Paul Snyder ’40An economics major at Swarthmore, Paul died May 15, 2020. The son of two Swarthmore alumni, Paul was also one-half of a Quaker matchbox marriage to Margaret Whiteman Snyder ’41, who died in 2008.
Ernest Courant ’40, H’88Ernest, a distinguished scientist known as the “father of modern particle accelerators,” died April 21, 2020. After receiving a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Rochester, Ernest worked on nuclear physics at the Montreal Laboratory, part of the Manhattan Project. He spent most of his career at Brookhaven Lab, during which he was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award, given by the U.S. government in recognition of lifetime scientific achievement. Read more.
Priscilla DuMond Grout ’44A homemaker who returned to school after her children had grown, Priscilla died April 11, 2020. Priscilla earned a teaching certificate and a master’s in parks and recreation from Penn State. She was also very involved in her church, serving as director of the Family History Center. Read more.
Polly Penman McClure ’45Polly, a nurse, church elder, and volunteer, died May 17, 2020. A psychology major at Swarthmore, Polly went on to receive a master’s in nursing from Yale, where she met her husband. She had been a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, Pa., since 1950, and she gave her time to numerous charitable organizations. Read more.
Karl Hinrichs ’45Karl, an engineering major at Swarthmore, died Oct. 3, 2018. A father of four, Karl received a master’s in electrical engineering from Harvard and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Read more.
Jane Matthias Berryman ’45Jane, a mother of four, died Sept. 1, 2019. A retired assistant advertising director, Jane also attended the University of Wisconsin, Menasha.
Edith Brooks Allison ’45A longtime biology professor at New England College, Edith died March 29, 2020. A nature lover who visited every U.S. state and all seven continents, Edith held her own in a male-dominated profession and left a lasting impact on her many students. “On the last days of the semester,” according to her obituary, “students could look forward to her bringing in her guitar, and — tapping her encyclopedic memory for songs — she would sing a song about any species of animal that the students could name. The ‘Amoeba Hop’ and ‘Froggie Went a Courtin’’ were two of her favorites.” Read more.
Dorothy Ace Roberts ’45Dorothy, a registered nurse, died Nov. 14, 2016. Dorothy ultimately received her registered nurse’s degree from the Jefferson Medical College Hospital of Nursing in Philadelphia and her bachelor’s from Our Lady of Angels College (now Neumann University) in Aston, Pa. Dorothy retired in 1988 and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Read more.
Warner Love ’46Warner, a World War II ambulance driver, died June 20, 2017. After his military service in North Africa and Italy interrupted his education, he returned to Swarthmore to finish his degree and went on to earn a physiology doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. He became an associate professor of biophysics at Johns Hopkins, studying the structure of large proteins with a focus on hemoglobin; his lab produced many doctoral degrees and research papers. Read more.
Mary Hartwell Brown ’46 A teacher and a woman of faith, Mary died March 6, 2020. Mary began her studies at Swarthmore and graduated from New York University’s School of Education. She taught elementary school in Connecticut, Venezuela, and Ohio, and was later ordained to the permanent diaconate at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Pittsburgh, serving churches in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Maryland. Read more.
Edward Page ’46Edward, a marketer who graduated from Swarthmore Phi Beta Kappa as part of the officers’ training program, died June 22, 2020. Ed attended Northwestern for graduate school in physics then began a long career in marketing, working primarily at Proctor & Gamble before starting the company Scott-Page. After retirement, Ed was an active leader of Business Executives for National Security, the Center for Positive Living, and the Sarasota (Fla.) Bay Club. Read more.
Ward Peterson Jr. ’47Ward, a pioneer virologist who worked with the Salk polio and other vaccine trials, died April 6, 2020. A Navy veteran of World War II, Ward finished his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan then earned a virology doctorate from UM’s School of Public Health. He spent 30 years at the Cell Culture Laboratory of the Child Research Center, and he was very involved in his own children’s participation in sports, including building a backyard skating rink for his kids and neighbors to enjoy. Read more.
Patricia Sevringhaus Melgard ’47Patricia, an early childhood educator who co-founded an interracial preschool in 1968, died March 16, 2020. Pat finished her bachelor’s at the University of Wisconsin then received her master’s from the Bank Street College of Education. A member of a “Life Review” writing group for 20 years and proponent of older women’s rights, Pat was proudest of co-founding Seattle’s Central Branch Preschool to address racism and the rise of separatism. Read more.
Alan Rossbach ’47Alan, who had a seat on the American Stock Exchange for 45 years, died June 20, 2020. Alan served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. A political science major at Swarthmore, Alan loved books, politics, and following the market. Read more.
Nancy Burnholz Rawson ’48Nancy, a reference librarian and proponent of lifelong learning, died April 19, 2020. Nancy was a computer programmer until the late 1960s, when her love of books led her to pursue a library science degree at Simmons College. After retiring in 1996 from the Wellesley (Mass.) Free Library, she helped to found Brandeis University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, where she taught courses on mystery novels well into her 80s. Read more.
Laura Johnson Townes ’48 Laura, a Quaker with a strong commitment to serve the community, died Feb. 11, 2020. An English literature major, Laura worked as an elementary teaching assistant and later as an administrative assistant at a human services organization. She was a founding member of the Quaker meeting in Greenville, S.C.; past president of the local League of Women Voters; an original member of the Travelers Rest (S.C.) Al-Anon; and a volunteer for the Travelers Rest Historical Society. Read more.
Joan Poynton Fleming ’48Joan, a writer, editor, teacher, and real estate agent, died June 19, 2020. Joan worked for Today’s Woman Magazine before earning a master’s in education and teaching remedial reading in Niagara Falls, N.Y., public schools. She later became a real estate broker and owner of Ellis Brothers Real Estate in Springville, N.Y., which she sold when she retired. Read more.
Edward Neuburg ’48Edward, a Navy veteran and expert in computer speech recognition, died May 23, 2020. After serving in World War II, Edward graduated with a bachelor’s in mathematics, earned a master’s from the University of Chicago; he was working on a doctorate when he was called to serve in the Korean War. He became a cryptanalyst and computer programmer at what became the National Security Agency, received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award, and retired in 1988. Read more.
Sara-Page Merritt White ’49A loving, resourceful mother and devoted volunteer, Sara-Page died April 2, 2020. Raising a family in Media, Pa., Sara-Page immersed herself in motherhood, serving as a Girl Scout leader and as an aide in school libraries. When her children were older, she worked in Swarthmore’s Admissions Office and Economics Department, while also volunteering for Scott Arboretum and as a class secretary for many years. Read more.
Robert Forster ’49Robert, a longtime history professor at Johns Hopkins University, died May 13, 2020. An expert on 18th- and 19th-century French history, Bob credited Swarthmore Professor Paul Beik as his first important mentor. Writes son Marc ’81: “My father loved to return to campus, for reunions, to visit first me in the late 1970s and then his granddaughter Sara ’11. Sara married Max Wilson ’10 in the Amphitheater in August 2019, and, of course, he was there to celebrate with them and many other Swarthmoreans.”
Rachel Thies Hare-Mustin ’49Rachel, a clinical psychologist and advocate for women’s rights and racial justice, died May 25, 2020. Rachel held faculty positions at Villanova University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. A highly regarded feminist thinker and a prolific scholar, Rachel wrote with mischievous humor about weighty subjects — ethical obligations of psychotherapists, gender relations in families, and gender biases in the mental health professions. Read more.
Joel Siner ’49Joel, a doctor who practiced internal medicine for more than 40 years, died May 20, 2020. Joel received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Working at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass., Joel served as the hospital’s president and as a member of its Board of Trustees., and from 1996 to 2009, he was a member of the Institutional Review Board at Harvard University. Read more.
Forrest Compton ’49Forrest Compton, an actor best known for his role on Gomer Pyle, USMC, died April 4, 2020. An Army veteran of World War II, Forrest earned a master of fine arts from the Yale School of Drama, then moved to L.A. to pursue an acting career. He portrayed Lt. Col. Edward Gray, the base commander, in more than 40 episodes of Gomer Pyle, and also made appearances in Hogan’s Heroes, The Twilight Zone, and My Three Sons. Read more.
Corinne Edwards Greenwald ’49Corinne, a creative writer/editor who enjoyed sailing, bicycling, and needlework, among other activities, died May 6, 2020 A history major at Swarthmore, “Win” was a reporter and editor for many years at the Bureau of National Affairs. In retirement, she served as a board member and president of the Jewish Council for the Aging, while staying active in the choir and sisterhood at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Va. Read more.
William Tietz ’50William, president emeritus of Montana State University, died June 10, 2020. Bill served as president of MSU from 1977 to 1990, supporting innovation in education, pushing for programs to welcome more Native American students, and promoting research. He launched the university’s Tech Park as an incubator to turn university research into commercial enterprises and to boost Montana’s then-depressed economy, and last spring he received an honorary doctorate, MSU’s highest honor. Read more.
Richard Esrey ’50Richard, a telephone-industry manager with a passion for sports, died March 15, 2020. Dick began his career with Ohio Bell before transferring to AT&T, where he chaired the task force that brought “1-800” services to the communications industry. A three-sport star athlete at Swarthmore, Dick later officiated intercollegiate football, coached Little League, and was inducted into the an inaugural class of the Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame. Read more.
Kenneth Rawson ’50Kenneth, a Swarthmore biology professor and devoted Friend who called his family members “thee” in the Quaker way, died March 12, 2020. With a Ph.D. from Harvard, Ken joined Swarthmore’s faculty in 1959; among his research topics were circadian rhythms, honeybee communication, and bird flight mechanics. In retirement, Ken restored houses and repaired mechanical clocks in his beloved Swarthmore Borough. Read more.
Janet Dunn MacKenzie ’50Janet, a special ed teacher and social activist greatly influenced by her wide travels, died Feb. 16, 2020. While raising a family in Littleton, Colo., Jan founded a bilingual French-English preschool, hosted exchange students from Switzerland and Mexico, and encouraged her children to have formative experiences in other countries. She served on the board of the League of Women Voters, volunteered for the American Friends Service Committee, and, with her husband, endowed a scholarship for graduate students from the Middle East at the University of Denver. Read more.
Frederick Neal ’50Frederick, a Korean War veteran, high school teacher, and archivist, died Jan. 10, 2020. After completing his undergraduate degree at Mount Allison University, Fred pursued historical research at the University of New Brunswick in Canada before training to become a teacher. He was known for his lifelong service to others, and enjoyed sailing, tennis, jigsaw puzzles, and bridge. Read more.
Gerald Rosen ’51 A foreign service officer whose duties led him to learn Urdo and French, Gerald died Feb. 26, 2018. After Swarthmore, Gerald spent two years as a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant before receiving an M.A. in international law and economics from Tufts University and a law degree from George Washington University. He spent 44 years with the U.S. Department of State, spending time in Paris, Pakistan, the Philippines, Jamaica, and Estonia.
Philip Brandt ’52A professor emeritus in Columbia University’s Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Philip died Feb. 17, 2020. Philip earned an anatomy and biophysics Ph.D. from Columbia in 1960 and remained at the university for his entire 50-year career. He was an internationally known scientist in muscle biophysics, mentored graduate students, and published more than 80 papers in distinguished journals. Read more.
Mary Alzina Stone Dale ’52Mary, known as MaryAl to friends and family and as Alzina Stone Dale to her fiction readers, died June 5, 2020. MaryAl received her master’s in literature and theology from the University of Chicago in 1957. In addition to her writing, MaryAl taught the history of mysteries at the Newberry Library and workshops on family history for Urban Gateways, both in Chicago. Read more.
Joan Berkowitz ’52Joan, a noted environmental chemist and former member of Swarthmore’s Board of Managers, died Jan. 22, 2020. After graduating with high honors from Swarthmore, Joan earned a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, completing postdoctoral work at Yale. She spent 30 years at the technology consulting firm of Arthur D. Little, where she conducted research on high-temperature materials that were used in helping NASA develop its spacecraft. In 1986, she co-founded Farkas Berkowitz and Co., assisting companies in the environmental sector with strategic planning, profitability improvement, and commercialization of technology.
Wilbur Breckenridge Jr. ’53Wilbur, an investor and programmer of computers (before most people knew what computers were), died May 24, 2019. “He went by many names and had many passions,” Will’s loved ones wrote. “Eating dessert first. Teaching investing to those who would listen. A perfectly manicured lawn. Piggyback rides. We will miss these things that made him unique. We will miss him!”
Arthur Beach ’53Arthur, who worked for 36 years as an editor with Chemical Abstracts Service, died March 7, 2020. Additionally, Art spent many years as an accountant for private clients and at Universal Tax Service. A Scoutmaster and proud Eagle Scout, Art was also an avid bridge player, a devoted golfer, and a researcher of Ohio history and family genealogy. Read more.
Bruce Scott ’54Bruce Scott, Harvard Business School’s Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, died March 21, 2020. Bruce joined Harvard’s faculty in 1963 and focused primarily on the interaction between public policy and business behavior. He was instrumental in developing the multidisciplinary Business, Government and the International Economy course, which teaches students about the economic, political, social, and legal environment in which business operates; and he developed the notion of “national strategy” to describe how a government influences the mobilization and allocation of the resources of a society to enhance its prospects for growth and development. Read more.
Philip Osborne ’55Philip, a nationally renowned tax attorney and accomplished photographer, died April 16, 2020. Philip attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania, serving as an editor of the Law Review, and built a career in tax law, representing primarily family-held businesses. A lifelong lover of the arts, Philip enjoyed photographing “places you might pass by or through to get to where you want to be,” including shopping malls, commercial roadsides, parking lots, and gas stations. Read more.
Lawrence Handley ’55Lawrence, an engineer who loved fine wine and classical music, died Feb. 16, 2020. Larry earned a master’s from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while starting a 37-year career at United Technologies. In retirement, he joined the board of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, serving as president for nine years. Read more.
Josephine Black Pesaresi ’55Josephine, a social worker who had a warm spirit and sense of fun, died May 23, 2019. A psychology major at Swarthmore, Josephine was the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, who spoke at her graduation Read more.
John Clendenin ’55John, a telephone executive who served on the boards of many national corporations, died Feb. 25, 2020. John finished his bachelor’s at Northwestern University then served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command before beginning his telephone career; he rose to become president and CEO of Bellsouth Corp., serving from 1984 to 1996. John was a member of numerous corporate boards, including Home Depot, Kroger, Coca-Cola, and Equifax, and was past chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Alliance of Business. Read more.
Stanford Sutton Jr. ’56A minister who loved music, travel, and the arts, Stanford died April 22, 2020. After Swarthmore, Stan attended Columbia International University, Wheaton College, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary before being ordained a minister by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1965. With an irrepressible sense of humor and wit, he served congregations in Kansas, Ohio, South Dakota, Maine, and New Jersey, and taught as a professor at New York School of the Bible in Manhattan. Read more.
Sallie Yarbrough Rejali ’56Sallie, an English major and beloved family matriarch, died March 7, 2020. Writes son Darius ’81: “My mother loved mountains … but she especially loved the Caspian, where the mountains met the sea. And our second home in Málaga [Spain] always brought her back to what she loved most, where the mountains met the sea. ... I am and will always be Sallie’s child. I will always be wild like she is. She was.”
Peter Svirsky ’56Peter, a city planner with a lifelong sense of civic duty, died June 3, 2020. After graduating from Yale Law, Peter began his career revising city codes for New Haven, Conn., before joining the San Francisco Planning Department. He oversaw such important projects as the placement of Bay Area Rapid Transit under Market Street, while also devoting his time and resources to his family and community.
Alan Robinson ’56A nuclear engineer and ham radio enthusiast, Alan died April 23, 2020. After serving in the Marines and attaining the rank of captain, Alan earned a nuclear engineering Ph.D. from Stanford University, with the goal of transitioning away from coal burning. Shortly after, he joined the faculty of Oregon State University, helping shape the Health Physics and Nuclear Engineering programs and chairing the department for almost a decade. He was a member of the Benton County (Ore.) Amateur Radio Emergency Service and a volunteer crime analyst for his local police department. Read more.
Samuel Criswell ’57Samuel, one of the first physicians in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley to be boarded in geriatrics, died March 29, 2020. An engineering major at Swarthmore, Samuel graduated from Temple Medical School and spent most of his career in private practice and as a nursing home physician. He was a former board member of Meals On Wheels and the Visiting Nurse Association of Allentown/Lehigh Valley, and he enjoyed singing in the choirs of First Presbyterian Church, Allentown, and Summer Harmony Men’s Chorus. Read more.
Daniel Bell ’57 Daniel, a standout athlete in track and football and a longtime executive at Wyeth International, died April 22, 2020. Turning down an invitation to try out for the Green Bay Packers, Dan joined the U.S. Army and subsequently pursued a successful business career. At Wyeth, Dan led the construction of the largest pharma plant in Europe as well as company negotiations for important partnerships with foreign governments. He enjoyed fishing in Key West, Fla., and Australia, collecting vehicles and antiques, boat racing, motorcycling, and many other pursuits. Read more.
Beverly Bruhn Major ’57 Beverly, a librarian, church deacon, and dedicated citizen, died Feb. 5, 2020. With a master’s in education from Antioch University, Beverly ran her town’s first kindergarten in her home and was a long-term member of the Westminster, Vt., school board. She led her county’s Democratic committee for many years, served as a Vermont delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, and ran for state senate in the early ’90s, driving the family’s blue pickup with a big “Bev Major for Senate” sign in the bed. Read more.
Roland Kenschaft ’58A successful electrical engineer, Roland died in August 2019. A physics major at Swarthmore, “Ken” went on to receive an engineering Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Eric Sharpless ’58Eric, a Marines veteran and engineer, died April 17, 2020. Eric enlisted in the Marine Corps as a Swarthmore student, receiving an engineering degree after his discharge. He worked for Sharpless Centrifuge, Hunter Spring Corp., Allen Tool, and Universal Process Equipment, always making time for stamp collecting and playing trombone. Read more.
Barbara Nelson Curry ’58Barbara, an advocate for disabled children, died May 15, 2020. With a master’s of social work from Columbia University, Barbara worked for more than 35 years in service placement and coordination for families with disabled children. After retiring in 2000, Barbara volunteered with the Sunshine Hall Free Library in Eldred, N.Y., and the Eagle Institute (Delaware Highlands Conservancy) in Lackawaxen, Pa.
Penelope Carlisle ’59Penelope, a nurse who lived life to the fullest, died March 25, 2020. Penny left Swarthmore after two years and later became a candy striper in Burlington, Vt. She graduated top of her class in nursing school while caring for her first two children, then launched a 30-year career with rounds in the ICU, infection control, and clinical research. “Her grandchildren (and many of their friends) will miss Grandma Penny’s cool and worldly advice,” her loved ones write, “oftentimes served with a side of her amazing macaroni and cheese.” Read more.
William Robinson III ’60William, a Navy veteran who spent 25 years in sales and sales management at IBM, died April 9, 2020. A lacrosse and football player at Swarthmore, Bill majored in history and started at IBM the Monday after graduation. An avid reader and follower of politics, he enjoyed gourmet cooking, skiing, and backpacking, and spent many years volunteering for the Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue group. Read more.
Terry Whitehand ’60Terry, a longtime educator, died March 26, 2020. A history major at Swarthmore, Terry served as a teacher and principal at schools in Australia.
Detmar Finke ’60Detmar, a professor and lover of jazz and early country, died May 17, 2020. Detmar did his graduate study in English, specializing in American literature, at the University of Washington, then taught at UW, the University of Michigan, Western Wyoming College, and Kirtland Community College in Michigan. He read mysteries and poetry, worked with electronics, and devoted countless hours to not improving his golf game. Read more.
David Denhardt ’60Dave, a molecular and cellular biologist, died June 27, 2020. A chemistry major at Swarthmore, Dave earned his doctorate in biophysics from Caltech. His passion was for a better understanding of the fundamentals of human biology through cellular and molecular biology, and genetics, which he believed would aid in the fight against diseases like cancer. Among his proudest accomplishments was his study of the osteopontin gene, discovered by his team at Western University in Ontario. Read more.
Joanna Meigs Fried ’61Joanna, an early childhood educator who loved reading and writing, died Feb. 10, 2020. A New York City native, Joanna majored in English literature at Swarthmore and received a master’s in education from Yeshiva University. She was the first licensed home day-care provider in the Albany, N.Y., area, and she also taught for many years at the Temple Israel Early Childhood Center. Read more.
Hans Stoll ’61Hans, the Anne Marie and Thomas B. Walker Professor of Finance, emeritus, at Vanderbilt University, died March 20, 2020. After receiving an MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Hans served on the faculty of Penn’s Wharton School before joining Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management. He was best known for developing and testing the put-call parity relation for option prices; modeling and testing the behavior of securities markets dealers; his work on program trading and the “triple witching hour”; and his work on the sources and components of the bid-ask spread. Read more.
Robert Rescorla ’62Robert, the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, died March 24, 2020. A distinguished scholar of the psychology of animal learning, Bob received his Ph.D. from Penn, where he researched Pavlovian conditioning. He spent 15 years on the faculty at Yale before joining Penn, where he served as chair of psychology from 1985 to 1988 and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1994 to 1997. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1985 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008. Read more.
Kenneth Mehan ’62Kenneth, an Army veteran and former procurement specialist for Boeing, died May 12, 2020. A high school wrestler, Ken earned an athletic scholarship to Swarthmore and graduated with a degree in economics; after college, he traveled and took a summer job to build Minuteman missile silos. He earned an MBA from the University of Washington before joining Boeing, where he worked on such programs as the lunar rover vehicle and cruise missiles. Read more.
Nancy Hall Colburn Farrell ’63Nancy, a biochemist who influenced the field of cancer prevention, died March 16, 2020. Nancy received a biochemistry Ph.D. from the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin, and taught at universities before beginning a 36-year career at the National Cancer Institute. She considered her greatest accomplishments to be the discovery and validation of two new molecular targets for cancer prevention: tumor-suppressing translation inhibitor Pdcd4 and oncogenic transcription factor AP-1. Read more.
Nadine Taub ’64Nadine, founder of the Rutgers Women’s Rights Clinic (WRC), died June 16, 2020. A professor emerita, Nadine founded the WRC as part of women’s rights advocacy as conceptualized by then-Rutgers Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She spearheaded work with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on domestic violence and was co-author of books and treatises on women’s rights and gender discrimination. Read more.
Ronald Lowy ’65Ronald, who graduated with honors from Swarthmore as a history major, died April 10, 2020. Ronald grew up in St. Louis, graduating from Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School. He later spent a year at Columbia University School of Law. Read more.
Peter Heisen ’65 Peter, a doctor who followed in his father’s footsteps, died Feb. 23, 2020. A mathematics major at Swarthmore, Peter attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, after which he took over his father’s medical practice based at Mercer Hospital in Trenton, N.J. For the past 12 years, Peter — a great problem solver and decision maker — had been in the education software business with his son. Read more.
David Avila ’69A clinical social worker, David died May 29, 2020. David served in the Army as a conscientious objector from 1970 to 1972, and earned a master’s in social work from the University of Connecticut in 1977. He worked at Norwalk (Conn.) Hospital and with Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism in Danbury, and also had a private practice in Westport for many years. Read more.
Sarah Gregory Smith ’70 Sarah, a teacher and social worker who lost her sight but not her vision, died Feb. 3, 2020. A biology major at Swarthmore, Sarah initially planned to attend medical school before turning to teaching, earning a master’s in education from Lesley College. When diabetes took her eyesight at age 30, Sarah earned a master’s in social work, graduating top of her class from what was then Salem State College. She sang and played clarinet, called contra dances, and, with her guide dog, walked from Boston to New York City to raise awareness of visual disabilities. Read more.
William Evans ’71William, who was certified in internal medicine and nephrology, died April 29, 2020. William graduated from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, completed his residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and was a nephrology fellow at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Among his work, William was CEO and/or director at a number of medical centers and hospitals; responsible for quality assurance, utilization review, and precertification of patient care; and a lecturer at Chicago Medical School. Read more.
Marcia Murakami ’72Marcia, a radiologist with expertise in abdominal and breast imaging, died March 7, 2020. A graduate of Chicago Medical School, Marcia spent 12 years at the University of Florida, Jacksonville, before joining the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville as a consultant and assistant professor of radiology. She was an avid international traveler and explorer, and she enjoyed cooking and dining with her family. Read more.
Richard Menghetti ’73Richard, a diagnostic neuroradiologist who “lived his life with purpose and integrity,” died April 27, 2020. An Eagles fan who enjoyed sappy movies and sci-fi, Rich was “warm, down-to-earth, kind, and intelligent,” his loved ones wrote. “He taught his children to be curious about everything and be constant students of life.” Read more.
Priscilla Chatman ’75Priscilla, who loved working with young people, died Aug. 30, 2019. Priscilla was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and past chair of Emerging Young Leaders. She was also an active member and vice president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Carats, a national organization of women dedicated to community service and charitable giving. Read more.
Robert Neufeld ’76Robert, a columnist for the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen Times, died Oct. 20, 2019. A New York City native, Rob embraced the western North Carolina mountains as his home soon after earning a master of library science from Columbia. He became a highly respected local historian and won numerous awards for his research and writing, including for his “Visiting Our Past” column. Read more.
Stephen Guin ’78A retired engineering and construction management consultant, Stephen died April 25, 2020. An engineering major at Swarthmore, Stephen earned a master’s in construction engineering and management from Stanford University. He had a long professional career as a consultant in engineering, construction and project management, real estate development, and construction finance in California, Florida, and Louisiana. He concluded his career leading Capital One Bank’s construction loan engineering in New Orleans.
MacFarlane Hoffman ’80MacFarlane, a real estate agent in the Philadelphia area, died March 6, 2020. A philosophy major at Swarthmore, MacFarlane received a law degree from Widener University and a master of library science from Drexel University. He enjoyed gardening and visiting Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pa. Read more.
Barbara Gandek ’80An expert in the field of health care outcomes measurement science, Barbara died March 4, 2020. With an M.S. in health policy and management from Harvard and a Ph.D. in clinical and population research from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Barbara was instrumental in the development of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, a questionnaire used in multinational clinical studies. She most recently served as director of research for the John Ware Research Group, as an assistant professor at UMass’s medical school, and as an instructor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Read more.
Anick Jesdanun ’91Anick, a technology editor for the Associated Press, died April 2, 2020. As the first AP staffer to be given the byline of “internet writer” 20 years ago, “Nick” assisted readers in making sense of the web and its widespread impact. He ran marathons on every continent, including Antarctica, and in 2019, he watched 365 movies, most of them in theaters. Read more.
Michael Evans ’03Michael, who rose to become president of New York’s Moynihan Station Development Corp., died March 17, 2020. Michael attended Swarthmore on a wrestling scholarship before transferring to the University of Sydney in Australia. After earning a master’s in international relations from the University of Oxford, Michael found his niche in state government, dedicating himself to the Moynihan Station project. Read more.
Yukio Okamoto SPYukio, a diplomatic analyst and adviser to Japanese prime ministers, died April 24, 2020. In his two decades as a Foreign Ministry official, Yukio was posted at Paris, Cairo, and Washington, D.C., before founding the political and economic consultancy Okamoto Associates Inc. He also taught at Ritsumeikan University in Japan and was a senior research fellow at MIT’s Center for International Studies. Read more.
George Beigel NVA World War II veteran and longtime engineer in Westinghouse’s aerospace division, George died April 13, 2020. George attended Harvard and Swarthmore before graduating from Johns Hopkins with an engineering degree. In addition to enjoying golf and bridge, he was an avid traveler, a fervent fan of the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, and a member of the American Legion. Read more.