FEBRUARY 2001: CLASS NOTES
DEATHS
Faculty, Staff, and Friends
Donald F. Lach, PhD'41, the Bernadotte E. Schmitt professor emeritus in history, died October 26 at age 83. The Hyde Park resident was an expert on Asian-European interaction in the 16th through the 18th centuries, writing or co-authoring many books in the Asia in the Making of Europe series. Joining the history faculty in 1948, he was a Fulbright scholar in France (1949-50) and also taught in Taiwan and India. He is survived by his wife, Alma; a daughter; and a grandson.
Monte B. Lloyd, PhD'57, professor emeritus in ecology & evolution, died October 14 in New Orleans, where he had lived since his 1992 retirement. He was 73. Lloyd, a field biologist and an expert on the 13- and 17-year periodical cicadas, won a 1988 Quantrell award for undergraduate teaching and was a conservationist who worked to preserve the Central American rain forests and Louisiana's coastal waters. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the former editor of the journal Ecology, and the author of some 40 scientific papers, he was at work on a book on the evolution and ecology of periodical cicadas, which his wife, Jo Ann White, PhD'74, will complete. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters and two sons.
Maxine L. H. Sullivan, registrar of the University from 1964 until her 1999 retirement, died November 15. She was 77. She came to the University in 1959 and became assistant registrar later that year. As registrar, she maintained academic records of all University students and prepared diplomas. Her signature appeared on 77,780 diplomas, more than 40 percent of all the diplomas conferred by the University.
Tymon Terlecki, professor emeritus in Slavic languages & literatures, died November 6 in Oxford, England. He was 95. An authority on the Polish theater and dramatic literature, he was the author of numerous books, including Christian Existentialism and Theatrical Matters. Terlecki also edited the two-volume collective work Polish Literature Abroad 1940-1960. He taught at the University from 1964 to 1972. He is survived by his wife, Nina Taylor-Terlecka.
1920s and 1930s
Beatrice Watson Jasinski, PhB'26, AM'27, PhD'48, an expert on the French writer and revolutionary Madame de Stael, died in Cambridge, MA, on June 20. She was 95. Jasinski, who taught at the University in the late 1940s and early 1950s, wrote several volumes on de Stael's correspondence and for many years divided her time between Paris and Cambridge, where her late husband taught at Harvard.
Laura Reynolds Helfrich, PhB'28, died on May 31 at age 91 in Batavia, IL. After working briefly as a legal secretary, she graduated from John Marshall Law School in 1933. Following her 1939 marriage, she combined motherhood with volunteer counsel to the PTA, the Girl Scouts, and her church. An inveterate traveler (her first trip to China came in the 1930s; her last after her husband's retirement, when they went by "slow boat" freighter), she often gave slide presentations of her trips. She is survived by two daughters and a son.
Ruth Parker Prosser, PhB'30, a retired educator, died May 15 in Southampton, NY, at age 91. A child prodigy pianist, she taught piano to help pay her way through the College. A school principal in Alden, MI, she later moved to Leesburg, FL, where she was active in the community and was a director of the local bank. She is survived by two children and five grandchildren.
Arthur C. Hornung, SB'31, SM'33, a retired geologist, died March 28 in Ft. Myers, FL, at age 97. Although he began his U of C studies in theology, he became a convert to geology. Survivors include a daughter; a son, Gilbert C. Hornung, AB'52, SM'54; and seven grandchildren, including Barbara Hornung Harvey, AB'79.
Rowland L. Kelly, AB'34, a retired businessman, died in Summit, NJ, on February 1, 2000. He was 90. After working with the Ditto Company, he spent more than 30 years with the NCR Corporation. Kelly was one of 17 family members who graduated from the University. Survivors include his wife, Helen Varkala Kelly, X'37; three daughters; and a son, Raymond Kelly, AB'65.
George F. Hall, PhD'35, a Lutheran minister and theologian, died in Evanston, IL, on October 20. He was 92. A graduate of Augustana College and Augustana Theological Seminary, he was ordained into the Augustana Lutheran Church in 1934. A missionary in East Africa, a professor at several Midwestern institutions, and a pastor at churches in Gary (IN), Chicago, and St. Paul (MN), he wrote college textbooks on Christianity and for the Christian Century.
Elizabeth Gonigam Warner, PhB'35, a journalist and English teacher, died September 21 in Joliet, IL, at age 88. A full-time resident of Michigan City, IN, since 1959, she was a member of the Michigan City Historical Society, a docent at the Old Lighthouse Museum, and a member of the Lutheran Church of the Dunes. She is survived by two sons, five grandchildren, and two sisters.
Caroline Hiatt Dixon, AB'36, a retired archivist, died October 18 in Vancouver, WA. She was 85. After graduating from the University, she worked as an archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, NM, during WWII. From 1946 to 1948, she was a curator of manuscripts at Princeton University. She is survived by two sons and four grandchildren.
Florence E. Lawson, SB'37, MD'39, a longtime member of Northwestern University's medical faculty, died October 28 in Chicago. She was 86. Lawson joined Northwestern in 1942, specializing in internal medicine. In 1985 she received a distinguished-service award from the university's Department of Medicine. On the women's board of the Easter Seal Society of Metropolitan Chicago, Lawson volunteered for its sister organization, The Briar Patch. Among survivors are three cousins.
Catherine ("Kay") Herbolsheimer Hoobler, SB'38, a dietician and civic leader, died July 11 in Cleveland at age 82. After graduate studies at the University of Michigan, she worked with one of the first camps for disabled children. In 1940 she moved to Cleveland, where she served on the Women's Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art and the board of the Cleveland Musical School Settlement. In 1960 the U of C Alumni Association recognized her work for College admissions with an Alumni Service Citation. She is survived by a daughter, two sons, and eight grandchildren.
Howard S. Greenlee, AB'39, AM'41, PhD'50, a retired college professor and administrator, died June 21. He was 81. Greenlee, who had lived in South Royalton, VT, since 1973, was a Navy lieutenant during WWII. He taught at Simpson College, Antioch College (where he also served as dean), Coe College, and Tuskeegee Institute. A parishioner at Christ Church in Bethel, VT, he wrote on Episcopal Church architecture. He served as a town selectman, on the Hanover Food Co-op's board, and as a justice of the peace. He is survived by his wife, Helen Schwartz Greenlee, AB'44; a daughter; a son; four grandchildren; and a sister, Ruth Greenlee Davis, AB'45, AM'47.
Russell L. Hafer, SB'39, MD'42, a retired anesthesiologist, died April 3 in Sun City West, AZ. After serving with the Navy Medical Corps during WWII (attached to the Marine Corps, he saw action in the South Pacific and at Iwo Jima), he practiced anesthesiology in Pomona, CA, for 39 years, retiring in 1979 and moving to Arizona in 1987. He is survived by his wife, Winifred; two daughters; two sons; three stepdaughters; and 15 grandchildren
1940s and 1950s
John W. ("Jack") Bernhardt, AB'40, died September 15. The Lake Bluff, IL, resident was 82. Captain of the water polo team as a Chicago undergrad, Bernhardt was decorated for heroism as a Navy lieutenant in WWII. After the war, he became a captain in the Naval Reserves and joined the Chilton firm, working in sales and marketing for its magazines until his retirement at age 80. He is survived by his wife, Florence; four daughters; and nine grandchildren.
Helen I. Greene, PhD'45, a retired professor of history, died August 10 in Milledgeville, GA. She was 91. Greene, who taught at Georgia College and State University from 1933 until her 1973 retirement, quietly subsidized the cost of college for many students. The creator of her campus's international-relations club, she also sponsored international students. In 1997 an oak tree was planted in her name on the GC&SU campus.
Ruth West Cooper, AB'46, died August 5 in Austin, TX. She was 83. After earning a B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University and an L.L.B. from the University of Pittsburgh, she practiced law. Following her husband's academic postings, she later moved to Boston and then to Austin, where she taught law and business ethics at the University of Texas School of Business and was active in civic affairs, serving as a director of the Austin Symphony Society. She is survived by her husband, William W. Cooper, AB'38.
Dorothy Frech Geiger, AB'46, CLA'46, a former social worker, died October 14 in The Woodlands, TX. She held volunteers posts with the League of Women Voters, the Girl Scouts, and local libraries in Illinois, Florida, and Texas. Survivors include four daughters, three grandchildren, and a sister-in-law, Janet Geiger Kohrman, AM'40, AM'49, a professor emerita at the School of Social Service Administration.
Thomas D. Jarrett, PhD'47, former president of Atlanta University, died July 6 at age 88. An Army officer during WWII, he joined Atlanta University in 1947 as a professor of English, becoming department chair in 1957 and dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in 1960. As Atlanta's president (1968-77), he helped establish additional doctoral programs and academic departments. Active with the United Negro College Fund, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Southern Regional Council, he received the U of C Alumni Association's Professional Achievement Citation in 1980. Among survivors are his wife, Annabelle Gunter Jarrett; a daughter; and a brother.
Ethel Levine Bobroff, AM'49, an economist, died March 5 at age 74 in East Grand Rapids, MI. She had worked with Robert McNamara's group in the Ford Motor Company's financial-analysis unit, had written on economics for a Grand Rapids publication, was an adjunct instructor at the Grand Rapids Community College, and directed market research for Wolverine World Wide. She also taught social studies in the Detroit public schools and was active in the local League of Women Voters, serving as its president. Survivors include her husband, Allen Bobroff, PhD'58; two daughters, including Carol Bobroff, MBA'90; a son, Norman Bobroff, AB'77; and seven grandchildren.
Richard J. Israel, AB'50, a rabbi, civil-rights advocate, and author, died July 12, while climbing Mount Lafayette in New Hampshire. The Newton Centre, MA, resident was 70. For most of his career, Israel was a Hillel Foundation director at college campuses, including UCLA, Yale (where he helped break down the Jewish quota system), Princeton, Duke, and UMass. Executive director of the Hillel Council of Greater Boston, he wrote dozens of articles and two books, including The Kosher Pig and Other Curiosities of Modern Jewish Life, a collection of humorous essays on the tensions in the life of a modern Jew. Among survivors are his wife, Sherry Feinberg Israel, AB'57; two daughters; two sons; and five grandchildren.
Roger H. Woodworth, AB'52, a state and federal legislative aide, died April 8 in Boston. He was 72. Woodworth, who was president of Student Government as a Chicago undergraduate, was an advisor to the minority leader of the Massachusetts State Senate at the time of his death. His government career included service as an aide to Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass.) and as an assistant to Margaret Heckler during her time as a U.S. Representative, as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and as U.S. ambassador to Ireland. Survivors include his brother, three nephews, a niece, and longtime friend Richard Chevoor.
Samuel C. Adams Jr., PhD'53, former U.S. ambassador to Niger, died May 24 in Houston. He was 79. Adams joined the Economic Cooperation Administration, the predecessor of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1952, and was posted to Indochina, Saigon, Vietnam, and Cambodia, Nigeria, Mali, and Morocco. After serving as ambassador to the Republic of Niger (1968-69), he returned to USAID as assistant administrator for its African bureau, retiring in 1975. Survivors include his wife, Evelyn.
Norman Meller, AM'51, PhD'55, a professor emeritus of political science, died July 19 in Honolulu, at age 86. Meller, who practiced law before attending the University, joined the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1947 as director of the legislative reference bureau and was appointed a professor in 1955. A specialist in Pacific Island government and politics, he helped draft Hawaii's "hope chest constitution." Survivors include his wife, Terza; a son; two grandchildren; and two sisters.
Kenneth I. Howard, PhD'59, a Northwestern University psychologist, died October 19 in Evanston, IL, after a long illness. He was 68. Howard, who taught at Northwestern for 33 years, coordinated outpatient research at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Institute of Psychiatry and had a private psychotherapy practice for some 20 years. He was the cofounder and president of both the Society for Psychotherapy Research and the Midwestern Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology. Survivors include his wife, Sue; three daughters; three sons; two stepsons; eight grandchildren; his father; a brother, Robert H. Howard, MBA'61; and a sister.
1960s to Current
Jan M. Schlesinger, JD'60, a judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey, died September 17, at age 64. Schlesinger, who was brought to America to escape the Holocaust, earned the Order of the Coif at the University. Before being appointed to the Superior Court in 1992, he practiced law for 30 years. President of the Burlington County Bar Association and a trustee of the New Jersey Bar Association, he was a former chair of the New Jersey Heart Association. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Ann; a daughter; two sons; and a grandson.
Edward J. Rohn Jr., MBA'62, a technical writer and editor, died September 27 in Elmhurst, IL. He was 80. In 39 years with International Harvester, Rohn wrote and edited advertising materials, sales films, and product brochures. After retiring in 1982 he began his own firm, Elmdale Marketing Services. A Navy lieutenant during WWII, Rohn loved to study history and to travel, visiting more than 70 countries. Survivors include his wife, Katherine; three daughters; a son; seven grandchildren; and a brother.
Terry J. Smith, JD'65, an attorney, died in Grand Ledge, MI, on June 11. He was 62. Since 1965 he had practiced law in Grand Ledge, where he was active in social-service agencies, cultural organizations, and professional groups. Among other projects, he helped to develop the historic Grand Ledge Opera House into a community center. He is survived by his wife, Lorene; a daughter; a son; three grandchildren; his mother; and three brothers.
Paul R. Duncan, MBA'69, a former McDonald's executive, died July 5 in Downers Grove, IL, of complications related to diabetes. He was 67. Duncan began his career as a corporate lawyer with Montgomery Wards and then Interlake Steel. After earning his business degree, he joined the overseas legal department at McDonald's; beginning in 1978 he led the international legal department for 17 years, overseeing negotiations that took the chain to Moscow and Beijing. He is survived by his wife, Glenda; three daughters; and a sister.
David R. Kinsley, AM'66, PhD'70, a professor of religious studies, died of lung cancer on April 25, his 61st birthday. Kinsley had taught at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, since 1969. The author of eight books-on goddesses, ecology and religion, healing and religion, and Hinduism, his academic speciality-he won a number of teaching awards. Survivors include his wife, Carolyn C. Kinsley, X'67; his mother; his stepfather; a sister; a brother; and a stepbrother.
Jeffrey J. Hamman, AB'94, MD'99, died of lymphoma on July 23 in Cleveland. He was 28. Hamman was in an otolaryngology residency at Southern Illinois University when he was diagnosed with acute T-cell lymphblastic lymphoma. Survivors include his parents.
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