Obituaries
L. Alan Seymour '37 , on April 15, 2007. The Evergreen, Colorado, resident was ninety-one.
Alan graduated with a degree in history. He entered World War II as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer, studying at the Japanese Language School at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1942. He was a Japanese interpreter and translator for the Navy during and after the war. Alan continued to work for the federal government after leaving the Navy in 1949, including work as a scientific liaison to the Army attache at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, and with the Central Intelligence Agency and National Science Foundation, where he worked as a study director in the office of economic and manpower studies. Alan also performed manpower-development studies in underdeveloped countries while he worked for several years for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization based in Paris, France. After retirement in 1976, Alan became active in the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and collected hundreds of clocks, which he wound in a weekly ritual.
Alan is survived by his wife, Carolyn; daughter, Susan Oesting; sons Fred and Larry; eight grandchildren; nine great grandchildren; brother, Bill; two nephews; and seven nieces.
Jack E. Titus '38 , on June 22, 2007, after a lengthy illness. The League City, Texas, resident was ninety-one.
Jack studied economics at Kenyon and went on to a successful business career in Texas, but his roots ran deep in Gambier. The village native was the son of master cabinetmaker Arthur Titus, who worked for the College. Among other pieces, Arthur built conference tables in use for more than sixty years. Jack helped his father build a walnut trophy case that has stood in Peirce Hall, and father taught son how to replace leaded-glass windows in campus buildings.
Jack grew up in a village that featured a grocery store on the site of the current Village Inn and a jail in the building now occupied by the Weather Vane dress shop. "My years at Kenyon were during the lean years at the height of the Great Depression," Jack wrote in a letter to students joining the Class of 1993. "I was living at home and had a tuition-only scholarship, working afternoons and holidays at the College. There were no funds for fraternity activities, or time to participate in intramural sports."
Leaving Kenyon, Jack became a traveling salesman, earning $18 a week while working ten-hour days, six days a week. Within a couple of years he doubled his salary as supervisor of a three-man sales crew. The U.S. Army beckoned with the outbreak of World War II, and Jack served in Europe in an armored division under the command of General George S. Patton.
After the war, Jack figured Houston, Texas, was ripe for growth, and he formed the J.E. Titus Company, an industrial and commercial paint contracting business that eventually came to be called JETCO. He also ventured into oil exploration.
In the 1990s, Jack became a member of the College Alumni Council and president of the Kenyon Association of Houston. He received the 1993-94 Anne J. Robinson Award for outstanding service as a regional association president.
He urged students to set goals and, once achieved, to aim higher. If success is not fulfilling, he said, be fearless in exploring new avenues. "Being armed with a Kenyon liberal-arts education, you have the tools to achieve, excel, and seize the opportunities to attain the goals," he wrote to students. "The tools I speak of are the arts of learning and communicating."
Jack was an avid supporter of the College, often organizing Houston-area Kenyon activities, and he returned to Gambier many times. The College, he believed, is as strong as its alumni base. "The basic purpose of alumni is to guarantee financial stability for the College," he said in a 1992 interview.
An uncle of Margaret Gorsuch, a now retired secretary in the office of Alumni and Parent Programs, he became known as "Uncle Jack" to many in the college administration.
"He was driven to succeed," Gorsuch said. "My mother (Helen Titus Smith) said Jack was always selling something, even vegetables out of the garden. He left Gambier probably with not much money in his pockets. And he became quite successful. He was very devoted to Kenyon."
Jack is survived by his wife, Ann; son, Jack Jr.; stepdaughters Bea Davies and Laura Moeller; two grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren.
Edwin W. Gerrish, '39 P '76 , on March 18, 2007. The Watertown, South Dakota, resident was eighty-eight.
Edwin was a member of Beta Theta Pi. He graduated with a degree in biology. Edwin graduated from the Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1943. After two years of surgical training at University Hospitals of Cleveland, he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, including duty in the Philippines. Edwin returned to University Hospitals for three more years of surgical training. He became an assistant professor of pediatric surgery at University Hospitals and was on staff as associate surgeon and surgeon in charge of the outpatient department. In 1958, Edwin moved to Mobridge, South Dakota, where he was the only surgeon within about one hundred miles. He was the American College Surgeons of South Dakota president in 1969 and practiced general surgery there until 1970. He moved to Chicago in 1970 and became the director of the assembly department at the American College of Surgeons, retiring in 1990. He received the Distinguished Surgeon Award from the college of surgeons in 1988. Edwin moved to Watertown in 1990 and to Sun City, Arizona, in 1996. He returned to Watertown in 2005. Edwin mastered salmon fishing on Lake Michigan while living in Chicago. He also became proficient in needlework.
Edwin is survived by his wife, Ann; daughter, Betsy Johnson; sons Edwin, Lon, and Michael; and nine grandchildren.
George B. Kopf, Jr., '40 , on March 29, 2007, of cancer. Kopf, of Laguna Niguel, California, was eighty-nine.
George was president of the Middle Kenyon Association and a member of Tau Kappa Alpha. He graduated with a degree in political science and then served as a U.S. Navy officer aboard the U.S.S. Edmonds, a destroyer escort, in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He later became president of Kopf Motor Sales, a family-owned General Motors dealership in Toledo, Ohio. George later joined Owens-Illinois, where he managed ground transportation for the Forest Products division. He became a consultant for the company after his retirement to California in 1979. George was a founding member of both St. Michael's in the Hills Episcopal Church in Toledo and St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in San Juan Capistrano, California.
George is survived by his wife, Roseanne; daughter, Elizabeth Gillespie; sons George and David; and five grandchildren.
A donation in George's name may be sent to the Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021.
Roger T. Sherman '46 , on April 9, 2006. The Atlanta, Georgia, physician was eighty-two.
Roger graduated with a degree in biology and earned a medical degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1948. He then served in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Memphis in 1959 and later established the state's first burn unit. In 1972, he became chairman of the department of surgery at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa, where he also created a burn unit. After ten years in Florida, he became professor of surgery at Emory University in Atlanta and chief of surgery and trauma at Grady Memorial Hospital. He was honored for his work in burn management by the American Trauma Society in 1988.
Roger's wife of fifty years, Ruth, died in 2002. He is survived by daughters Liz Anderson, Nina Johnston, Julie McKenna, and Nann Ricard; son, John; nine grandchildren; wife, Mary Ellen; Mary Ellen's four daughters and her stepdaughter; and sister, Nan Sussmann. Memorial donations may be sent to the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation at Callaway Gardens, 17800 U.S. Highway 27, Pine Mountain, Georgia, 31822.
Richard H. Suehrstedt 1950 , on January 21, 2007. A resident of Berea, Ohio, he was seventy-eight.
Richard graduated with a degree in marine engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1951, after two years at Kenyon. After serving in the U.S. Army, he became a naval architect and was president of Marine Consultants and Designers in Cleveland, Ohio. His design work is evident in many of the ships now operating on the Great Lakes.
Richard is survived by his wife, Arlene; sons Craig, Eric, and Richard; nine grandchildren; and sister, Ruth Hammonds. Memorial contributions may be sent to the First Congregational United Church of Christ cornerstone fund, 33 Seminary Street, Berea, Ohio, 44017.
David J. Bunnell '51 , on October 23, 2006. The seventy-seven-year-old physician lived in Santa Ana Orange, California.
David was a biology major and member of Phi Kappa Sigma, the choir, and the Rifle Club. In his application to the College, David noted that, after college, he hoped to "go to medical school, an ambition I have had for almost ten years." David earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1955.
David served as a major in the U.S. Air Force in 1958-63, and spent the following thirty years as a physician at Harbor Pediatrics in Newport Beach, California. He served as chairman of the pediatric department of Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach (1968-72) and as a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Medical Advisory Board (1970-82). He was a longtime associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California at Irvine School of Medicine.
He is survived by children Beth, Bill, Sharon, and Tom Bunnell, and by six grandchildren.
Henry A. Zeiger '52 , in 2006. The Hoboken, New Jersey, resident was sixty-six.
Henry graduated with a degree in English after transferring from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He entered the U.S. Army in 1953 and served in Korea as a radio operator in 1954-55. Henry was an author, drama critic, magazine journalist, playwright, taxicab driver, and union activist. His books include The Case Against Adolf Eichmann; Ian Fleming: The Spy Who Came in with the Gold; Lyndon B. Johnson: Man and President; The Seizing of the Santa Maria; Robert F. Kennedy, a Biography; and Inquest! Ted Kennedy-Mary Jo Kopechne, Prosecution or Persecution? His stories and reviews were published by Harper's, New Leader, the New Republic, and the New York Times Magazine. In the middle 1990s, Henry worked for the Association for Union Democracy, a pro-labor, nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of democratic trade unionism, based in Brooklyn, New York.
Henry died in his apartment. His body was found in October 2006 after inquiries by a friend.
Samuel E. Turner '53 , on May 7, 2007. Samuel lived in Green Valley, Arizona, and died at seventy-nine.
Samuel earned a degree in political science. He was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma. Samuel joined Anchor-Hocking Glass as a salesman after leaving Kenyon and rose to the position of national sales manager, retiring after thirty-one years.
Samuel is survived by his wife, Mary; daughter, Patricia; son, Terry; and two grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be sent to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73123.
William Poe Yohe '53 , on April 21, 2007, after a short battle with lung cancer. Bill was a seventy-six-year-old resident of Durham, North Carolina.
Bill was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, editor of the Collegian , and co-editor of the yearbook. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in economics. He went on to earn a master's degree (1954) and doctorate (1959) in economics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He taught economics at Duke University in Durham for more than forty years. He enjoyed singing in the church choir, communicating via amateur radio, and spending time with his birds, cats, and dogs.
Bill is survived by his former wife, Susan Hoggard Yohe, and children Kristine, Mary Jean, Peter, and William Yohe.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at ASPCA Member Support, 110 Fifth Avenue, 2nd floor, New York, New York, 10011, or the Music Memorial Fund, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 82 Kimberly Drive, Durham, North Carolina, 27707.
Christian N. Bassick M '56 , on December 15, 2006. The Largo, Florida, resident was seventy-two.
Christian graduated from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1958, after transferring from Kenyon. He was a retired bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The longtime resident of Fairfield, Connecticut, had moved to Largo in 1997.
He is survived by his wife, Judith; daughter, Rebecca Minichini; sons Christian Jr. and David; four grandchildren; and brother, David. Memorial donations may be sent to the American Heart Association, 1 Union Street, #301, Robbinsville, New Jersey, 08691.
Robert W. Van Dyke '59 , on December 20, 2006. The Palm Bay, Florida, resident was sixty-nine.
Robert graduated with a degree in political science. At Kenyon, he played soccer and was a member of the International Relations Club, the Kenyon Choir, the Kenyon Christian Fellowship, the Kenyon Singers, the Law Club, and Phi Kappa Sigma. Robert was also a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He became a contract manager at Martin Marietta Corporation, and also worked for the Harris Corporation, Wachovia Bank, and Bojan Enterprises.
Robert is survived by his wife, Janet; daughters Kimberly DeStefano, Rene Ehman, Michelle Perling, and Kathryn Savage; son, Michael Lockwood; ten grandchildren; brothers Loyal and William; and several nephews and nieces.
Donations in Robert's name may be made to the American Heart Association, 2800 Aurora Road, Melbourne, Florida, 32904.
John S. MacInnis '62 , on February 15, 2007. The Berkeley, California, resident was sixty-six.
John graduated cum laude with a degree in economics. He was a member of Sigma Pi, competed on the debate team, and worked for the Kenyon radio station. John attended Kenyon on a scholarship through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and he later served in the U.S. Air Force as a systems analyst. John earned a master's degree in economics at Ohio State University in Columbus in 1963 and a law degree in 1972 at the University of California at Berkeley. In the 1970s, John worked as the director of economic development for the island of Yap in Micronesia, where he sometimes served as a U.S. consular officer. John later became a real estate developer in California, and he took pride in restoring residential and commercial buildings.
John is survived by his wife, Donna Heinle; sons Donovan and Kevin; and mother, Marion. Memorial donations may be sent to Magnificat (an early-classical Baroque performance group), 601 Van Ness Ave., E3-142, San Francisco, California, 94102, or to the Carmel Bach Festival, P.O. Box 575, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 93921.
Philip M. Pittman '63 , on April 20, 2007. The resident of Cedarville, Michigan, was sixty-six.
Philip was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He graduated with a degree in English. He earned a master's degree, in 1964, and doctorate in English literature, in 1967, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He was an assistant professor of English at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, for the 1967-68 academic year, and then became an associate professor at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, where he worked from 1968-80. Philip retired from teaching and moved to Marquette Island in Cedarville, where he became an author, historian, and publisher and pursued his interest in salmon fishing. Among his books are The Les Cheneaux Chronicles: Anatomy of a Community; Ripples from the Breezes: A Les Cheneaux Anthology; Don't Blame the Treaties: Native American Rights and the Michigan Indian Treaties; and North Shore Chinook: Lake Huron Salmon on Light Tackle. Philip played an active role in his community, serving as president of the Les Cheneaux Historical Association and the Les Cheneaux Islands Association and working as a board member of the Little Traverse Conservancy.
Perry C. Lentz, Charles P. McIlvaine Professor of English, was a student colleague of Philip's at Kenyon and at Vanderbilt. Philip, Lentz said, showed brilliance as a student of literature. "He was very much a gentleman in the fullest sense of that word," Lentz said. "Not only did he know which fork to use, he was very generous and very gentle in his relations with others. He was very courteous." After retiring as an educator, Philip became "a figure of real consequence" in his Michigan community, Lentz added.
Philip is survived by his wife, Margaret Dearing Pittman; children, Mary Christine Stuart Pittman, Noel Pittman Davidson, and Philip Pittman II; four grandchildren; siblings John Pittman and Sally Wright; stepchildren Deborah Ellington, Debora McGuiness, and Drucilla Wrasse; three step-grandchildren; and several nephews and nieces.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the Little Traverse Conservancy, 3264 Powell Road, Harbor Springs, MI, 49740, or the Friends of the Les Cheneaux Community Library, P.O. Box 332, Hessel, Michigan, 49745.
Edgar Robinson McGuire II '67 , the son of Edgar Robinson McGuire '49 and T.J. Polus, on April 1, 2007, after a lengthy illness. He was sixty-one and a longtime resident of Boulder, Colorado, who spent his last eight years in Richmond, Virginia.
A drama major, Edgar participated in many Kenyon College Dramatic Club (KCDC) productions. He had major roles in The Old Glory and The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch and directed Agamemnon as his Senior Exercise. During his senior year, he was president of KCDC and president and charter member of Alpha Sigma Chi. Edgar earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. He designed software in Colorado for US West, Allied Signal, and California Casualty Insurance. In Richmond, he worked on projects for NASA Pre-Service Teacher Institutes, the Virginia Department of Education, Capital One, and Circuit City.
Edgar never lost his love of the theater. He spent ten years with Nomads Community Theater in Boulder, where he was an actor, director, and stage, lighting, and sound designer in 1977-88.
He is survived by children Eryn and Kristopher McGuire; wife, Kathy Nunemaker; sister, Katherine McGuire; and aunt, Annette Cravens.
Claire M. Bass '79 , on March 3, 2007. The Nashville, Tennessee, resident was forty-nine.
Claire was active in the Kenyon College Dramatic Club and was directed by actor Paul Newman '49 in C.C. Pyle and the Bunion Derby. She also performed in productions of When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? and The Crucible, among others. Claire was an actress, comedienne, drama coach, playwright, public speaker, teacher, and writer. She graduated from the Second City Training Center in Chicago, Illinois, and earned an associate degree in theater and performance at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, California. She taught drama at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. She had several small roles in film and television comedies. After returning to Chicago, she taught French and English at the Chicago Academy of Dramatic Arts. She then moved to Nashville, where she was a substitute drama teacher at the Harpeth Hall School.
Breezy Salmon '79 of Nashville, Claire's longtime friend and former roommate, said Claire had "a special magic" with people and was a talented entertainer and skilled teacher. "She made so many people laugh," Breezy said. "Claire always had tons of friends everywhere she went. She could charm the socks off anybody."
Claire is survived by her parents Edith Bass and Jack Bass, Jr.; stepmother, Melinda Bass; brother, Jack Bass III; sisters Jean Bass, Leslie Bass, Lisa Foote, and Mary Nelson; and several nephews and nieces. Memorial contributions can be made to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA, 22312; the Kenyon College Department of Dance and Drama, Office of Development, College Relations Building, Gambier, Ohio, 43022; or any charity.
Stephen G. Breen '79 , on May 2, 2007. The resident of Portola Valley, California, was fifty-one.
Stephen graduated with a degree in philosophy and went on to earn a master's degree in business administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, in 1985. He worked as a financial adviser for several firms before creating his own business, Financial Advocates, in Portola Valley, in 1990. Stephen competed in marathons and enjoyed swimming, including an annual swim in the San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz Island to Buena Vista in San Francisco.
Stephen is survived by his daughters Rose and Tenley; sons Kellen and Ryan; father, Joseph; brothers Joseph, Regis and Sean; sisters Christine and Deirdre; and several nephews and nieces.
Pierce E. Cunningham, Jr., '81 , on May 4, 2007, after a heart attack. The resident of Okemas and Mackinac Island, Michigan, was forty-seven.
Pierce won the Paul Newman Trophy for his performance as Brian in The Shadow Box in 1981, and, among others roles at Kenyon, played Mr. Marshall in The Little Foxes in 1979. He was also editor of HIKA . After graduating with a degree in English, Pierce went on to a career in acting and freelance writing.
He married Margaret Musser '82 in 1997 on Mackinac Island, where Margaret's family owns the Grand Hotel. Pierce's sister-in-law, Robin Musser Agnew '82, said Pierce reflected fondly on the College. "He loved Kenyon," Agnew said.
Pierce is survived by his wife, Margaret; parents Pierce and Roberta Cunningham; brother, James; sisters Anna Bohlke and Ellen Cunningham; and several nephews and nieces. Contributions in Pierce's memory may be made to Kenyon College, Office of Development, College Relations Building, Gambier, Ohio, 43022.
John D. St. Julian '93 , on April 27, 2007, of injuries suffered in a traffic accident. He was thirty-six and lived in Austin, Texas.
John was a co-captain and a four-year member of the Lords football team, playing linebacker and on the defensive line. He was also a member of Beta Theta Pi. He graduated cum laude with a degree in political science. John embarked on a career in Internet technology, starting as a systems engineer for Andersen Consulting in 1993. He moved to Software Technologies Corporation in 1997 as director of professional services, and, in 1999, he became a management consultant in technology for Business Edge Solutions.
John's twin, Joseph '93, was also a co-captain of the football team. "I have wonderful memories of my time at Kenyon, a journey greatly amplified by the fact that I got to experience it with my brother," Joseph said. "He was an unusual blend of kindness, intellect, innocence, determination, generosity, and loyalty. John will live on in the hearts of everyone he touched or nurtured, and I'll miss him always."
Jim Meyer, then head football coach at Kenyon and now assistant head coach at Ashland University, described John as a team leader. "He was a tough, hard-nosed kid," Meyer said. "He gave us four great years and was very productive for us. He got along great with the other kids."
The brothers coped with the death of their mother, Rosemary St. Julian, during the football season of their sophomore year. They carried on with the team, Meyer said. "It took a lot of courage to keep going," he said. "They were an inspiration for me."
John is survived by his wife, Kelly; father, James; brothers James and Joseph; sisters Heather, Jean, and Joan; two nephews; and three nieces. Memorial donations are welcome at the John St. Julian Football Memorial Fund or the John St. Julian Scholarship, both care of Central Catholic High School, 2550 Cherry St., Toledo, Ohio, 43608.
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