Thoroughbred magazine and wrote for Thoroughbred Record and Horseman's Journal. Survivors include his wife, Arlene; two daughters; a son; two brothers; and seven grandchildren.

Theodora Gordon, JD'47, an attorney, died July 17 in Chicago at age 76. Gordon had her own general practice for 25 years. At age 73, she became the first female president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, a Jewish bar association. President of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois and the Elaine Settler Foundation, she was a board member for the Women's Bar Association of Illinois Foundation, which awards scholarships to female students. Survivors include a brother.

Raymond L. Scherer, AM'47, of Washington, DC, died July 1 at age 81. During his four-decade career as chief White House correspondent for NBC News, Scherer reported on six administrations, from Harry Truman to Gerald Ford, and was one of the first television "floor men" at the 1956 presidential conventions. He covered Europe as NBC's London correspondent from 1969 to 1973. Upon his return to the U.S., he reported on the Watergate scandal. He served as vice president of RCA, the parent company of NBC, until his 1986 retirement. Survivors include his wife, Barbara, and a brother.

Virginia Lloyd Poste, AM'49, a social worker, died August 27 in Geneseo, NY, at age 88. Poste began her career in juvenile court in Denver and after WWII worked for the United Nations Relief Agency in Germany, where she helped return and place child survivors of the concentration camps. After returning to the States, she worked for the Livingston County Children's Protective Association for 38 years, serving as president from 1962 to 1964 and as liaison between the association and the State Communities Aid Association from 1958 to 1996. Survivors include a daughter.

Lawrence D. Bonham, PhD'50, of Mill Creek, WA, died September 18 at age 78. A first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during WWII, Bonham was a branch chief at the U.S. Geological Survey from 1950 to 1984 and worked on such projects as the first geological map of the moon. An avid birder, he ranked among the top birders in North America with a lifetime count of 727 species. Survivors include his wife, Selma; three children; and three grandchildren.

John M. Beck, AM'47, PhD'53, a lifelong educator, died August 6 in his Hyde Park home. He was 87. Beck was a teacher and administrator at the Chicago Teachers College, now Chicago State University, from 1953 to 1965. In 1966 Beck was one of the founders of the Chicago Teacher Corps, a program to recruit more urban teachers to match the growing student populations in inner-city schools. From 1968 until his death, he was the executive director of the Chicago Consortium of Colleges and Universities. Survivors include three sisters.

Donald F. Mazukelli, SB'55, SM'56, a scientist, died August 1 in Chicago at age 66. Mazukelli led a diverse life, working as a mathematician on a federal weapons evaluation project in Chicago, playing piano concertos in Orchestra Hall, and helping develop Northwestern University's Vogelback Computing Center. He is survived by a brother and two sisters.

Olga K. Skala, AB'56, died July 17 in Sooke, Canada, at age 87. Survivors include a son.

Fred M. Zimring, JD'50, PhD'57, of Cleveland Heights, OH, died August 22 at age 75. At his death, Zimring was the chair of the clinical psychology program at Case-Western Reserve University. Survivors include his sister-in-law.