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In Memory

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  • Faculty & Friends
  • Return to March 2000 Table of Contents

    • Alumni

    1910s 1960s
    1920s 1970s
    1930s 1980s
    1940s 1990s
    1950s  
     
    • Trygve Ambjor, Watford City, N.D., age 76, Nov. 9.
    • Robert George Baird Sr., Seattle, age 69, Nov. 20.
    • Marilyn Faye Trimble Berney, Seattle, Dec. 6.
    • Charles W. Callahan, Seattle, age 87, Nov. 24.
    • John Melvin Gamache, Carnation, age 77, Oct. 23.
    • Harry Givan, Seattle, age 88, Dec. 16.
    • Lawrence M. Jenner, Seattle, Nov. 13.
    • George Herbert Johnson Jr., age 45, Oct. 23.
    • Leonard Dean Metzger, Seattle, age 76, Dec. 3.
    • Nathalie Joy Sweum Robinson, Mercer Island, age 73, Jan. 6.
    • Ralph Conrad Robinson II, age 77, Nov. 21.
    • Harrison Sanford, Gulfport, Miss., age 96, Dec. 4.
    • Richard Clarence Smith, Seattle, age 71, Nov. 13.
    • Vance S. Tjossem, Everett, age 95, Nov. 24.

      1910s

    • Martha Patricia Hergert Benedict, '16, Chehalis, age 83, Nov. 9.

      1920s

    • Josephine A. Waldo, '21, age 103.
    • Hazel Fairservice Kefauver, '24, '26, Seattle, age 97, Oct. 21.
    • Carol Criddle Lincoln, '26, Albuquerque, N.M., age 95, Dec. 10.
    • Kathleen I. Conger, '27, Seattle, age 95, Sept. 18.

      1930s

    • Vincent J. Galvin, '30, Seattle, Oct. 28.
    • George S. Hurley, '30, Seattle.
    • Ionia V. Debruyn, '31, Seattle, age 88, Jan. 10.
    • John W. Dobson, '31, Bellevue, age 91, Oct. 11.
    • Louise B. Hedges, '31, '39, '40, Edmonds, age 92, Dec. 9.
    • Kathryn "Kay" P. Noah, '31, San Rafael, Calif., age 91, Dec. 8.
    • Anita Snyder, '31, Bellevue, age 90, Oct. 8.
    • Wallace Bartholomew, '32, Seattle, age 88, Oct. 19.
    • Phebe Anne Thompson Bass, '32, Seattle, age 88, Nov. 12.
    • Robert R. Marriott, '32, Port Townsend, age 88, Oct. 17.
    • Clifford Edwin Roloff, '32, Stanwood, age 90, Oct. 14.
    • John H. Shaw, '33, Jamesville, N.Y., age 90, Nov. 27.
    • Porter T. Dickie, '34, Seattle, age 87, Oct. 16.
    • Glenn H. Ogden, '34, '35, Redmond, age 88, Dec. 10.
    • Elmer Quistorff, '34, Issaquah, age 92, Sept. 26.
    • Harold Alford Sharpe, '34, Seattle, age 89, Oct. 22.
    • Arthur Kellogg, '35, Shoreline, age 87, Dec. 19.
    • Thomas H. Macbride, '35, '42, Medina, age 87, Oct. 20.
    • Maxine Coffman McLauchlan, '36, Bainbridge Island, age 86, Dec. 31.
    • J. Edward Johnson, '37, Seattle, age 83, Dec. 28.
    • Sigurd O. Lirhus, '37, Seattle, age 88, Oct. 29.
    • Merwin E. Casey, '38, '40, Seattle, age 82, Dec. 23.
    • Esther Warner Gorman, '38, Seattle, age 83, Oct. 9.
    • Jean Ross Katra, '38, Seattle, age 82, Nov. 18.
    • Richard J.C. Blomberg, '39, Gig Harbor, age 84, Oct. 20.

      1940s

    • Helen F. Anderson, '40, age 82, Dec. 25.
    • Marco Bruschi, '40, Bakersfield, Calif., age 85, Nov. 25.
    • Mieko May Yanagita-Yamada, '40, San Jose, Calif., age 81, Sept. 30.
    • Charles Lawrence Rehkopf, '41, Seattle, age 82, Dec. 25.
    • Kenneth Allen Cloud, '42, Snohomish, age 83, Nov. 9.
    • John Anthony Earley, '42, Aberdeen, age 79, Oct. 19.
    • Joe O. Ellis, '42, Seattle, age 79, Jan. 4.
    • Vincent F. Felicetta, '42, '49, Bellingham, age 79, March 10, 1999.
    • Ann Bish Huston Snow, '42, Bellevue, age 78, Nov. 12.
    • Margaret Edith Kells McDonald, '43, Seattle, age 79, Dec. 5.
    • Francis V. "Frank" Rudnicki, '43, Seattle, age 78, Oct. 26.
    • John Wesley "Bud" Skadan, '43, Bellevue, age 80, Nov. 27.
    • Eugene Harry Swanzey, '43, Hamilton, Mont., age 78, Nov. 28.
    • Ruth Rindero Chaney, '44, Boise, Idaho, age 78, Oct. 25.
    • Donald Burt Peck, '44, Seattle, age 77, Jan. 8.
    • Jean Hitchman Underhill, '44, Kent, age 77, Dec. 29.
    • Joseph James Millegan, '45, Seattle, age 78, Jan. 8.
    • Cathryn Cecilia Yonaka, '45, Seattle, age 77, Oct. 22.
    • Thomas Cleaver Smyth, '47, Port Angeles, age 78, Dec. 11.
    • Dorothy Catherine Shaw Toland, '47, Medina, age 74, Dec. 26.
    • Kenneth W. Decker, '48, Bellevue, age 88, Jan. 1.
    • Manson Backus Harlan, '48, Mercer Island, age 72, Dec. 10.
    • Charles Edward Paige Koester, '48, Bellevue, age 80, Nov. 27.
    • Harrison "Harry" Jacob Lewis, '48, Seattle, age 75, Oct. 16.
    • Brooks Biddle, '49, '53, Medina, age 75, Nov. 6.
    • Robert Howard Matthews, '49, Seattle, age 70, Nov. 24.
    • Walter Bradbury Prescott, '49, Seattle, age 75, Nov. 10.
    • Russell G. Schley, '49, Seattle, age 78, Nov. 8.
    • Ralph William White, '49, Renton, age 83, Dec. 30.

      1950s

    • Robert Hughes Boroughs, '50, Seattle, age 72, Oct. 15.
    • Loris Edwin Crampton, '50, Kirkland, age 78, Dec. 31.
    • Clarice M. Eklund, '50, age 79, Oct. 6.
    • Michael Peter Schuller, '50, '52, Seattle, age 80, Oct. 14.
    • Cecil Albert Sharpe Jr., '50, Lakewood, age 72, Nov. 10.
    • Gordon Henry Smith, '50, Santa Ana, Calif., Sept. 3.
    • Helen Frances Anneberg, '51, Aberdeen, age 69, Nov. 1.
    • Mary Lou Brennan, '51, Bainbridge Island, age 70, Nov. 3.
    • Roger G. Connor, '51, Richmond, Va., age 73, July 4.
    • Leland K. Knudsen, '51, Tacoma, age 70, Oct. 16.
    • William Mair, '52, Kent, age 70, Nov. 21.
    • William R. Mills, '52, Seattle, age 69, Oct. 30.
    • Louanna Eleanor Wessel, '52, Seattle, age 76, Oct. 21.
    • Benn Robert Agor, '53, Seattle, age 75, Jan. 7.
    • William S. Davis, '53, Boise, Idaho, age 75, Oct. 11.
    • Bryan Landrum Hopkins Jr., '53, Bellevue, age 75, Oct. 19.
    • Arnold B. Hornby, '53, Seattle, age 73, Oct. 25.
    • Glen E. Chapman, '54, Medina, Oct. 27.
    • Peter Gellatly, '54, Seattle, age 76, Oct. 5.
    • Harold C. Fosso, '55, Seattle, age 72, Oct. 12.
    • Richard Barry Smithson, '55, Kingston, age 67, Dec. 9.
    • Ronald Loren Erickson, '58, '69, Seattle, age 61, Oct. 9.
    • Barbara B. Plesha, '58, Bellingham, age 75, Nov. 22.
    • Constance B. "Consi" Crane, '59, Edmonds, age 62, Nov. 7.
    • Emilie Ernestine Runck Haapanen, '59, '63, Seattle, age 62, Nov. 7.
    • Weston Wilsing, '59, Mercer Island, age 78, Jan. 5.

      1960s

    • John B. Ruhl, '60, '69, '73, Mineral, age 71, Nov. 22.
    • Ralph Raymond Hollingsworth, '61, '67, Dadeville, Ala., age 64, Oct. 19.
    • Wayne H. Yunker, '61, Richland, age 63, Sept. 15.
    • William Albert Hansen, '63, Lincoln City, Ore., age 73, Jan. 7.
    • Sachiko Inaba Murakami, '63, Redmond, age 70, March 5, 1999.
    • Jerome Lawrence Nelson, '63, '65, Ocean Shores, age 71, Nov. 2.
    • Margaret L. McEachern, '64, '67, Seattle, age 85, Nov. 9.
    • Mike Lemberg, '66, Seattle, age 55, Oct. 28.
    • Barbara Ann Holmes, '67, Seattle, age 62, Jan. 7.
    • Imogene Truman, '67, Seattle, age 90, Oct. 24.
    • Kinya Tsuruta, '67, Vancouver, B.C., age 67, Nov. 8.
    • Thomas W. White, '67, Mercer Island, age 55, Nov. 4.
    • Thomas Arthur Cassin, '68, Poulsbo, age 82, Oct. 21.
    • Michael D. Olson, '68, Clyde Hill, age 57, Oct. 18.
    • Joyce Elaine Radow, '68, Shoreline, age 56, Nov. 7.
    • Joanne Spiers-Van Wyck, '68, Bothell, Nov. 30.
    • Ellen Leora Erickson Lessor Pierce, '69, age 79, Oct. 31.

      1970s

    • Rogert Ahlbrandt, '71, '72, Portland, Ore., age 58, Nov. 17.
    • D. Thomas Pomeranz, '71, Issaquah, age 53, Oct. 20.
    • Theodore Joseph Regimbal Jr., '72, Seattle, age 68, Nov. 15.
    • Stephanie Hearne Crockett, '73, Seattle, age 51, Dec. 1.
    • Raymond E. Anderson Hafsaas, '73, Seattle, age 63, Oct. 20.
    • Oscar Dolphus Johnson, '73, Seattle, age 80, Oct. 21.
    • Thomas Tyler Boyle, '74, Seattle, age 52, Nov. 1.
    • Hadassah ìHollyî M. Kabinoff, '74, Bellevue, age 47, Jan. 1.
    • John E. Carlson, '75, San Francisco, age 47, Nov. 10.
    • Marvin Carl Olsen, '75, Seattle, age 55, Oct. 13.
    • Thomas N. Wells, '75, Snohomish, age 62, Jan. 5.
    • Victoria D. Anderson, '77, Bellevue, age 50, Nov. 4.
    • Anna E. Caldwell, '77, '79, Redmond, age 76, Oct. 23.

      1980s

    • Cynthia Dianne Wikstrom Nishiyama, '82, Seattle, age 40, Jan. 8.
    • Roberta Brockman, '83, Mercer Island, age 43, Jan. 2.

      1990s

    • Jeanette (Jeanie) C. Johnson, '92, '98, Bush Prairie, age 49, Aug. 22.
    • David Allen Cruz, '99, Everett, age 52, Dec. 22.

    Faculty & Friends

    Robert J. Behnke, '43
    Robert J. Behnke, '43

    Robert J. Behnke

    Robert J. Behnke, '43, a prominent Eastside businessman who served as president of the UW Alumni Association and had deep University and community ties, died Dec. 7. He was 78. A one-time mayor of Medina, Behnke was the first to earn the UWAA's Distinguished Service Award, in 1970. As president of the UWAA from 1962-64, he persuaded members to expand their interests beyond athletics to academic and social concerns.

    His service to his alma mater was legendary. In addition to his term heading up the alumni association, he worked extensively on behalf of the Henry Art Gallery, was president of the Arboretum Foundation, and was active with public television station KCTS, which had its start on campus. He served on the board of KCTS, and in 1987, accepted a national PBS Award for Excellence in Public Television Leadership for his work for KCTS. He also was a president and longtime member of the UW's Tyee Board and a two-term member of the UW Alumni Association Board of Trustees.

    Born on Oct. 6, 1921 in Yakima, Behnke attended the UW after graduating from Yakima High School, captained the UW ski team and earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1943. After attending officer's school at Columbia University, he served on Navy destroyer escorts during World War II. Skilled at managing finances and investments, he worked for many years after the war as an executive with Skinner Corp., Alaska Steamship and Alpac Corp. In 1993, he joined R.E.B. Enterprises as chairman.

    As the mayor of Medina from 1962-64, he worked to smooth the waters in the Eastside community when the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge was built. At the same time, his father, Carl, was mayor of Yakima. Behnke also enjoyed being chapter adviser and province president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, board member and past president of the Seattle Hearing and Speech Center, member and president of the Seattle arts organization PONCHO, and on the board of directors of many corporations.

    Donations may go to KCTS-TV, 401 Mercer St., Seattle WA 98109; the Henry Art Gallery, Box 351410, Seattle, WA 98195; the UW Department of Economics, Box 353330, Seattle, WA 98195; or the NW School for Hearing Impaired Children, 15303 Westminster Way N., Shoreline WA 98133.

    Ronald E. Bell, '69, who spent 10 years as an administrative assistant to the UW president before serving as president of Shoreline Community College, died Nov. 30. A math teacher, he was one of the first full-time Shoreline faculty members in 1964. He served 14 years as president of Shoreline Community College. He was 60.

    Dentistry Professor Virgil Cheyne died Nov. 27. Born on Nov. 17, 1908 in Webster City, Iowa, he joined the UW dental school in 1948 to teach dental pathology. He was 91.

    Margaret Chisholm, '57, '58, '66, director emeritus of the School of Library and Information Science, died Nov. 21. She spent 11 years as the head of the UW's library school, and was instrumental in changing the role of librarians in the U.S. by promoting the idea that librarians should become proficient in information technology. Born on July 25, 1921 in Grey Eagle, Minn., she earned three degrees from the UW. She returned in 1975 as a professor of librarianship and the UW's first woman vice president, serving as VP of university relations and development. In 1981, she was named director of the library school, a post she held until 1993. She was 78.

    Roy Cummings, '61, music lecturer and director of the UW Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Band, died Jan. 5, of a heart attack. Born on Aug. 26, 1938 in Yakima, he spent 30 years at the UW as a trumpet and jazz-studies instructor and taught saxophonist Kenny G, then an accounting student at the UW. He served as music director for the Seattle Seahawks, played for many ice shows and circuses and led youth bands as well. He played in the Seattle Symphony from 1962-1975, played solo trumpet at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, and in 1970 joined the UW music faculty. He was 61.

    Economics Professor Emeritus John Gillingham died in October. Born on Oct. 13, 1912 in Springdale, he joined the UW faculty in 1947 and served as assistant director of the Inst. of Labor Economics. He served as chair of the economics department and was the first UW ombudsman. He retired in 1977.

    Orthopaedics Professor Douglas Harryman II died Dec. 24. Born on Dec. 24, 1953 in Baltimore, he was a graduate of Virginia Tech and the Medical College of Virginia. After serving in the Air Force, he joined the UW orthopaedics faculty, and had a special interest in shoulder and elbow surgery and research. He was 46.

    Business Professor Emeritus Preston P. LeBreton died Nov. 28. He joined the UW in 1960 as a professor and executive officer of policy, personnel relations and production. He taught until his retirement in 1983. He was 76.

    History Professor Emeritus Peter Sugar died Dec. 5. Born to a prosperous family in Budapest, he escaped Hungary before its fall to Nazi Germany and later emigrated to the U.S. He earned degrees from City College of New York and Princeton, joined the UW faculty in 1959, and taught European and Ottoman history for 30 years. In 1994 he earned a lifetime achievement award from the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. He was 80.

    [Note: This article was revised on June 17, 2010, to reflect the following correction: it was originally reported that Robert and Sally Behnke had received the UWAA Distinguished Service Award in 1990. Mr. Behnke received the award in 1970. Mr. and Mrs. Behnke received the UW Recognition Award in 1990.]

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