Faculty and Staff
Rodney R. Beard, ’32 (zoology), MD ’38, of Stanford, July 12, at 93, of congestive heart failure. After an internship in the Panama Canal Zone, he earned a master’s in public health from Harvard. He worked as a flight surgeon for Pan American Airlines when it ran flying boat services from Treasure Island to atolls in the Pacific. From 1949 to 1970, he was chairman of the department of public health and preventive medicine at the School of Medicine. Appointed to the technical advisory committee of the California Air Resources Board, he helped draft the first air-quality standards adopted in the United States. His wife of 60 years, Marion Harper Beard, ’33, died in 1999. Survivors: four children, Julie Spickler, ’62, MA ’65; Philip, ’65, MA ’66, PhD ’71; Marian Wehmeier, ’67, and Edin Draper-Beard, ’71; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Joseph Jedd, of Los Altos, Calif., July 31, at 86. A veteran of the Polish Army and the French Underground in World War II, he came to the United States in 1948. Starting in 1960 as an accountant, he rose to become the University’s bursar and an administrator known for the tact he used in solving the problems of the financially delinquent. He was an advocate for the Bay Area Polish community and servRed two terms as president of the Polish American Congress. Survivors: his wife of 59 years, Maria; two children, Maya Daly and Gregory, ’86; and a sister.
Betty Elizabeth Scott, of Menlo Park, August 6, at 78. She was an executive secretary for 13 years in the registrar’s office at the School of Law and, later, manager of the computer science department. She showed beagles. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
1920s
Muriel Stewart Hanson, ’24 (biological sciences), Engr. ’26, of Auburn, Calif., April 23, at 104. She worked as a registered nurse at Highland General Hospital from 1951 to 1966. Following her retirement, she was active with the Volunteer Bureau in Auburn. Her husband of 62 years, Frederic, died in 1988. She was predeceased by her son, Eric, and one grandson. Survivors: her daughter, Karen Bye; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
John Erick “Johnny” Mack, ’26 (undergraduate law), of Pasadena, Calif., at 101. He lettered in water polo and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi. After graduation, he returned to his family’s coffee plantation in Guatemala as a junior partner. He married Helen Annable in 1931, and they lived in Pasadena and Guatemala as he became managing partner of the coffee business, which became the nation’s largest at more than 4 million pounds a year. He sold the business in 1966. He was predeceased by his wife; his sister, Adelaide; his brother, Charles,
’27; and a son, Peter Hawley Mack, ’57. Survivors include two children, John Erick Jr., ’55, MS ’59, and Laurie McBride, ’61; and several grandchildren, including John Erick III, ’81.
Stanley L. Burchell, ’27 (economics), of Reno, Nev., July 2, at 100. He was a member of Theta Chi and worked as an automobile dealer in Salinas, Calif. His wife, Lenor (Knoles, ’33), predeceased him. Survivors: two daughters, Carolyn Batcabe, ’61, and Sandra; four grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Dorothy Cone Moore, ’28 (political science), of Carmel, Calif., July 18, at 97. A member of Kappa Alpha Theta and a Block S recipient, she lived in Manila, Philippines, and Honolulu with her husband, Francis “Link” Moore, ’27, who worked for Bank of America. She was a former president of the Garden Club of Honolulu in 1967 and a member of Casa Abrego in Monterey, Calif. She was predeceased by her first husband, Robert Vermilya, ’28, and by Moore. Survivors: three children, Peggy Lewis, ’49, Kathy Cusick, ’51, and James, ’75, MS ’75; 14 grandchildren, including Carol Lewis, ’72, and Anne Cusick, ’77, and 19 great-grandchildren.
1930s
Bruce Shorts, ’31 (economics), of Seattle, March 8, at 95, of cancer. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he earned a JD from the U. of Michigan, and then practiced law in Seattle. Survivors: four daughters, Vicki Newmann, Sandi Andersen, Susan Weed and Beryl Elfendahl “Elfie” Shorts; and seven grandchildren.
Robert Aaron, ’32 (general engineering), of Laguna Woods, Calif., July 18, at 94. He had a long career with Rockwell, where he worked on space programs including Apollo XI. He was a leader in the Orange County Jewish community. Survivors: his wife of 45 years, Helen Gerber Aaron; his son, Larry; four stepchildren, Leah Sklar, Michael and Paul Gerber, and Marsha Remas; 14 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
William P. Wentworth, ’33 (economics), MBA ’35, of Walnut Creek, Calif., July 19, at 94. A member of Phi Gamma Delta, he took a 1929 world trip with his parents that whetted a lifelong appetite for travel. He founded the nationally known investment firm Wentworth, Hauser & Violich. The firm, the second oldest in the West, was acquired in 1994 by Laird Norton Financial Group in Seattle but retained its name in San Francisco. He explored all seven continents and dozens of island cultures, making three of four Antarctic trips while he was in his 70s. In 1980, he privately published Six Letters from Siberia and the Far East, an account of a 1976 expedition around China’s perimeter. He was a founder and chairman of the Stanford Business School Trust, a director and treasurer of the Save-the-Redwoods League, a founding trustee of the Alta Bates Medical Center Foundation and a director of the Foundation for Glaucoma Research. He met Harriet Peel at the Berkeley Tennis Club in 1924, and they had been married 60 years at the time of her death in 1997. Survivors: his wife, Betty Lyle Blodget Wentworth; three children, Jean Wentworth Bush, Allan, MBA ’72, and Frank, MBA ’68; four stepdaughters, Tara Schauer, Donna Brune, Sandra Farrell and Jane Vilas; 14 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
W. Kelly Woods, ’34 (chemistry), of Salem, Ore., August 4, at 92. A member of Theta Delta Chi, he got a doctorate in chemical engineering from MIT. He worked more than 30 years in nuclear reactor design and operation, primarily with General Electric in Hanford, Wash. He was a part-time lecturer at Oregon State. Survivors: his wife of 67 years, Lydia; four children, Keith, ’62, Linda, ’65, Margo Shafer, and Neale; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
William Kelley Tuttle Jr., ’36 (social science/social thought), of Nevada City, Calif., July 16, at 91. In 1942 he resigned a faculty job at UC-Berkeley to protest the Japanese-American removal and worked during and after the war on internees’ behalf. He was a social worker with the federal government for 30 years and with the California Department of Aging for five years. He was a volunteer broadcaster for more than two decades on MVR and active with Music in the Mountains. His wife Eleanor predeceased him in 1990. Survivors: his wife Anita Wald-Tuttle; three children, William Kelley III and Glee Tuttle and Terrence Truhart; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Philip Jerome Bernheim, ’37 (communication), of South San Francisco, June 22, at 89. He was a member of the Stanford Daily staff and served as a communications officer during World War II. After the war, he worked in radio, starting one of the first FM stations in the Bay Area. Most of his career was spent in sales of electronic equipment. His first wife, Lenore Chaikoff, died in 1971. Survivors: his second wife, Marlene; three children, Ross, Dean and Joyce; three stepchildren; and four grandchildren and stepgrandchildren.
Bernard “Bud” Desenberg, ’37 (social science/social thought), of Corona del Mar, July 4, at 91. After serving in the Army during World War II, he got a doctorate from Ohio State and taught at Orange Coast College and Long Beach State. For two decades he was publisher of various Orange County publications, most notably the opinionated weekly the Laguna Beach Post. Known for its editorial cartoons, the Post was an alternative voice in a conservative region; it championed fair housing and improved air quality. He was a former president of the Newport Ocean Sailing Association. Survivors: his wife of 65 years, Irmeli; a son, Kim, ’69; and a daughter, Katherine Flamm.
Gain A. John, ’38 (economics), of Palo Alto, Calif., May 18, at 90. A member of Delta Upsilon, he served in the Army Air Corps from 1940 to 1945. He lived in Palo Alto from the age of 5 and was involved in the Palo Alto Historical Association, the First Congregational Church Historical Society and the production of the book Palo Alto: A Centennial History. Survivors: three children, David, Barbara and Katherine; and two granddaughters.
Dorothy E. Gray, ’39 (preclinical medicine), of Mountain View, Calif., May 5, at 87. She worked as a lab technician before marriage and had a second career teaching school. Survivors: her husband of 63 years, J. Gardner Gray, ’39; two children, J. Gardner “Jay” Jr., ’72, and Millicent; two grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
1940s
Esther Mae Berry Macey, ’40 (social science/social thought), Gr. ’40 (speech and drama), of Hillsborough, Calif., July 2, at 85. A member of Cap and Gown, she was involved in community activities during World War II, serving on the civilian defense board and in the Red Cross. She was a charter member of the San Mateo/Burlingame auxiliary to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and served as president of the organization in 1948. She served as class correspondent for Stanford magazine from 1978 to 2002. She was on the board of directors for Poplar Center (now Community Gatepath) and served as president in 1963. She later joined the staff as a speech pathologist, a position she held until 2003. Survivors: her two daughters, Catherine Kruttschnitt and Elizabeth Avakian; three grandchildren; and one brother.
William E. Roche, ’40 (social service), of San Francisco, August 16, at 87. He served in the Navy during World War II. A graduate of the University of San Francisco law school, he worked with the San Francisco district attorney’s office for four years, with the California Public Utilities Commission for 15 years and with Pacific Telephone for 15 years. Survivors: his wife of 53 years, Nancy Baxter Roche; his son, Robert; and two grandchildren.
Barbara “Bobbe” Harris Brock, ’41 (English), of Fresno, Calif., June 29, at 85. A performer with Ram’s Head, she married David F. Brock, ’40. She volunteered with several Fresno arts and community-service organizations and was a reporter for California Orchid magazine. Survivors: her husband of 64 years; two daughters, Beverly, ’63, and Hilary Ward; and a granddaughter.
James Thomas Morton, ’41 (economics), of Burlingame, Calif., June 24, at 86. He was a member of the Stanford Associates. He was a partner in the San Mateo law firm of Wilson, Jones, Morton & Lynch until his retirement. Survivors include his sisters, Mary Tuck and Ann Worth.
Earl Brix Fenston, ’43, MD ’46, of San Francisco, July 17, at 83. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he served in the Navy. The surgeon was chief of staff at French Hospital in San Francisco and a motor-cycle enthusiast. Survivors: his wife, Page; and children, Jeffrey, Earl Brix Jr., Timothy and Gretchen.
Ann Beyer Wert, ’43 (English), of San Rafael, Calif., July 7, at 84, of throat cancer. A member of Cap and Gown, she married Robert J. Wert, ’43, MBA ’50, PhD ’52, who became dean of undergraduate education at Stanford and president of Mills College. She coordinated many activities to benefit Stanford and Mills, particularly the Mills College Art Museum and campus beautification. Survivors: three children, Peter and Alexander Wert and Amy Johnson; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Emily Frank Garfield, ’44 (bacteriology), of Menlo Park, July 18, at 82. She earned a PhD in education in 1979. Survivors: three children, Wendy Fennell, Mark, ’71, and Jonathan; six grandchildren, including David, ’03, MS ’04; two great-grandchildren; and two brothers.
Beverly Jane Richards Flournoy, ’46 (biological sciences), of Likely, Calif., July 13, at 81, of lung cancer. A member of Delta Delta Delta, she lived on a ranch in Jess Valley. Survivors: her husband of 52 years, Warren; two children, Rod and Claudia; one grandson; and a brother.
Helen Reed Craddick, ’47 (graphic arts), of Piedmont, Calif., August 20, at 79. She was an interior designer for more than 50 years. She was predeceased by two siblings.
Norman Morrisey, ’47 (geology), of Tulsa, Okla., August 10, at 86. He served with the Navy. He was co-founder of GeoData Corp. and later an independent geologist. Survivors include his wife, Mary Frances Morrisey, and two sisters.
Roderick M. Sherwood, ’47 (social science/social thought), of Lake San Marcos, Calif., March 28, at 82, of Parkinson’s disease. A member of Delta Upsilon, he played on the winning Stanford team in the 1942 NCAA National Basketball Championship. He served in the Air Force during World War II, receiving a Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. He started his 37-year career with Ford Motor Co. at the Long Beach assembly plant. Later, he was in charge of the automotive body and assembly division for North America. Survivors: his wife of 56 years, Sylvia Nyborg, ’47; one son, Roderick III, ’76; and three grandsons.
Roberta “Bobbie” Robbins Focht, ’48 (history), of Tracy, Calif., May 29, at 79. She worked as a reference librarian for the Alameda County library system for 27 years until her retirement in 1992. She then became a docent for the Oakland Museum. Her husband of 25 years, Robert, ’49, MS ’54, died in 1973. Survivors: her three daughters, Maurine Quast, Becky Caselli and Katie Jefferson; two sons, David and Don; nine grandchildren; and one brother.
Gerald Eugene Clair, ’49, MS ’50 (civil engineering), of Wilmington, N.C., June 27, at 80. He served in the Army and was awarded two bronze stars. He managed heavy engineering construction for many significant highway, bridge and building structures in the Bay Area and in 1994 retired as senior vice president of Homer J. Olsen, Inc. He also served on the boards of directors of two professional associations for many years. Survivors: his wife, Stephanie Yunelli; three children, Todd, Allan and Jane; and five grandchildren.
1950s
Carlos F. Brown, ’50 (economics), of Roseville, Calif., July 30, at 77. He served in the Navy and earned his law degree from the U. of Colorado-Boulder. He practiced law in Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento for 32 years, then finished his career as a workers’ compensation judge, retiring in 1995. He was a past president of the Stanford club in Sacramento, and a member of the Stanford Associates, and received a 20-year service pin in recognition of his volunteer efforts for the University. He served as the Stanford class correspondent for the Class of 1950 for 12 years. Survivors: his wife, Lynn; his son, Chris; and his daughter, Carla.
Harry Kevich, ’50 (art), MA ’52 (architecture), of Calistoga, Calif., at 79. A former staff sergeant in the Army, he worked 27 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forestry Division, retiring as chief architect for the western region. Survivors include one brother.
Paul K. Theobald, ’50 (geology), of Golden, Colo., July 16, at 76. A member of Phi Sigma Kappa, he had a long career with the U.S. Geological Survey and had received awards from the Department of the Interior. His work helped lead to the discovery of ore deposits that became the Henderson molybdenum mine in the late ’60s. He was a founder and president of the Association of Exploration Geochemists and known for mentoring young geologists in the States and internationally. He loved woodworking and music and was building a Mozart-era piano when he died. Survivors: his wife of 53 years, Jean; two daughters, Catherine Eppinger and Mary Doherty; six grandchildren; and a sister, Martha Theobald Peterson, ’52.
Dirk van Erp, ’51, MA ’53 (architecture), of Mountain View, August 4, at 76. The grandson and son of famous metalsmiths, he practiced architecture with firms in San Francisco, Seoul and Chicago. From 1963 to 1971, he served on the Mountain View Planning Commission. Survivors: his wife of 53 years, Marianna (Wieder, ’51); five children, William, ’75, Joanne Montague, ’81, Ruth, Jana Mori, and Mary Bythell; and 11 grandchildren.
Josephine Kreis Waitman, ’51 (sociology), of La Crescenta, Calif., July 29, at 75, of colon cancer. She taught parenting and early childhood development at Glendale Community College. While working with new mothers in the CARES program at USC/Los Angeles County Hospital, she joined funding efforts to complete the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Survivors: her husband of 50 years, Benjamin, ’52, Engr. ’59; three children, Katharine Waitman, John Waitman and Julia Whelan; and four grandchildren.
Carolyn “Tommie” Craig Osborn, ’52 (political science), of Carlisle, Pa., October 4, 2004, at 74. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. A volunteer for the American Red Cross since 1959, she had headed its chapter at the Army War College in Carlisle since 1988. She was predeceased by her husband, Col. George K. Osborn III, ’51, MA ’60, PhD ’63. Survivors include her daughter, Carolyn.
George Donald McLean, ’54, MA ’60 (art), MA ’60 (education), of Vashon, Wash., July 17, at 73. He was a designer with a successful career in the contemporary jewelry field. In 1965, he started McLean and Co. in Sausalito, Calif. and became an influential part of the San Francisco-area contemporary jewelry scene. He taught at numerous schools, including the U. of Washington, De Young Museum Art School in San Francisco and the Pratt School of Arts in Seattle. He was an early member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths. Survivors: his wife, Carol; seven children; and four grandchildren.
James Leon Ronnow, ’54 (history), MBA ’58, of Newport Beach, Calif., June 10, at 73. He was a member of Zeta Psi and served in the Army in Europe. He worked for Dean Witter (later Morgan Stanley) as a broker, manager and vice president. Survivors: his wife of 44 years, Joan; and three daughters, Kirsten, Karen and Lesley.
John Lawrence “Larry” Conn, ’55 (economics), of Monterey, Calif., October 14, 2004, at 70. A member of Theta Xi, he served in the Navy. He farmed in Coalinga and had been a director of the cooperatives Ranchers Cotton Oil, Cal/West Seeds and Calcot. Survivors: his wife, Sylvia; two daughters, Debbie Nicoletti and Janet Fraser; five grandchildren, and a brother.
Glen John Stanton, ’56 (biological sciences), of Texas City, Texas, July 2. A member of the football team, he belonged to Kappa Sigma. Survivors include his son, Jim.
Arthur J. Kendall, ’57 (biological sciences), of Menlo Park, July 16, at 68. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he earned a DDS degree from what is now the University of Pacific Dental School. He taught there and had a dental practice in Palo Alto. After learning in 1985 that he had multiple sclerosis, he started another career offering computer tutoring, programming and web development services. Survivors: his wife of 26 years, Shirley Bowles Kendall; four daughters, Deborah Galvez, Kimberly Humphreys, Tracey Kendall-Novack and Kelly Day; two stepsons, Michael and Bo Moody; seven grandchildren; and a sister.
Donald Sheldon Mooers, ’59 (history), of Piedmont, Calif., August 17, at 68. A member of Theta Chi, he served in the Navy. He worked, with his brother, at a family insurance business, H.D. Mooers and Company. He served as president of the Chartered Life Underwriters and the local chapter of the American Diabetes Association and helped establish the Piedmont Soccer Club. Survivors: his wife of 46 years, Stephanie (Weaver, ’59); three sons, Mike, Jeff and Tom; two grandsons; and a brother.
1960s
Lawrence Avery Hancock, ’61 (history), of Atherton, June 15, at 67. A member of Theta Chi, he owned restaurants on the Peninsula, including Chuck’s Steakhouse and The Hatch Cover. Chuck’s Cellar (later The Cellar) in Los Altos was a landmark venue for folk and R&B music from 1969 to 1985. Survivors: his wife, Terry; two children, Alison McClellan and Joshua; and his brother, Douglas, ’63.
Patricia McConnell Crockett, ’62 (sociology), MA ’63 (education), of Bogata, Texas, July 1, of heart and kidney failure. She was an elementary school teacher. Survivors: her sister, Barbara; and her brother, John.
Joel Bruce Shulman, ’63 (biological sciences), of Encino, Calif., July 29, from a hematological disorder. A member of Alpha Tau Omega, he was captain of the baseball team and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his MD from the John Hopkins School of Medicine, he served two years in the Army Medical Corps. Completing a residency in otolaryngology at UCLA Medical Center, he practiced head and neck surgery for more than 30 years in Los Angeles. Survivors: his wife of 23 years, Mitzi; his son, Ian; his stepdaughter, Erika Shulman Llevat; two stepgranddaughters; and a brother.
1970s
Mark Ira Weinberger, ’70 (political science), of Berkeley, July 14, at 57, of leukemia. He was editor-in-chief of the Stanford Daily. He earned his law degree from Harvard in 1974 and thereafter played an important role in California environmental law. He worked in the environment unit of the California attorney general’s office until attorney general George Deukmejian disbanded the unit. He and two colleagues started the firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, which remains one of few for-profit firms to represent only preservationists, not developers. His efforts helped determine growth boundaries in Livermore and Carmel, Calif., defend agricultural property zoning in Marin County and establish the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. Survivors: his partner, Tamara Galanter; his son, Adam; his mother and stepfather, Marion Weinberger-Greenberg and Bernard Greenberg; a sister, Kathy, ’72; and his former wife, Susan Cohen Rodriguez, ’70.
Keith Murray Cummings, ’73 (history), of Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil, June 7, at 55. He was a part-time real estate investor, loved traveling and was an avid train enthusiast. Survivors include his brother, Mark, ’76.
Shaheed Nuriddin, formerly John Winesberry, ’74 (communication), of Olympia, Wash., July 23, at 52, of cancer. A convert to Islam who changed his name during college, he played on the Cardinal team that won the 1972 Rose Bowl and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Denver Broncos. After a knee injury ended his pro career, he earned a law degree from Washington U. Since the early ’90s, he championed worker safety as a supervisor in the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries. Survivors: his wife, Fatima Mbarki; two children, Kashif and Hanan; and two sisters.
Linda Woolman Perry Kustin, ’75 (communication), of Palo Alto, July 22, at 60, of cancer. She worked at Stanford for more than 25 years, especially as an editor and administrator at the Food Research Institute. She was predeceased by her husband Douglas Hazlett Perry in 1977. Survivors: her husband Richard Kustin; two children, Tristan Gribbin and Benjamin Perry; her parents, Vern and Ruth Woolman; and two sisters.
Mary Amadeo Ingersoll, ’76 (communication), of Studio City, Calif., August 8, at 52, of breast cancer. An editor of the Stanford Daily, she worked as a news reporter and anchor at stations in Albuquerque, N.M., before joining KTTV in Los Angeles. After 1985, she pursued acting and the cello and appeared in TV, stage and movie productions. Survivors: her husband of 33 years, Raymond, MS ’74, PhD ’76; her daughter, Jenny; her mother, Martha; and seven siblings.
1980s
Lori Kayo Hatta, ’80 (English), of Encinitas, Calif., July 20, at 47, in an accidental drowning. An assistant professor at UCLA and a graduate of its film school, she co-wrote and directed Picture Bride, a drama about one of the thousands of Japanese women who, in the early 1900s, entered arranged marriages with plantation workers in Hawaii. The movie won the Audience Award for best dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995. She financed the film with grants and a grassroots fund-raising effort on the islands that promised a screen mention for even a $5 donation; the final credits ran for 11 minutes. Her other movies include the 1988 short Otemba (Tomboy) about an 8-year-old girl whose father desires a son and this year’s Fishbowl, about plantation life in the 1970s. Survivors include her mother, Jane Matano Hatta; three sisters, including Julie, ’78; three half- sisters; and her fiancé, Douglas Hetrick.
John Milton Troxel, ’82 (biological sciences), MD ’86, of Anchorage, Alaska, June 16, at 45, of an aneurysm. A member of the track and field team as well as the crew team, he belonged to Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Survivors: his mother and father; and his wife, Sarah.
2000s
Nicholas Lee Dillingham, ’08 (undeclared), of Portola Valley, Calif., June 26, at 19, of cancer. He was a high school football player who first fought cancer when he was 7. Survivors: his mother and stepfather, Guadalupe Cogan and Johnathan Gogan, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; his father and stepmother, Michael Dillingham, ’66, MD, ’71, and Lisa Gianonne-Dillingham; four brothers, Michael, Joseph, Patrick and Charlie; and six sisters, Katherine, Christina, Elizabeth, Sophia, Lucia and Eleven.
Business
Dean C. Buehler, MBA ’50, of Palo Alto, August 24, at 82, of kidney cancer. After serving in the Navy, he got an engineering degree from Utah U. He owned the construction firm Dean C. Buehler, Inc., for 15 years and later worked for McGuire & Hester Construction. Survivors: his wife, Diane (Brown, ’50); four sons, Mark, Scott, Clark and Paul; two daughters, Anne Biller and Karen; six grandchildren; one great-grandson; and nine siblings.
Engineering
Charles W. Dick, MS ’48 (electrical engineering), of Mill Valley, Calif., July 4, at 79. He served as a Naval officer in South East Asia. He worked for General Electric Co., where he was an early pioneer in the design and development of nuclear power facilities. He later worked as manager of quality assurance for the Bechtel Corp. and retired in 1986.
Irwin Wunderman, PhD ’64 (electrical engineering), of Mountain View, Calif., July 23, at 74. Nicknamed “Mr. Transistor” around the office, he was one of the chief engineers for Hewlett-Packard’s first calculator. In 1967, he started Cintra in his garage. The company developed instruments for measuring light and many innovations that found their way into Texas Instruments calculators. Upon retirement, he traveled for seven months and then began working on a unified field theory. He helped start up companies in medical monitoring and other fields. Survivors: three children, Rick, Lorna and Alan; four grandchildren; and two siblings.
Jeannette Edith Barbará Gaehwiler, MS ’97 (civil engineering), of San Francisco, August 2, at 32, of brain cancer. A standout athlete in volleyball and basketball, she was junior captain of the ’93-’94 Women’s Big East Academic All-Star Team. After Stanford, she became a structural engineer who started her own San Francisco firm. In June 2003, she married Patricio Barbará, MS ’97, and she first fell ill while they were on a world tour for their honeymoon. She was predeceased by her mother, Edith. Other survivors include her father, Martin; a brother; and two sisters.
Humanities and Sciences
Yvonne Richards Ashton Willey, MA ’36 (French), of Salt Lake City in July. She taught French and Spanish before her marriage to Richard Willey, whose mining career had them living around the world. Survivors: two daughters, Twink Lee and Taffy Slader; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two sisters.
William “Bill” Woodrow Chamberlain, MA ’40 (English), of Richland, Wash., December 30 at 90. An Army veteran in World War II, he retired as a colonel from the Air Force Reserve in 1972, for which he’d been liaison officer of the Air Force Academy. He worked for 30 years as a technical writer for various Hanford Site contractors. Survivors: his wife, Jan; three daughters, Ann Chamberlain Roseberry, Laura and Holly; two grandchildren; a brother; and a sister.
Harold W. Stevenson, ’48, PhD ’51 (psychology), of Ann Arbor, Mich., July 7, at 80, of Alzheimer’s disease and pneumonia. A U. of Michigan psychologist, he was the author, with James Stigler, of the 1992 book The Learning Gap: Why Our Schools Are Failing and What We Can Learn from Japanese and Chinese Education. Based on hundreds of hours of cross-cultural classroom observation, the book made ground-breaking arguments for educational reform in the United States, especially in mathematics instruction. The American Psychological Society named him a William James Fellow in 1995 for his achievements in developmental psychology. Survivors: his wife, Nancy Guy Stevenson, ’58; four children, Margaret, ’75, Janet B. Zimmerman, ’78, Andrew and Patricia; seven grandchildren; and a brother.
Roy Minkler, MA ’51 (English), of Piedmont, Calif., August 13, at 85. He served as a lieutenant in the Navy and taught school. After receiving his master’s degree, he was a principal and an administrator for the San Francisco Unified School District. Survivors: his wife of 59 years, Frances; five children, Meredith, Donna Mastronarde, Jason, Christine Pena and Joan Harrison; three grandchildren; and two brothers.
John Albert Swanson, MA ’51 (history), of Hammond, Ind., April 23, 2004, at 86. He served in the Army during World War II. For more than 30 years, he taught economics, history, geography and government at high schools in Illinois and Indiana. His first wife, Florence, predeceased him. Survivors: his wife, Ruth; two daughters, Mary Roarty and Paula; one son, John; three grandchildren; two sisters; and two brothers.
Graham Wilson, PhD ’52 (English), of San Francisco, June 22, at 89, of heart disease. He served in the Navy during World War II and was sent to teach naval tactics at Stanford. He got his doctorate in Renaissance literature, retired as a naval commander in 1948 and started an academic career teaching at San Jose State. He was the chair of the English department at San Francisco State from 1973 to 1981. Survivors: his wife, Lois (Mayfield, PhD ’54); his daughter, Erin; and one grandson.
Harold William Stevenson, PhD ’61, MA ’58 (psychology), of Palo Alto, July 8, at 80. A World War II veteran, he lived until recently in Ann Arbor, where he was an emeritus professor of psychology at the U. of Michigan. He specialized in child development and produced the first comprehensive study highlighting the difference between the academic achievement of American children and children overseas, particularly in Japan and Taiwan. Earlier in his career, he taught at Pomona College and founded several nursery schools as training grounds for graduate students of psychology and education. He directed the Institute of Child Development at the U. of Minnesota for 12 years before joining the U. of Michigan, where he headed the child development and social policy program from 1978 to 1993. He was a Guggenheim fellow, a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He retired in 2001. Survivors: his wife of 54 years, Nancy Guy, MA ’58; three daughters, Janet Zimmerman, Margaret, ’75, and Patricia; one son, Andrew; seven grandchildren; and one brother.
Alice H. Dodge, PhD ’69 (cell biology), of Redwood City, Calif., June 28, at 78. She taught histology and neuroscience at the California College of Podiatric Medicine for 27 years. A researcher at Stanford and CCPM, she published articles and was the guest editor of the November 1997 Microscopy Research and Technique. Survivors: her son, Clyde, ’74; and her daughter, Alison.
Robert Sobieszek, MA ’69 (art), of Los Angeles, at 62, of cancer. He spent two decades at the George Eastman House, the world’s oldest photography museum in Rochester, N.Y. He was the senior curator at the George Eastman House when he left to become curator of photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1990. He wrote 10 books and edited or contributed to 90 others. Survivors include his former spouse, Barbara Ilardi, MA ’68, PhD ’70.
James William Tankard Jr., PhD ’70 (communication), of Austin, Texas, August 12, at 64. A former Associated Press news writer, he wrote his dissertation on eye contact as a communication channel. In 1972 he joined the faculty at the U. of Texas-Austin, becoming Jesse H. Jones Professor of Journalism in 1989. He was the author of The Statistical Pioneers and co-author of Communication Theories: Origins, Methods, Uses and Basic News Reporting and other books. He was editor of Journalism Monographs. Survivors: his wife of 32 years, Sara Elaine “Lanie”; three daughters, Amy Hill, Jessica and Margaret; and two brothers.
Byron Cary Preiss, MA ’75 (communication), of New York City, July 9, at 52, in a traffic accident. He was an author and publisher who specialized in illustrated books by celebrities, graphic novels and science fiction. The president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications and Ibooks, he was recognized as a pioneer in digital publishing. He served as co-chairman of the UJA-Federation of New York’s publishing committee. Survivors: his wife, Sandi Mendelson; and two daughters, Karah and Blaire.
