The University of Chicago Magazine December 1997

1940-1950's     1940s Harmon H. Bro, AB'41, PhD'55, a psychotherapist, professor, and theologian, died September 13 at the age of 77. Bro and his wife, June, codirected the Pilgrim Institute, an organization for the study of contemporary spirituality practices. In the 1950s and 1960s, he led dream workshops that helped spread the practice of Jungian psychotherapy in the Chicago area. The author of eight books on religion, mysticism, and spirituality, he served as associate pastor of Park Ridge Community Church in the early 1980s. Among survivors are his wife; four daughters; a son; two brothers, including Andrew H. Bro, DB'57; a sister; and five grandchildren. Joseph Hamburger, AB'42, PhD'56, the Pelatiah Perit professor emeritus of political and social science at Yale University, died August 28 at age 75. An authority on 19th-century British intellectual history and political theory, he wrote many books and articles, including a revisionist interpretation of John Stuart Mills' On Liberty, to be published in 1998. Hamburger joined the Yale faculty in 1957, retiring in 1992. He is survived by his wife, Lotte; a daughter; two sons; and two grandchildren. William S. O'Leary, Jr., AB'42, a retired printing executive who worked for Cuneo Press and World Color Press, died July 13 at the age of 77. He is survived by eight children, including Gregory J. O'Leary, MBA'93, and 18 grandchildren. Betty Debs Sobel, AB'42, proprietor of the Print Mint Galleries in Wilmette, IL, and Bridgewater, VT, died August 26. She was 76. Sobel was a former president of the Women's Architectural League and the Chicago Community Music Foundation. She is survived by her husband, Walter; five children, including Nancy B. Sobel, PhD'82, MD'84; and five grandchildren. George L. Wiberg, SB'44, of Faribault, MN, died July 25. He was 74. Wiberg worked for 13 years as a comptroller and personnel manager at Mercury Minnesota. Previously, he spent 27 years as comptroller and vice president of Farmer Seed and Nursery in Faribault. A past president of the Minnesota Nurserymen's Association, he is survived by his wife, Ruth; four daughters; and six grandchildren. Charlotte Barker Lackner, AB'45, a former mental-health administrator, died September 14 at age 73. A civil rights activist, she co-chaired a committee on race at Hyde Park's First Unitarian Church. She is survived by a daughter, a son, a brother, and a grandson. Harold L. Sheppard, AM'45, a professor of gerontology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, died July 10 at the age of 75. The Clearwater, FL, resident wrote several books about the aging of America, particularly its effects on the workplace; worked with labor unions and private groups on age issues; and served as the White House counselor on aging for the Carter administration. Sheppard is survived by his companion, Lisl Schick; a son; a daughter; a brother; and a sister. William M. Cunnea, PhB'46, SM'55, a professor emeritus of mathematics at Washington State University, died on December 27, 1996. Cunnea joined the university's faculty in 1961 and retired in 1992. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth. 1950s Harris L. Dante, PhD'50, a professor emeritus of history and education at Kent State University, died August 7. He was 85. Dante chaired the Kent State faculty senate during the university's troubled months surrounding 1970s anti-war protests. He was the first president of the Ohio Council for Social Studies and also served as president of the National Council for Social Studies. Among survivors are his wife, Margaret; a son, John H. Dante, AM'71; two daughters, including Nancy Dante Bennison, MAT'70; and seven grandchildren. Dorothy Davis, AM'50, a social worker, died September 6. She was 85. Davis lived in San Francisco, where she worked at the Langley Porter Neuropsychological Institute, the Mission Neighborhood Centers, and Self Help for the Elderly. A lifelong feminist, pacifist, conservationist, gardener, and reader, Davis is survived by her brother, Wilbur. Robert D. Little, PhD'50, a retired history professor, died in January at the age of 88. A Depression-era analyst for the Alabama Writer's Project, he served in WWII before returning to graduate school. He then worked for 14 years as a military historian and analyst for the Defense Department. Little also taught history at Georgia Tech, the University of Texas, the University of Chattanooga, Augusta College, and Western Carolina University. An accomplished tennis player, he played in the U.S. Open as a young man, and resumed tournament play in retirement. Survivors include his wife, Ruby; two daughters; and two grandchildren. Robert P. Reuss, MBA'50, a former telecommunications executive, died on August 12. He was 79. Reuss worked for Illinois Bell and AT&T before becoming president and CEO of Centel Corporation. Under his leadership, Centel became the first telephone company to offer customers the chance to buy, rather than lease, telephone equipment. He also moved Centel-which merged with Sprint five years after Reuss retired in 1988-into the cable television business. Survivors include his wife, Grace; a son; a daughter; three stepdaughters; five grandchildren; and three siblings. A. Keith Williams, AM'50, died March 30 at age 69. After studies at the American University of Beirut, he worked as a petroleum affairs expert and a linguist. During his 25 years abroad in Damascus, Benghazi, Tunis, Casablanca, and Beirut, he published extensively on the Middle East. The WWII veteran is survived by his wife, Madeline Grove Williams, PhB'48, and two sons. George C. Rogers Jr., AM'48, PhD'53, a former professor and department chair in history at the University of South Carolina, died October 7 at the age of 75. Among his publications was The History of Georgetown County (1970), which became a national model for county histories. Elected to South Carolina's literary hall of fame, he received the Algernon Sidney Sullivan award at USC, where he retired as history chair in 1986. He is survived by his sister, a niece, and a nephew. Colin M. Littlejohn, SM'57, a retired children's dentist, died March 15. He was 70. The Auckland, New Zealand, resident is survived by his wife, Judith. Frederick I. Kuhns, PhD'47, AM'59, a retired librarian, academician, and Lutheran minister, died July 4 in Billings, MT. He was 94. Kuhns wrote several books on religion and the history of the northwestern states. Among other jobs, Kuhns served as chapel dean and library director at Rocky Mountain College in Billings. He also helped to design a new library building at Ohio Northern University, where he was a professor and librarian. Kuhns is survived by his daughter, Dolores Z. Taylor. Class News - Deaths - Table of Contents - Top of Page - Email Us