The University of Chicago Magazine
October 1997
1940-1950's
1940s
John F. Dunkel, SB'40, MD'50, a former director of pathology at the Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, MI, died January 20, 1995. He was 76. Dunkel also served on the faculty of Michigan State University. Survivors include his wife, Betty; a daughter; a son; several stepchildren; a sister; and a brother, Frank D. Dunkel, PhB'48.
Elbridge Durbrow, X'40, a retired diplomat, died May 16 at his home in Walnut Creek, CA. He was 93. He started his Foreign Service career in Warsaw in 1930, was a delegate to the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference that chartered the World Bank, and served in posts throughout Europe and Asia, notably as chief of the State Department's Eastern European division and as an Eisenhower-appointed ambassador to South Vietnam. After retiring in 1968, Durbrow wrote, lectured, and chaired the American Foreign Policy Institute.
Catherine Leirer Justice, SB'41, X'42, a retired associate professor of nutrition at Purdue University, died at her home near Clymers, IN, on June 12. She was 77. A registered dietitian, she taught for more than 20 years, presided over the Indiana Dietetic Association, and advised such state groups as the Governor's Task Force on the Elderly. She is survived by three sons, three daughters, a sister, and 11 grandchildren.
Louis N. Letts, X'42, of Minnetonka, MN, died June 24. The former U of C varsity football player is survived by his wife, Helen, and two sons.
Edmund J. Lindblom, AB'43, died March 1. Survivors include sons Eric Lindblom and Lance E. Lindblom, JD'78.
Ruth Cohn Harmatz, SB'44, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Tennessee, died June 21. Before joining the Tennessee faculty in the late 1970s, she worked with the Atomic Energy Commission in Oak Ridge, TN. Survivors include a son, a daughter, and a sister.
Le Moine D. Stitt, Jr., PhB'45, JD'49, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge, died June 17 at age 71. The Palatine, IL, resident was a founding partner with the Chicago-area law firm Stitt, Klein, Daday & Aretos and also served as a justice of the peace in Palatine Township before assuming the county judgeship. Stitt founded the Inverness Golf Club and the Palatine South Little League, which he then managed. He is survived by a son; a brother, Frederick H. Stitt, PhB'49, MBA'51; and four grandchildren.
Robert D. Tschirgi, SB'45, SM'46, PhD'49, MD'50, a professor emeritus of neuroscience at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), died May 20 at age 72. On the physiology faculty at the U of C from 1950 to 1953, he then joined UCLA as an assistant professor of physiology and anatomy, becoming a full professor in 1959. He was named academic assistant to the president of the University of California system in 1960, later serving as vice chancellor of academic affairs and acting dean of UCSD's medical school. In 1992, he became associate director of the NASA Specialized Center for Research and Training in Exobiology at UCSD. Tschirgi helped design medical schools and curricula for the University of California system and also founded the University of Hawaii Medical School. He is survived by his wife, Betty.
Edwin Diamond, PhB'47, AM'49, a journalist, author, and NYU professor, died July 10 in New York City. He was 72. After starting his career as a science writer with the International News Service in Chicago, he joined Newsweek in 1957, becoming a senior editor in 1962. He was an on-air commentator for the Washington Post Co., editorial director of Adweek, and cofounder of the Washington Journalism Review. A WWII veteran and a Korean War Army intelligence officer, Diamond received both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. An associate editor of the New York Daily News in the early 1980s, and a media columnist for New York magazine for 10 years, Diamond was a visiting professor of political science at MIT before joining NYU's faculty in 1984. He wrote a dozen books and won numerous awards for writing, editing, and classroom teaching, as well as a 1994 Professional Achievement Award from the U of C's Alumni Association. He is survived by his wife, Adelina Lust Diamond, AB'47; three daughters, including Ellen Diamond Waldman, AB'73; a sister, Natalie Diamond Peiser, AB'50; and six grandchildren.
Steven J. Bryant, PhB'48, SB'49, a retired professor of mathematics at San Diego State, died March 17 in Encinitas, CA, at age 74. After graduate studies at the University of Missouri, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley and Fresno State University. He is survived by three sons; a brother; five grandchildren; and his longtime companion, Arlene Mattioli.
Robert A. Hurwitch, AB'49, a former U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, died July 16 at his home in Minot, MA. He was 76. The WWII veteran also served in the military during the postwar occupation of Europe, then joined the Foreign Service in 1950. Appointed by President Nixon, he headed the embassy in Santo Domingo from 1973 to 1978.
1950s
Sheldon Garber, X'50, a fund-raising consultant and vice president for philanthropy and communication at RushPresbyterianSt. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, died July 12 at age 76. The WWII veteran was the Illinois editor for United Press International, where he led an effort to unionize. From 1958 to 1964, he was director of media services at the U of C, leaving to join the national Blue Cross Association as director of public relations. In 1969, he founded his own fund-raising consulting firm, Sheldon Garber Associates, which focused on national and local nonprofit organizations. He is survived by his wife, Jody; two sons; a daughter; a brother; a sister; and two grandsons.
R. Bruce Masterton, AM'55, a professor of psychology, psychobiology, and neuroscience at Florida State University, died December 7, 1996, at age 64. Author of numerous books and articles, Masterton taught at Vanderbilt before joining the FSU faculty in 1967. He is survived by his wife, Pauline Merbitz Masterton, AM'58; three sons; a brother; and six grandchildren.
Donald L. Gardner, MBA'56, a retired executive in Rancho Mirage, CA, died July 22. He was 66. The Korean War veteran held posts as division assistant at Northern Trust in Chicago; vice president of Security Pacific National Bank in Riverside, CA; president of GMGT Wolfe Mobile Homes in Corona, CA; and executive vice president of Evans Products in Corona, CA. More recently, he presided over DLG Development in Santa Ana, CA. His community activities included a stint as a local Rotary Club president. Survivors include his wife, Pia; two daughters; a son; and two grandchildren.
Lawrence A. Landry, AB'58, AM'60, a Chicago native and civil-rights activist who led boycotts against school segregation in the city, died June 2 at his Washington, DC, home. He was 61. The leader of Friends of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee for the Chicago area in 1958, he eventually left the SNCC to found ACT!, a community-based civil-rights group. In 1971, he and his wife founded Associate Consultants, a social-science research and systems-engineering company, focusing on community empowerment and assessing governmental programs' impact on the poor. Landry is survived by his wife, S. Dolores Branche Landry, AM'60; a daughter; and a son.
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