The University of Chicago Magazine

June 1997

DEATHS

FACULTY

Herman H. Fussler, AM'41, PhD'48, director of the U of C libraries for 23 years, died March 1 in Raleigh, NC, at age 82. Fussler, who joined the libraries staff in 1936, helped pioneer the use of photographic reproduction and microfilm. Director from 1948 to 1971, he oversaw the construction of Regenstein Library. He then joined the library-sciences faculty, was named Martin A. Ryerson distinguished service professor in 1974, and retired in 1983. He is survived by a daughter, Lynn Fussler Padgett, AM'69; a sister; and a granddaughter.

Robert W. Jewell, PhD'69, a senior lecturer in education, died March 30 at age 64. The Chicago-area public-schools administrator began teaching at the U of C in 1982. An expert on school law and finance, he was assistant director of the education department's Midwest Administration Center and director of the Laboratory Schools (1989-90). He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; a daughter; a son; a sister; and two grandchildren.

F. Joseph Mullin, SM'32, PhD'36, CLA'51, a member of the faculty from 1939 to 1951, died February 13. He was 90. At the U of C, he was a professor of physiology, dean of students, dean of faculties in the Biological Sciences Division and the School of Medicine, and secretary of the faculties. In 1954 Mullin became president of Shimer College, serving until 1968. He was also the founder and first chair of the National Intern Matching Program. Survivors include his wife, Alma; two sons, Mark and Michael M. Mullin, U-High'53; and six grandchildren.

George Wald, a biologist who shared the 1967 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine for research on how the eye sends images to the brain, died April 12 at his home in Cambridge, MA. He was 90. Wald held a fellowship in the U of C's physiology department (1933-34) before joining the Harvard faculty.

STAFF

Melvin S. Freedman, SB'36, PhD'42, a senior chemist at Argonne National Laboratory, died April 18. The Downers Grove, IL, resident was 81. During his more than 50 years at Argonne, Freedman helped to develop the most accurate instrument ever built for the study of atomic nuclei, helping to refine and resolve numerous problems in nuclear and atomic physics. Freedman was a founding member of the Atomic Scientists of Chicago (now the Federation of Atomic Scientists), a group that advocated successfully for civilian control of nuclear power. Survivors include a sister, Muriel Banks.

Earl K. Hyde, SB'41, PhD'46, a former researcher at Argonne National Laboratory and a deputy director emeritus of the Berkeley Laboratory in California, died March 3 at age 76. The nuclear chemist was a researcher on the Manhattan Project before joining Argonne. He joined the staff of Berkeley Laboratory in 1949, where he remained until retiring in 1987. He is survived by his wife, Jean; two daughters; two sons; two sisters; and three grandchildren.

Felice Barrett Schmidt, PhB'29, of Gig Harbor, WA, died October 2. In the early 1930s she served as secretary to the University's vice-president, Fritz Woodward. Survivors include a daughter, Norma Schmidt Gernon, AB'61, and a grandson, John H. Gernon, AB'85.

1920s

Henry L. Pringle, PhB'20, an entrepreneur, attorney, land developer, and civic activist in Leesburg, FL, died December 15. The Oak Park, IL, native was 98. Survivors include a son, a daughter, and six grandsons.

Clifford H. Harville, MD'24, a retired obstetrician and pediatrician in Warsaw, NY, died March 9 at age 97. A physician in upper New York State for 65 years, he pioneered a blood-transfusion technique to overcome Rh-incompatibility in newborns. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth; two daughters; a brother; a sister; and eight grandchildren.

Carter V. Good, PhD'25, a dean emeritus of the University of Cincinnati's schools of education and home economics, died February 16 at his home in Wyoming, OH. He was 99. The WWI veteran was on Cincinnati's faculty from 1930 until his retirement in 1968 and published more than a dozen textbooks. Survivors include a daughter and five grandchildren.

1930s

Leo C. Rosten, PhB'30, PhD'37, a writer, scholar, and humorist, died February 19 at age 88. Born in Poland in 1908, he came to the U.S. with his family in 1911. During the Depression, he taught night-school English classes to immigrant students, one of whom inspired his humorous Hyman Kaplan stories. Of Rosten's dozens of works of fiction and nonfiction, he is perhaps best known for his 1968 bestseller, The Joys of Yiddish. Among the many magazines to which he contributed was the University of Chicago Magazine.

George E. Fenstermacher, AM'31, a retired professor of music, English, and German at Taylor University in Upland, IN, died earlier this year in Warren, IN. He was 96. The WWI veteran also was dean of men at Taylor from 1922 to 1945. Survivors include his wife, Eloise; a daughter; a son; and nine grandchildren.

Seymour W. Weisberg, SB'32, MD'37, a Chicago physician, died December 19 at age 86. The former internist is survived by his wife, JoAnn; a son; and a daughter.

Edna Burke Cralley, PhB'33, died October 29 in San Diego. Survivors include her brother, Robert O. Burke, AB'38.

Carl E. Geppinger, PhB'33, a retired vice-president of Swift & Company who resided in Lakeland, FL, died February 6 at age 85. He had worked for the Chicago corporation for 42 years and was past president of the National Cheese Institute and the National Butter Institute. He is survived by his wife, Muriel; a son; a daughter; and five grandchildren.

David C. Spaulding, SB'33, PhD'38, a retired research chemist, died January 24 in Concord, NH. He was 83. He worked for B. F. Goodrich in Ohio for 33 years before moving to New Hampshire in 1979. He is survived by a son; a daughter, Barbara J. Spaulding, AM'72; a sister; and a granddaughter.

Charles D. ("Andy") Andersen, PhB'34, AM'35, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a civilian personnel officer in the Veterans Administration, died February 5, 1996, at age 82. Since his retirement in 1972, the WWII veteran had volunteered for the Montgomery County (MD) library system. Survivors include a cousin, George F. Baldwin, SB'41.

Mary Rockwell Dangremond, SB'34, of Tucson, AZ, died March 6, 1996. A former resident of the Chicago area, she had worked for Abbott Laboratories and served on suburban school boards. She is survived by her husband, Gerrit Dangremond, SB'37, MD'38; two sons; two daughters; and nine grandchildren.

Stanton A. Friedberg, MD'34, a professor emeritus and former chair of the otolaryngology and bronchoesophagology department at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, died March 16. He was 89. The WWII veteran and Hyde Park resident was among the Rush alumni instrumental in the school's 1969 reactivation. Survivors include two daughters, two sons, and 11 grandchildren.

Elizabeth McBroom, AM'34, a professor emerita in social work at the University of Southern California, died February 20 at age 87. McBroom was also a Fulbright lecturer at Thammast University in Bangkok and a visiting professor at both Royal Perth Hospital and the Western Australian Institute of Technology. Among survivors are a brother, James T. McBroom, AB'36, AM'39, and two nephews, including Douglas D. McBroom, AB'62, JD'65.

Curtis C. Plopper, AB'34, a retired deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana, died January 9. He was 84. The Gainesville, FL, resident is survived by his wife, Julie; two sons; and two daughters.

Blanche B. Brewer, SB'35, of Pensacola, FL, died January 4 at age 84. She had been active with the USO during WWII and was a member of Zonta International. Survivors include a nephew and two nieces.

Alsy Tittman Travis, PhB'35, an investor living in Concord, CA, for the past 26 years, died February 19 at age 83. The Springfield, IL, native had been an active member of the Concord Art Association. Survivors include her son, Michael R. Travis, AM'86; two daughters; a brother; and six grandchildren.

Carl F. Smucker, AM'37, a professor emeritus in social work at Bluffton College, died February 9 at age 84. A gerontology specialist, he had previously taught at Ohio State. Survivors include his wife, Irene; two sons; a daughter; a brother, Donovan E. Smucker, AM'54, PhD'57; and eight grandchildren.

Alfred H. Court III, AB'38, of D'Iberville, MS, died December 7 at age 80. The retired educator had worked with school systems in Biloxi, MS, and Palatine, IL, as well as at the American School in Paraguay. He is survived by a sister, Alice Mae Court.

Ruth Sager, SB'38, chief of cancer genetics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and a widely respected researcher on the location of genetic material in cells, died March 29 in Brookline, MA. She was 79. A professor of cellular genetics at Harvard Medical School from 1975 to 1988, she had also been on the faculties of Columbia University and Hunter College. In 1994 she was awarded the U of C's Alumni Medal, which recognizes alumni for extraordinary distinction in their field. She is survived by her husband, Arthur Pardee, and two sisters.

Richard P. Metcalf, PhD'39, a retired physicist and chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, died January 31 at age 87. An assistant chemist with the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships during WWII, he joined the Manhattan Project in 1944 and moved to the project's Oak Ridge, TN, site in 1946. There, he later switched to technical writing, which he pursued after retiring in 1974. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; two sons; a daughter; a brother; and two grandchildren.

1940s

Riley H. Pittman, AM'40, former professor and chair of the sociology and anthropology department at Central Missouri State University, died September 21. He was 95. Survivors include his wife, Marion Janet Hayes Pittman, AM'41.

Chester B. Powell, SB'40, MD'43, a retired neurosurgeon, died March 3 in Salt Lake City, UT. He was 78. The WWII veteran is survived by his wife, Lucy; a daughter; a son; a sister; and three grandchildren.

Horace A. Holaday, Jr., X'41, of Exeter, NH, died January 24. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth ("Libby") Schiele Holaday, SB'39; a daughter; three sons; and nine grandchildren.

Joseph O. Young, PhD'41, a retired professor of horticulture and forestry at the University of Nebraska, died February 9 at age 82. He was the founder and first director of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum and was a member of University of Nebraska missions to Colombia and Afghanistan. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy; four daughters; a son; three stepchildren; a brother; and 16 grandchildren.

Richard H. Logsdon, PhD'42, a retired educator and librarian, died February 22 in Great Barrington, MA. He was 84. Starting at Columbia University in 1947, he was director of libraries there from 1953 to 1969, and later was the dean of university libraries for CUNY. Logsdon retired in 1974 as a professor of library science at Queens College. He is survived by three daughters; a son; two brothers; a sister; and 15 grandchildren.

Laura Swartz Abelson, PhB'44, a Chicago philanthropist, died March 16 at age 73. As an administrator with the Morton S. Abelson Foundation for more than 25 years, she supported research to find a cure for arthritis. She is survived by three daughters, a son, and eight grandchildren.

Gwendolyn Sherman Barnett, SB'44, SM'45, of Chicago, died March 11 at age 73. She lived most of her life in Hyde Park and was a longtime volunteer for many community organizations. She is survived by three children and three grandchildren.

Leon Ronnel, AB'45, a retired advertising copywriter, died November 1 in Evanston, IL. He was 78. Survivors include his wife, Trudy; a daughter; a son; and three grandchildren.

Daniel F. Burton, SM'40, PhD'47, of Mankato, MN, died January 15. The botanist was 81. Survivors include his wife, Verona, and a son, John D. Burton, AM'85.

David V. Blagg, AM'47, of Contoocook, NH, died January 5. His degree was in psychiatric social work. The WWII veteran is survived by his wife, Sara; two sons; and a daughter.

James M. Gaither, AM'48, a retired English teacher, died August 24. He was 75. The WWII veteran had taught at Indianapolis high schools until his retirement in 1985. He is survived by his wife, Millie; a daughter; a son; and two grandchildren.

Jules H. Gordon, AB'48, an attorney, died December 14 in Berkeley, CA. He was 70. As a lawyer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1966 to 1979, he was chief negotiator or litigator in several landmark antidiscrimination cases and later lectured widely on workplace bias. He is survived by his wife, Gretchen; two sons; two daughters; a brother; and two grandchildren.

Clarence Marie ("Delia") Kavanagh, AM'48, a nun and retired librarian, died January 22 in Oldenburg, IN. She was 93. She had served as librarian at Marian College in Indianapolis from 1942 to 1976.

Stanley J. Schneider, AM'48, a retired teacher, died April 3 in Evanston, IL. He was 69. From 1972 to 1995, the Korean War veteran taught reading and English as a second language at colleges in New Jersey and Texas and at Chicago's Truman College. He is survived by his wife, June; a son; two daughters; a brother; and five grandchildren.

1950s

Richard H. Glube, MBA'50, a retired associate professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, died January 21. He was a member of Dalhousie's M.B.A. faculty.

Anthony U. Leitner, AB'53, an attorney, died November 4 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 62. He is survived by his brother, Steven Leitner.

Karl E. Limper, PhD'53, a professor emeritus in geology at Miami University of Ohio, died January 28 at age 82. The WWII veteran was a former dean of Miami's liberal arts college and had served as the university's acting provost. He retired in 1981. Survivors include his wife, Louise; a daughter; and two grandchildren.

Lyle A. Patrick, SM'51, PhD'53, a retired physicist with Westinghouse, died December 25. The La Jolla, CA, resident was 82. Survivors include a sister, Phyllis Ferguson.

Frank A. Lasker, MBA'55, a second-generation boilermaker and 23-year president of Lasker Boiler and Engineering, died January 31 at age 79. The decorated WWII veteran lived in Hinsdale, IL. Lasker was president of the Steel Plate Fabricators Association and, from 1981 to 1985, was a gubernatorial appointee to the Illinois Board of Boiler and Vessel Pressure Rules. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; a son; four daughters; and eight grandchildren.

Seymour Cain, PhD'56, a widely published religious historian, died January 25 in La Jolla, CA. He was 82. The WWII veteran edited the religion and philosophy sections of the 15th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and worked with Mortimer Adler on the Synoptican, an analysis of scholars featured in the series The Great Books of the Western World. Known for his 1995 book, Gabriel Marcel's Theory of Religious Experience, Cain was a visiting scholar in the University of California at San Diego's history department. He is survived by his wife, Betty; two stepsons, including Robert V. Binder, AB'74, MBA'79; and a sister, Ethel Caann Curtis, SB'35, X'42.

Isabelle Havens, SM'56, a retired microbiology instructor who taught in Chicago and Pontiac, MI, died December 28 at age 81.

Arlene Kozlowski Sinnott, AB'57, of Rockville, MD, died January 20 of cancer. She was 66. She is survived by her husband, George; two daughters; a son; and two sisters.

Mary C. Megee, PhD'58, a geographer, died November 15 at age 66. The former teacher at Southern Illinois University of East St. Louis returned in 1965 to her hometown of Joplin, MO, where she helped local municipalities obtain infrastructure improvements, especially on water and sewer systems. Survivors include a nephew and a niece. (This corrects information printed in the April/97 issue.--Ed.)

William Postelnek, MBA'59, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force who had retired from the USAF's research and development lab, died March 1 in Hallandale, FL, from injuries suffered in an assault. He was 79. The author of numerous scientific articles and a book, he had done research at the General Electric Space Technology Center in Pennsylvania, and at Singer Kearfott in New Jersey. Survivors include his wife, Helen.

1960s

Barton D. Eaton, AB'61, a trial attorney and writer in White Plains, NY, died March 21 at age 59. In the 1960s, Eaton ghostwrote golf columns for various publications and worked for the Hertz Corporation before becoming an attorney. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army, and he lived in Ireland for three years during the 1970s, writing poetry that was published internationally. Survivors include his wife, Muriel; three daughters; three sons; two brothers; and six sisters.

Morris A. Springer, AM'49, PhD'61, a former French professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago, died January 26 of leukemia. He was 74. The WWII veteran left Roosevelt in 1974, when he moved to Israel to teach at Ben Gurion University. A prolific writer, he served as an opera critic for L'Opéra Internationale and as a theater critic in the 1970s for the Lerner newspapers. Survivors include a daughter, three sons, and seven grandchildren.

Melvin G. Marcus, PhD'63, a geography professor at Arizona State University, died March 2. He was 67. A specialist in alpine and polar geography, the Korean War veteran had previously taught at the University of Michigan. Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann; two sons; two daughters; and three grandchildren.

Doris E. Wheeler, AM'63, a former social worker and administrator, died November 4. She was director of the Evangelical Child & Family Agency in Wheaton, IL, from 1972 until she retired in 1991.

James Russell, AM'46, PhD'66, of Iowa City, IA, formerly an assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, died December 30. He was 71. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy.

Ernest J. Walters, Jr., AM'58, PhD'68, a professor emeritus in political science at Furman University, died January 31 in Greenville, SC. He was 69. The WWII veteran joined the Furman faculty in 1962 and chaired the political science department there from 1979 until he retired in 1984. He is survived by his wife, Terrill; a daughter; and a sister.

correction: William W. Shropshire, MBA'60, is not deceased, as was reported in this department in the Oct.­Dec./96 issue. Please see this issue's 1960 Class News. We regret the error.--Ed.

1990s

John C. Bick, MBA'94, of Barrington Hills, IL, died February 16 at age 91. The former tree farmer received his degree during the 50th anniversary of the GSB's Executive Program. Survivors include a son, two daughters, seven grandchildren, and a sister.

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