Newspaper Man
Carter J. Zerbe ’68 earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting at Wichita State and went on to an award-winning 46-year career in the newspaper business.
A retired owner and publisher of the Augusta Daily Gazette, the community paper for Augusta, Kan., Zerbe stayed involved with his alma mater. After contributing $10,000 to WSU’s journalism department in 1986 toward the purchase of a Mycro Tek News Writer computer system, he explained the reason for his gift this way: “We need to put back into the system what we take out. I got an excellent education there (WSU). I wouldn’t trade that education for any other in the world.”
Zerbe served on the advisory committee for Wichita State’s Elliott School of Communication and also was a trustee for the William Allen White School of Journalism and Communications at the University of Kansas, as well as a trustee and a two-time president of the board of trustees for Butler Community College.
In the late 1980s, Zerbe sold the Gazette and took up duties at the Wichita office of the Kansas Press Association. In 1990, he returned to the American Publishing Co.-owned Gazette as publisher. He retired in 2004, but continued his engagement in local journalism by serving on the board of Wichita’s Active Aging newspaper. “It takes hard work and dedication and, of course, there are setbacks,” he once said about community journalism in general and his newspaper, the Gazette, in particular. “But the rough spots come and go.”
Carter Zerbe died March 24, 2012, in Augusta.
— Connie Kachel White
Woman of Conviction
Artist, educator Diane Thomas Lincoln ’77 took after her grandmother — a woman of conviction. “My grandmother was the Vatican for me,” Lincoln shared in a 1991 interview. “She would speak about love, and was the most loving person I’ve ever known. She would speak about justice, and once took a broom after the Ku Klux Klan.”
Lincoln herself – who earned a master’s degree in painting at WSU and as a faculty member co-founded and directed WSU’s Decorative & Ornamental Studies certificate program – was concerned about the withering of Kansas’ spiritual and cultural heritage, and set in motion a series of projects to save, renovate and restore churches built in western Kansas in the late 19th century by immigrants from Germany and Russia.
In 2002, Lincoln and an artist friend collaborated with WSU and local high school students to create Sacred Space, an exhibition that drew some 6,000 visitors to the Ulrich Museum and was honored with a Director’s Choice Award by the Wichita Arts Council.
Lincoln also served as director for Art Forms of the Holocaust, a 1986 art education project whose catalog and bibliography are now in the permanent holdings of the National Holocaust Museum Library Archives, Washington, D.C. While perhaps best known for her liturgical artwork, Lincoln captured with her brushstrokes everything from the existentially engaging expanse of New Mexico landscapes to the ordinary beauty of crows at dusk in a Wichita park.
Diane Lincoln died June 5, 2012, in Wichita.
— Connie Kachel White
No Shrinking Violet
Rebecca “Becky” L. (Humphrey) Long ’70, CPA and owner of Rebecca Long & Associates in Wichita, was described by friends in a 1987 article lauding her volunteer work with the alumni association as “no shrinking violet.” The article goes on to explain that Long was “well-known for her determined spirit and enthusiastic attention to detail” — qualities that stood her in good stead not only with her volunteer duties, but also in her professional career.
Long opened her own business in 1987, having previously worked as a CPA specializing in tax compliance work and investment consultation with Kennedy & Coe in Wichita. She also had been an adjunct instructor of accounting in WSU’s college of business administration for some 10 years.
Her impressive list of volunteer activities with the alumni association features serving as chair of the finance committee, assisting in the development of the Heritage Fund, spearheading efforts to computerize the association’s financial records, working on the Shocker Auction, helping with the mentoring program, chairing the public affairs committee and the Homecoming planning committee — and, from 1990 to 1991, she was the association’s board president.
“Becky was the alumni association’s accounting and financial brains when we were both on the executive board,” reported Dale Richmond ’55/56. “When she was in charge of a project, I never worried.”
Becky Long died July 8, 2012, in Wichita.
— Connie Kachel White
The Rock
Warren E. (Armstrong) Jabali ’76 played basketball only three years as a Shocker (1965-68), but the versatile 6-foot-2 guard-forward scored 1,301 points and brought down 839 rebounds, averaging 16.7 points and 10.8 rebounds a game and leading his teams in assists and rebounding all three of his seasons at WSU. He was inducted into the Shocker Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.
At WSU during the turbulent mid-1960s, Armstrong (who later changed his name to Jabali, “the rock” in Swahili) not only played stand-out basketball, but also became a spokesman for equal rights through the Black Power Movement.
James Rhatigan, WSU dean emeritus of students, describes him as an “incredibly athletic, powerful and iconoclastic man.” Armstrong took pride in taking a strong stand on civil rights, says Shocker teammate Ron Mendell ’69. “He was truly a complicated guy: wildly intelligent, terribly stubborn and incredibly talented,” Mendell wrote in a tribute to Jabali posted at the Wichita Eagle’s kansas.com.
After his collegiate career, Jabali played in the old American Basketball Association for eight years (1968-75), was the league’s Rookie of the Year in the 1968-69 season and, in 1973, was MVP of the ABA All-Star game. “After basketball,” Mendell wrote, “Warren never lost his fire as an activist, and he seemed to find his true calling in the Miami area school system. He taught elementary school for years and was considered a beloved teacher and community leader.”
Warren Jabali died July 13, 2012, in Miramar, Fla.
— Connie Kachel White
Duct Tape & Determination
Melvin “Mel” H. Snyder ’50, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering and director emeritus of the Center for Basic and Applied Research at the National Institute for Aviation Research at WSU, was a World War II veteran who served in the 9th Air Force as an aircraft engineering officer for the P-47 Thunderbolt pursuit aircraft in England, France and Germany, and was engaged in the Battle of Normandy and the campaigns of northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe.
Instrumental in the development of Wichita State’s department of engineering as a separate and respected university entity, Snyder became chair of the department of aeronautical engineering in 1951 and served in that role three more times in his career, for a total of 17 years. He also served stints as both acting and assistant dean of engineering, and was a key associate and then director of NIAR’s Center for Basic and Applied Research. His research efforts centered on work on delta wings, agricultural-aircraft design and wind energy conservation systems.
In 1996, a few years after his retirement, he wrote The History of the College of Engineering, Wichita State University. For his many and varied achievements, he was presented the 1998 University Recognition Award by the WSU Alumni Association.
Mel Snyder died Feb. 25, 2012, in Wichita.
— Connie Kachel White
Beautiful Fighter
After earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Wichita State, Kelli L. Frazier ’89/10 began her professional career in advertising and public relations, working at a handful of ad agencies in Wichita and Kansas City, Mo., including MMG Worldwide, before joining the staff of the WSU Foundation as a development director in 2001.
“Kelli was a punk intern at the ad agency where we both worked years ago, an intern who needed brought down a couple notches,” says Bob Hamrick, retired Sullivan Higdon & Sink vice president. “So I pushed her hard, and she fought back. And I saw there was something special about this one.”
After a decade in the advertising business and two years at the foundation, where she targeted her development efforts on the Barton School of Business, Frazier fell in love with the idea of teaching. With characteristic vigor, she pursued a teaching certificate, got a job at Pleasant Valley Middle School and later earned a master’s degree in education from WSU.
In 2006, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatment led to remission, but in 2010 she was faced with a terminal diagnosis. “I have two choices,” Frazier said. “I can attack it, or roll over and die. I’m staying as positive as possible.”
Frazier and Hamrick lost touch for awhile after working together at SHS. He says, “I began to hear stories of this wonderful teacher with the same name. And then I read about this woman, screaming out loud, kicking, fighting cancer. Same name. Same sharp, beautiful soul.”
Kelli Frazier died Oct. 14, 2012, in Wichita.
— Connie Kachel White
Donald A. Achenbach ’38, retired internal revenue agent with the U.S. Treasury Department, former Kansas Department of Human Resources staff member and World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was a pow in Germany after his plane was shot down during a mission in support of the Battle of the Bulge, April 27, 2012, Salina, Kan.
Ruby K. (Wilson) Alberts ’51, retired speech language pathologist Feb. 14, 2012, Wichita.
Elizabeth “Beth” A. Alexander ’81, high school English and speech teacher; actress who performed at many local venues, including the Kechi Community Playhouse, and with Music Theatre of Wichita, July 7, 2012, Bel Aire, Kan.
Jean M. (Robinson) Alliston ’67, homemaker, June 27, 2012, Wichita.
A. Elinor (Brownlee) Amstutz ’40, homemaker and former nurse who volunteered at Sage Memorial Hospital on the Navajo reservation in Ganado, Ariz., and also at a Project Concern hospital in Dampao, Vietnam, March 16, 2012, Wichita.
Marian L. (Meyer) Anderson ’47, homemaker, Feb. 27, 2012, Medford, Ore.
Vaughn L. Anderson ’74, Envision Industries national sales account manager, former operations officer at Fourth Financial Corp. and former office services manager at Bank iv, all based in Wichita, March 6, 2012, Wichita.
Carlos E. “Chuck” Aquino ’81, regional manager at Rytec Corp. in Lee’s Summit, Mo., and former Shocker football player who as a tackle wore No. 75, June 2, 2012, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Kathleen “Kathy” A. (Shay) Aring ’73, former social worker for srs and at Via Christi St. Joseph Campus hospital in Wichita, May 12, 2012, Wichita.
Nancy L. (Parsons) Auer ’71, homemaker and retired elementary and middle school teacher who taught in Kansas, Wyoming, Texas and Oklahoma during a 30-year career, Jan. 10, 2012, Broken Arrow, Okla.
James R. Baker ’58, owner and president of Baker & Associates, Valley Center, Kan., whose 37-year career in the estate and financial planning business included experience with Penn Mutual and Alexander Hamilton life insurance companies; community volunteer active in fundraising for wsu’s Cessna Stadium, the Immanuel Outreach Centre Scholarship Trust and the Multiple Sclerosis Society; Korea War veteran who served in the U.S. Army; Jan. 8, 2012, Wichita.
Marjorie L. Bare ’60, retired elementary school teacher who celebrated her 100th birthday in August 2004, Jan. 25, 2012, Douglass, Kan.
Larry L. Barnes ’75, retired Federal Bureau of Prisons unit manager who worked in Englewood, Colo., Lewisburg, Pa., Springfield, Mo., and El Reno, Okla., and at the fbp central office in Washington, D.C., before his retirement in 2000; Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Army, March 21, 2012, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Bradley “Brad” A. Bates fs ’86, Home Depot employee active with the company’s community garden project; former finance major at wsu, who was recognized with a 1984 Spirit Award by the wsu Alumni Association’s Student Alumni Association for “special loyalty and enthusiasm toward the betterment of Wichita State,” Dec. 18, 2011, New York, N.Y.
Danny “Dan” R. Bearden ’75/88, retired Wichita public schools elementary school teacher, 23-year veteran of the Navy Reserve who served one year in Afghanistan, Feb. 15, 2012, Wichita.
L. Gaines Bell ’63, retired pipelines manager at Skelly-Chevron, former Texaco pipelines manager and WWII veteran who served in the Army Air Corps, March 7, 2012, El Dorado, Kan.
Richard L. Bennett ’64, retired systems analyst at CGI, Feb. 19, 2012, Duncan, Okla.
Cloyce M. Bishop ’87, homemaker and former missionary with the North Atlanta Church of Christ in Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 27, 2012, Wichita.
Stephen R. Bloss ’58, retired attorney and U.S. Air Force colonel whose assignments included serving as chief of military justice, chief of foreign criminal jurisdiction and chief of the Defense Services Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General, before completing his 30 years of active duty in 1990 as chief circuit military judge at Lowry afb in Colorado, April 29, 2012, Bossier City, La.
Jodee L. Bock-Gutierrez ’97, psychology graduate who worked at ketch, Wichita Children’s Home, Episcopal Social Services and with the Kansas Juvenile Justice Program in Wichita, March 24, 2012, Wichita.
Phillip A. Bowers ’86/91, assistant director for trio Disability Support Services at wsu, where he worked for 28 years; 1984 recipient of the Marty Waters Memorial Scholarship to WSU and 2007 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award presented by the wsu Alumni Association, May 10, 2012, Wichita.
Nellie G. (Girvin) Boyle ’39, homemaker; former home economics teacher in Cheney, Kan., who later worked at Penn State for its graduate school and college of human development; a 35-year Girl Scout volunteer, March 20, 2012, State College, Pa. In 1989 during a University of Wichita Class of 1939 50-year reunion gathering, she shared a favorite memory of her college days: “One requirement of an advanced foods course was to prepare a luncheon for invited faculty. The student who prepared the pie for one of these luncheons was very pleased when her pies received high evaluations. We all helped her surreptitiously dispose of the large bowl of pumpkin she had forgotten to add to the filling. Spiced custard?”
Ellen A. (Parish) Bradshaw fs ’85, homemaker and retired kindergarten and remedial reading teacher, April 27, 2012, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Clarence D. Broadhead ’78, Vietnam War and Korean War veteran who retired as a command sergeant major after 30 years of service in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard, March 24, 2012, Wichita.
Wesley E. Brown, federal judge appointed by President John F. Kennedy and one of two federal judges to serve until the age of 104; the 2008 recipient of the WSU Alumni Association’s Award of Distinction; university friend, Jan. 23, 2012, Wichita. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, Judge Brown commented, “I hope the courts can keep their independence and not be subservient to the pressures of other branches of government, or other special interests. It is this separation of powers that is vital to our democracy. It’s what makes America what it is.”
Mitchell “Mitch” E. Camp, WSU physical plant staff member, auto mechanic, former owner of State Street Auto, Augusta, Kan., June 25, 2012, Wichita.
Aaron D. Canady ’03, former Spirit AeroSystems mechanic, May 1, 2012, Belle Plaine, Kan.
Kenneth L. Carpenter ’67, retired auditor and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development staff member, former U.S. Department of Defense staff member and U.S. Army veteran, April 30, 2012, Shawnee Mission, Kan.
Earl L. Chandler ’49, retired banker who held leading positions at the Lawrence National Bank, Lawrence, Kan., and the First National Bank of Olathe in Olathe, Kan., where he was president and ceo for 19 years; World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force, March 17, 2012, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Harold “Hal” U. Clark II ’76/76, retired geologist and Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, Jan. 13, 2012, Makikilo, Hawaii.
Charles M. “Skip” Cline Jr. ’53, retired attorney and partner at Wendelken, Cline & Crockett and former attorney at Jochems, Sargent & Blaes, both Wichita-based law firms; retired U.S. Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel, Feb. 16, 2012, Wichita.
Becky L. Coder ’98, private duty nurse, March 4, 2012, Wichita.
Gary F. Crawford ’68, retired farmer, May 20, 2012, Lyons, Kan.
Jolie K. (Bond) Crosby ’93, marketing graduate, sales associate, June 2, 2012, Wichita.
Max E. Cubbage ’82, retired psychologist, March 19, 2012, La Crosse, Wis.
Joseph Culver ’56, businessman, trader and commodity broker whose career included posts as president of Woodward & Dickerson Inc., Bryn Mawr, Pa., and as managing director of Far East operations at Monsanto Chemical Co., Jan. 29, 2012, Wichita.
Evelyn L. (Pratt) Damore ’80, homemaker, retired high school English teacher, Feb. 5, 2012, Wichita.
DeVerne R. Davis ’49, retired grain elevator and farm supplies salesman, Jan. 8, 2012, Wichita.
Mattie W. (Williams) Davis ’77, homemaker, retired elementary school teacher, April 21, 2012, Wichita.
Jack R. Denman ’51, former owner of Jack Denman Insurance Agency, Waco, Texas; WWII veteran who served two years on submarine duty in the U.S. Navy Reserve, Jan. 7, 2012, Waco.
Coker J. Denton ’61, retired educator and director of the Adult Literacy Training Center at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., where he also chaired the reading instruction program for teachers and established and directed reading clinics for children and teacher training, May 29, 2012, Tahlequah.
Deborah A. (Knebler) Dolecek ’74/74, former computer programmer and analyst; founder and president of the Andover Historical Society, May 27, 2012, Andover, Kan.
Gary D. Doty ’79, retired Hawker Beechcraft sheet metal specialist, Jan. 12, 2012, El Dorado, Kan.
Roger O. Doyle ’62/67, professor of music emeritus at the University of Portland, where he taught for nearly 40 years; director (1976-2010) of the Choral Arts Ensemble based in Portland, Ore.; former president of Portland’s classical radio station, kqac; founder and former director of Mock’s Crest Productions, a professional light opera run every summer at the University of Portland’s Mago Hunt Theater; guest lecturer and conductor; noted tuba player and singer who sang with Barry Manilow, studied with Robert Shaw and taught thousands of students to sing, including as an assistant professor of vocal music at St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kan., April 30, 2012, Portland, Ore.
Marlene M. (Batt) Dreiling ’73/78, executive director of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita’s Guadalupe Clinic, Feb. 15, 2012, Wichita.
Catherine “Kay” Drumm ’86, homemaker and retired registered nurse, Feb. 1, 2012, Wichita.
Kenneth “Ken” O. Dunlap ’65/77, retired Wichita public schools educator who during his 37-year career was key in establishing the district’s first Adaptive Physical Education curriculum at Levy Special Education Center in the early 1970s and, in 1996, the Chisholm Life Skills Center, where special students are taught skills helpful in the transition into independent living; special education teacher and coach for 18 years at East High School, where he developed a community-based instruction program assisting special students with job readiness and placement; June 2, 2012, Derby, Kan.
Harold L. Dupont ’69, financial analyst at Granite City Steel, June 26, 2009, Granite City, Ill.
Serena (Wiechert) Eastburn, homemaker and a Wichita State retired staff member who worked for 20 years at the Campus Activities Center information counter, March 23, 2012, Lawrence, Kan.
James “Jim” R. Edwards ’51, retired banker at Mulvane State Bank and Kansas State Bank & Trust; Korean War veteran who served two years in the U.S. Army, May 23, 2012, Mulvane, Kan.
Cleo H. Ellis ’57, retired accountant who served in the U.S. Navy, Feb. 21, 2012, Wichita.
Daniel B. Ellis ’97, psychology graduate who worked at the Mental Health Association in Wichita for 12 years, Jan. 27, 2012, Wichita.
Clarice S. (Shank) Ellsbury ’40, homemaker, Feb. 25, 2012, Columbia, Mo.
William T. Elrick ’63, retired industrial engineer and corporate executive who worked for Beech Aircraft before joining General Electric Co., where he held both domestic and international marketing and sales management positions during his 30-year career, May 18, 2012, Port Charlotte, Fla.
Theresa-Marie (Goodin) Ewing ’35, homemaker who, during wwii, worked at Beech Aircraft in Wichita, July 7, 2012, Dallas.
Robert C. Faris ’85/89, retired aircraft manufacturing businessman, owner of Precision Metalcraft Inc. in Wichita, private investor and pilot who set a world distance record in a Monoplane Mooney Mite in 1951, flying solo from Wichita to Vermont, Jan. 31, 2012, St. Louis.
Janice J. (Fletcher) Fitzgerald ’98, retired National Carriers accountant, April 17, 2012, Liberal, Kan.
Harlan D. “Dutch” Frame Jr. ’55, retired chemistry professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, Okla., and former chemist at Argonne National Laboratories in Lemont, Ill., March 29, 2012, East Lansing, Mich.
Christopher J. Freeding ’71, retired registered nurse, March 29, 2012, Henderson, N.C.
John E. Freeman ’81, U.S. Navy captain and orthodontist whose Navy Dental Corps service included tours of duty in Okinawa, Japan; Rosa, Spain; and at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Great Lakes, Ill., and San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 30, 2012, Kensington, Md.
James J. Froese ’64, artist and educator who taught at Jacksonville State University in Alabama and then at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he directed the art extension program, May 17, 2012, Columbia. A prolific and versatile artist with many honors to his credit, including a Ford Foundation Purchase Award from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo., Froese is best known for his paintings, drawings and assemblages. Early on in his career, when a scholarship student at the Kansas City Art Institute, he served as an apprentice to Thomas Hart Benton.
Dorothy E. (Schneider) Froning, professor emeritus of romance languages at WSU who began her career as an assistant professor of Spanish at the University of Wichita in 1947 and went on to serve as chair of WSU’s department of romance languages and to direct the department’s summer program in Puebla, Mexico, six separate times; 1980 recipient of the George A. Lewis Award for Creativity and Innovation in Teaching presented by wsu’s Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; wwii member of waves, discharged in April 1945, March 9, 2012, Wichita.
Robert “Bobby” D. Fuller ’70, retired computer technician, U.S. Army veteran, April 20, 2012, Wichita.
Dean C. Funk ’56/61, retired educator, coach and a 1996 Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee; former elementary school teacher who then coached track and field and taught special education at a number of high schools, including Lew Clark High School in Las Vegas, Nev., where he helped lead teams to three state track-and-field championships before his retirement in 1991, June 3, 2012, Las Vegas.
Norma D. (Vanderslice) George ’66, retired elementary school teacher, Nov. 24, 2011, Hutchinson, Kan.
Robert C. Glazier ’49, retired owner, editor and publisher of Springfield! Magazine in Springfield, Mo., former president of the Southern Educational Communications Association in Columbia, S.C., former general manager of the educational station KETC-TV in St. Louis, Mo., former general manager of the educational station WDCN-TV in Nashville, former associate director of television and radio with the Methodist Church headquartered in Nashville, former public relations director at Springfield public schools, former journalism instructor and public information director at WU, former assistant editor at the Wichita Eagle and U.S. Army sergeant who performed in Army bands at a number of posts around the country, Feb. 19, 2012, Springfield.
Doris N. (McFarland) Godwin-Nyberg ’85, retired rn who worked for 35 years at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, April 14, 2012, Wichita.
Irving M. Goodman ’51, retired owner and operator of Goodman Tractor Parts in Wichita and a Korean War veteran who served as a U.S. Army corporal, May 8, 2012, Flint, Texas.
Craig P. Goscha ’82, health-care administrator at Methodist Health Systems in Omaha, Neb., May 1, 2012, Omaha.
Howard C. Goss fs ’33, retired farmer and grain-and-milling business manager who worked for a number of companies, including KBR Milling in McPherson, Kan., and Kansas Milling and Cargill in Wichita, May 21, 2012, Wichita.
Diane L. (Leahy) Gough ’87/88, speech-language pathologist, July 16, 2012, Andover, Kan.
Arlie J. (Becker) Graham ’57, homemaker, retired Department of Social Services energy-assistance program director in Frederick, Md., June 26, 2012, Frederick.
Richard J. Graves ’50, retired accountant and wwii veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, March 28, 2012, Olathe, Kan.
Fern L. Greathouse ’57, retired Social and Rehabilitation Services social worker and director of social services and pastoral care at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City, Kan.; former elementary school teacher who taught at schools in rural Finney County, Kan., and in Garden City and Prairie Village, Kan., April 27, 2012, Garden City.
J. Richard “Dick” Green ’49, retired petroleum geologist and co-owner of Green and Green Consulting Geologists and of Green Oil Operations; WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Navy as an aviation machinist, April 30, 2012, Hays, Kan.
Charles “Charlie” C. Grimm ’50, retired life insurance salesman, farmer and WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, June 2, 2012, Rose Hill, Kan.
Henry H. Hall ’61, retired Wisconsin Conference United Methodist Church ordained elder and former salesman at Western Publishing, May 3, 2012, Greendale, Wis.
Robert E. Harber ’48, retired Internal Revenue Service accountant and WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Navy as an aircraft mechanic, Dec. 30, 2011, Newton, Kan.
Joe B. Hatcher ’60, retired First Commercial Bank vice chairman and retired educator whose career in higher education encompassed serving as chair of the department of English at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., as vice president for college relations and development at Albion College in Albion, Mich., and as president of Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., from 1981 until 1991, June 1, 2012, Conway.
John A. Hawk ’63, retired research psychologist with the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.; U.S. Air Force veteran who served as a foreign language specialist, Jan. 16, 2012, Bowie, Md.
Ivan B. Hays ’62, retired social worker and U.S. Navy serviceman, March 7, 2012, Wichita.
David W. Herrold ’72, ceramist and professor emeritus of art at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., where he was a member of the faculty for 36 years, May 31, 2012, Greencastle.
Myrna A. (Brewster) Hershberger ’58, homemaker, accompanist and retired elementary and middle school strings teacher who was named the 1987 Bartlesville Teacher of the Year, Jan. 7, 2012, Bartlesville, Okla.
William “Bill” P. Higgins ’54, business antitrust and condemnation lawyer, March 19, 2012, Wichita.
Laura (Nell) Hill ’66, homemaker and retired executive assistant to the president at Milligan College in Tennessee, Dec. 11, 2011, Johnson City, Tenn.
Richard “Dick” B. Holloway ’50/58, retired chief of preliminary design at Boeing in Wichita, where as an engineer, manager and project director he was involved in many innovative aircraft projects, including the development of the B-47, the first swept-wing jet; Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Army and awarded the Silver Star, March 5, 2012, Wichita.
Edith D. (Firth) Huffman ’73, homemaker and retired occupational therapist, Jan. 27, 2012, McPherson, Kan.
Derith M. Hughes ’62, psychiatric social worker, Feb. 27, 2002, San Diego, Calif.
Bernice B. (Ray) Hutcherson, Wichita State assistant professor emeritus of social work who also served as interim field director for the WSU sociology and social work department after her retirement; the 1994 recipient of the Laura Cross Distinguished Service Award presented by the WSU Alumni Association; retired Kansas Social and Rehabilitative Services social worker, May 3, 2012, Wichita.
Clara J. (Martin) Jacobson ’69, homemaker and reading tutor, April 9, 2012, Billings, Mont.
Keith A. Jones fs ’86, research engineer at Vulcan Chemicals, July 14, 2012, Wichita.
E. Stanley “Stan” Kardatzke, former WSU tennis coach who led the Shockers to back-to-back MVC championships in 1978 and 1979; physician who served as Southeast Colorado Hospital chief of staff and medical director for hospice, home health-care and nursing services in Baca County, Colo.; founder and former chairman of the hmos Health Care Plus (1981-84) and Physicians Corp. of America (1985-97), March 14, 2012, Springfield, Colo.
Jennie L. (Tarr) Kight ’82, retired public school teacher who began her 45 years of teaching in a one-room schoolhouse, June 10, 2012, Mulvane, Kan.
Helen Kornelsen ’57, retired Mennonite missionary who spent 37 years working and teaching in India, May 15, 2012, Watrous, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Rudolph V. Kreutzer ’56, retired music educator who served as K-12 administrator of music for 21 years at South Orange-Maplewood public schools in New Jersey, where he also conducted the Columbia High School orchestra; French horn player and instructor; former high school music director in New Jersey and New York, and former music teacher at Wichita public schools; decorated WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Army as a sergeant, landing on Omaha Beach in June 1944, April 28, 2012, Toms River, N.J.
Susan J. (King) LaForge ’67, former journalist who was managing editor of the Times Observer in Los Gatos, Calif., and who, as a student at WSU, was news editor of the Sunflower; former executive manager of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce; former senior project director of the National Council on Aging’s San Jose region, Feb. 7, 2012, San Jose, Calif.
Roland H. Lakes fs ’61, retired professional football player, former standout Wichita State offensive lineman and charter Shocker Sports Hall of Fame inductee (1979), All-Missouri Valley Conference center in 1959 and 1960, second-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in 1961 who played 10 of his 11 NFL seasons with the 49ers, starting 124 games from 1961 through 1970 and finishing his pro career with the New York Giants in 1971, March 5, 2012, San Pablo, Calif.
C. Robert “Bob” Lambert ’54, retired teacher, U.S. Air Force veteran, Jan. 26, 2012, Irving, Texas.
Ruth (Granner) Lawrence fs ’32, homemaker, Alpha Tau sorority member and former secretary and accounting assistant, Jan. 23, 2012, Richmond, Va.
Robert D. Lawless, WSU professor of anthropology who joined the faculty in 1992 as a socio-cultural anthropologist and undergraduate advisor and later served as chair of the anthropology department (1996-1999); former University of Florida associate professor of anthropology and African studies; former editor and journalist; military serviceman who volunteered for the National Security Agency and was stationed on the border of the former USSR and Germany where he helped gather information for the usa about the movements of the Soviet army; former English literature teacher at Brent School in Baguio, Philippines, Feb. 2, 2012, Wichita. A noted scholar and prolific writer, Lawless used an integrative approach to the study of the cognitive and ecological aspects of people’s beliefs and behaviors. While his most recent fieldwork focused on Haitians in Haiti and Florida, he earlier worked in Southeast Asia for seven years studying urban scavengers in Manila, peasants on the Central Plain of Luzon and headhunters in the North Luzon Highlands. He also worked in New York City researching the social organization of hospitals and the survival strategies of street people.
James H. Lindamood ’65, retired food-service project designer, Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, July 15, 2012, El Dorado, Kan.
William C. Littlejohn ’72, retired U.S. Postal Service carrier in Tulsa, Okla., and U.S. Air Force veteran, March 8, 2012, Oswego, Kan.
Susan P. (Ferris) Mamary ’73, elementary school teacher who taught for 24 years in Tulsa, Okla., including 17 as a third grade teacher at Marquette Catholic School, Feb. 12, 2012, Tulsa.
Gordon R. Mardis ’77, CPA, substitute teacher and umpire who also referreed high school and college basketball games, July 3, 2012, Wichita.
Owen C. McEwen, university friend, civic leader and businessman with various real estate interests, including developing and owning the Prairie Village Shopping Center and McEwen Estates in Wichita; past president of Steffen Dairy Foods Co.; a founder and former director of KAKE Radio and TV; founding director of the Law Construction Co.; owner of the Jameel Arabian Farm, which, at its apex, had more than 200 head of Arabian horses and boasted the oldest continually bred strand of Arabians in the United States; WWII veteran who served in the last detachment of the U.S. Calvary and helped open the Burma Road, Feb. 8, 2012, Wichita.
Edwin W. Merkel ’62, owner of Merkel Airplane Co. and retired aeronautical engineer who worked at Learjet, Cessna and Boeing Aircraft, and who designed, built and flew the experimental all-metal aerobatic biplane, the Merkel Mark IIC Maverick, first flown April 11, 1973; WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Army and, after the war, in the U.S. Air Force and Kansas Air National Guard, retiring in 1972, and in the Air Force Reserve, from which he retired in 1978, March 12, 2012, Valley Center, Kan.
Robert R. Meyers, professor emeritus of English at Wichita State, where he was a Biblical, English and American literature scholar and author of two books and more than 100 journal articles; retired minister who moved to Wichita in 1960, ministering at Riverside Church, then Plymouth Congregational and, in 1983, becoming the founding minister for the University Congregational Church; U.S. Army correspondent in England during WWII, Jan. 8, 2012, Bellingham, Wash.
Edwin B. Miller Jr. ’36, retired vice president in charge of First National Bank of Midwest City operations at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma; retired U.S. Air Force colonel whose military service included flying 51 combat missions during WWII as a B24 pilot and group commander with the 7th Air Force in Alaska, serving as chief of staff of USAF headquarters in Europe and commanding the 2854th Air Base Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, April 5, 2009, Oklahoma City, Okla.
James E. Miller ’40, retired salesman and WWII veteran who served as a liaison pilot and retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, June 13, 2012, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Charlotte E. Mills ’62/67, retired speech language reading specialist and speech consultant, March 31, 2010, Wichita.
Elizabeth S. Moore ’66, homemaker and retired librarian, teacher, Oct. 16, 2011, Bellingham, Wash.
Donna D. (Wiedower) Neal ’77, homemaker and retired physical therapist who maintained a private practice specializing in pediatric physical therapy and also provided therapy to families through Butler County (Kan.) Special Education for some 35 years, March 17, 2012, El Dorado, Kan.
Glendale B. Norris ’66, retired clinical social worker who maintained a private practice and also worked at Prairie View in Newton, Kan., and the Atishwin Drug & Alcohol Treatment Center in Wichita; Assembly of God minister in Augusta, Kan., St. John, Kan., and Garnett, Kan., March 12, 2012, Wichita.
Benjamin “Ben” L. Owen ’52, retired Boeing engineer with 32 years of service; former Wichita Police Department officer and police court judge for the city of Derby, Kan.; former manager of the Kansas State Employment Services office in McPherson, Kan.; WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force in the South Pacific and South America,
June 5, 2012, Eureka, Kan.
Janet Oxley ’35, home economist, retired Wichita public schools assistant director of food services, April 24, 2012, Medicine Lodge, Kan.
Elinor L. (Margrave) Patton ’47, homemaker, May 25, 2012, Golden, Colo.
Larry F. Payne fs ’52, principal founder and chairman of the board of Daland Corp., a large Pizza Hut franchisee based in Wichita; former Pizza Hut Inc. executive; U.S. Navy veteran; active WSU Alumni Association member who served on the board of directors, was a Shocker Auction co-chair, purchaser, contributor and underwriter, as well as the host, along with his wife Jeannie, of numerous Shocker alumni gatherings, July 16, 2012, Wichita. Of the many alumni get-togethers Payne was key in helping organize for the alumni association, perhaps the most unusual happened June 1, 1984, at the Paynes’ east Wichita home. The Amazing Feets: The Shocker Party of the Year featured — according to the handcrafted invitation — juggling, break-dancing, soft-shoe and song-and-dance performances, as well as an event finale titled “Woo Shock, Woo Shock.”
William “Bill” F. Peppard III ’71, U.S. Navy veteran and 39-year sales representative at Printing Inc. in Wichita, Feb. 19, 2012, Rose Hill, Kan.
Lorene M. (Fabrizius) Pinno ’58, retired speech therapist and volunteer English teacher at a Lutheran mission school in Papua New Guinea, Sept. 4, 2011, Alberta, Canada.
Charles E. Porter ’75/80, retired Air Force veteran, Sedgwick County Mental Health Department registered nurse and Home Health Care Agency psychiatric nurse, March 26, 2012, Wichita.
Ruth N. (Yeager) Porter ’58, homemaker and retired teacher, Jan. 16, 2012, Haysville, Kan.
Paul E. Pritchard ’60/66, Wichita public schools elementary school teacher and principal who retired as superintendant of transportation; U.S. Army veteran, Feb. 10, 2012, Valley Center, Kan.
Patrick E. Quaney ’58, industrial engineer and owner of Quaney Plastics and Mold Manufacturing Inc. in Anaheim, Calif.; Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Army, Jan. 11, 2012, Wichita.
Roscoe R. Reagan ’50, former design engineer at Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Okla.; retired program manager at Beech Aircraft in Wichita; wwii veteran who served in the Army Air Corps as a flying instructor and B-29 bomber pilot, Jan. 6, 2012, Wichita.
Lyle B. Reed ’53, accountant who worked as a field agent for the IRS, for Continental Oil and for 30 years at the Burroughs Corp. until his retirement in 1986; U.S. Army veteran who served three years with the National Security Agency, Nov. 21, 2011, Houston, Texas.
Oliver O. Riffel ’61, retired English and social studies teacher, Jan. 14, 2012, Wichita.
Lewis R. Riley ’40, retired U.S. Air Force colonel whose military career included serving during WWII in the South Pacific with the 73rd Bomb Wing, 499th Bomb Group, which in February 1945 was stationed in Saipan to fly bombing missions over Japan, then after WWII serving in the operations and command field at a number of stateside bases, including McConnell AFB in Wichita, as well as overseas in Germany and Guam and, during the Vietnam War, as base commander of Phan Rang AFB in Vietnam, March 3, 2012, Olathe, Kan.
Carolyn A. Risley Hill ’74, retired ceo at Starkey Inc., Wichita’s oldest agency that serves people with developmental disabilities; former social worker and director of Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services for the Wichita area, March 20, 2012, Wichita.
Jan E. (Tholen) Saab ’85, homemaker, retired English teacher at Newton High School in Newton, Kan., and former sixth grade teacher in Shawnee Mission, Kan., Feb. 14, 2012, Newton, Kan.
Carl M. Saft ’62, retired Small Business Administration loan officer and U.S. Air Force veteran, May 14, 2009, Arvada, Colo.
Norman R. Sandell ’56, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, April 25, 2012, Carlsbad, Calif.
Perry “Pete” T. Sandlin ’70, retired medical technologist, May 31, 2012, Wichita.
Jeri L. Schall ’76, educator at Valley Christian Schools, where she served as teacher, vice principal, principal and preschool director, May 31, 2012, Dublin, Calif.
Ralph J. Schaffer ’67, retired U.S. Post Office mail handler, retired Army SFC, Dec. 8, 2011, Derby, Kan.
Clayton H. Shaw ’77/91, retired Sumner (Kan.) County Family Care Center physician assistant, May 27, 2012, Mulvane, Kan.
Melvin “Mel” L. Shelton ’56, retired professor of bands and director of music at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, where he helped establish the BSU Jazz Festival and the annual bsu Marching Workshop for high school drum majors, color guards, drill teams and directors; former director of bands and orchestra at Boise High School; former principal trumpet with the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra and solo cornetist and conductor of the Boise Municipal Band; published composer of more than a dozen works for concert band, June 1, 2012, Boise.
Kenneth V. Siler ’75, accounting graduate who worked at Koch Industries for 34 years, Air Force veteran, Dec. 13, 2011, Wichita.
Cynthia R. (Grillot) Silfer ’86, physician board certified in anesthesiology, July 1, 2012, Utica, N.Y.
Sarah N. Simpson ’83/87, homemaker and retired English as a Second Language teacher at Wichita public schools, Jan. 5, 2012, Wichita.
Clarence A. “C.A.” Snow ’61, retired accountant and Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, Jan. 23, 2012, Granbury, Texas.
Frederic W. Snyder ’49/51, retired Boeing principal engineer who worked in Wichita before transferring to Huntsville, Ala., to work on the International Space Station; WWIIveteran who served in the Army in the South Pacific, Jan. 5, 2012, Harvest, Ala.
Philip W. Solter ’68, retired social worker, April 21, 2012, Wichita.
Norma L. (Van Diest) Sowell ’65/79, homemaker, retired Wichita public schools elementary school music educator and former piano teacher, Dec. 7, 2011, Wichita.
Thomas J. “T.J.” Stohr ’99, physical therapist at the Cameron Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cameron, Mo. Dec. 29, 2011, Saint Joseph, Mo.
Nellie M. (Rogers) Sumner ’43, retired grade school librarian and junior high school literature teacher in Onaga, Kan., who also taught home economics at high schools in the Kansas communities of Havensville, Soldier and Centralia, Jan. 20, 2012, Havensville, Kan.
Robert “Bob” M. Sweazy ’62/66, former Shocker tight end and defensive end, retired educator who joined the civil engineering faculty at Texas Tech University in Lubbock in 1970, going on to serve in many roles, including as director of the university’s Water Resources Center, as vice president and dean of the graduate school, as the university’s chief research officer and, for 20 years, as Texas Tech’s faculty athletics representative to the NCAA, Big 12 and College Football Association, July 5, 2012, Lubbock.
Elizabeth B. (Gates) Swinson ’59/66, retired Wichita public schools teacher and psychologist, Feb. 26, 2012, Wichita.
Vera L. (Tomb) Syfert ’44, homemaker, former bookkeeper for the Syfert Tree business and former secretary who worked for the chief of police in Wichita and at the health department in Pasadena, Calif., Jan. 9, 2012, Cathedral City, Calif.
Louis E. Tandy ’50, retired minister who preached for 29 years at Wichita’s Northside Church of Christ and who often appeared on the congregation’s television ministry program Know Your Bible; retired Wichita junior high English teacher; U.S. Army veteran who served two years as a physical reconditioning instructor, Jan. 1, 2012, Wichita.
Ronald L. Tannehill ’73/73/75, retired assistant professor and graduate program director at Washburn University, Topeka, Kan.; former director of education, training and research at the Topeka State Hospital; former police officer in Wichita and Hutchinson, Kan.; 11-year veteran of the Kansas Air National Guard, April 5, 2012, Topeka, Kan.
Joe C. Taylor Jr. ’95, U.S. Air Force veteran twice presented nco of the year awards for his technical training group; Wichita Eagle circulation accounting manager, May 29, 2012, Wichita.
Marjorie L. “M.L.” Taylor, retired financial management consultant and former director of WSU’s Center for Urban Studies, April 2, 2012, Wichita.
Mark A. Thompkins ’82, driver for Electric Wholesalers in Hartford, Conn.; former youth services officer at the State of Connecticut Long Lane School; former Shocker football player, June 13, 2012, Middletown, Conn.
Janet B. (Jones) Thompson ’72, former vice president of human services at the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation in Wichita who helped found the Independent Living Center, also in Wichita, June 13, 2012, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Julie D. (Tarum) Tidd ’84, adjunct music instructor at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kan.; former junior high instrumental music teacher and Iola High School band director, May 13, 2012, Iola.
Melissa M. Tweedy ’02, WSU criminal justice graduate, May 4, 2012, Wichita.
Marietta Urban ’69, Dominican sister who served as director of Harvest House in the Diocese of Wichita, as a senior companion at the Mental Health Foundation of Wichita and as a sixth-grade teacher at Wichita’s Magdalen School, March 1, 2012, Great Bend, Kan.
Roger D. Vaughan ’56, composer and arranger noted for works for the tuba, including more than 50 arrangements for the Tubadours, the first professional tuba quartet; California State University-Fullerton professor of music emeritus, who taught at the university for more than 30 years; former instructor at the University of Wichita (1956-60) and member of the Wichita Symphony (tuba), whose “Centennial Symphony” was selected as the official orchestral composition for the Kansas centennial celebration in 1961; Jan. 22, 2012, Palmer Lake, Colo.
James H. Wagner Jr. ’64, retired electrical engineer who specialized in air quality projects and worked at Beech Aircraft and the Westinghouse Georesearch Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., and then, for 12 years before his retirement in 2002, at Air Resource Specialists in Fort Collins, Colo., May 9, 2012, Fort Collins.
Jimmie “Jim” E. Walker ’49, retired oil scout at Amoco Oil Co. in Tyler, Texas, and Jackson, Miss.; volunteer active at the Mississippi Museum of Art, the St. Dominic Hospital and the Mended Hearts of Jackson, an organization he helped start to counsel heart surgery patients; WWII veteran who served in the U.S. Army’s infantry finance unit and continued his service after the war in the Air Force Reserve, June 22, 2012, Madison, Miss.
William H. Watson II ’67, Church of God in Christ ordained elder who in 1983 became one of the youngest persons to be consecrated as a bishop as the Jurisdictional Prelate, Texas Northwest Jurisdiction; saxophonist, former music teacher at Kansas junior high and high schools in Arkansas City, Dexter and Kansas City, and former band director at Estacado High School and Alderson Junior High School in Lubbock, Texas, Feb. 29, 2012, Lubbock.
Maurice D. Wear ’58, retired professor, chair of the department of educational administration and adult education, and associate dean of the college of education at the University of Wyoming; former teacher and principal in public schools in Kansas, Dec. 24, 2011, Laramie, Wyo.
Timothy E. Wetzel ’01, mechanical engineer at Learjet, Dec. 28, 2011, Augusta, Kan.
Norman C. Whitcomb ’39, retired auditor and administrative services manager at Employers Mutual Casualty Co.; former timekeeper at Cessna Aircraft; supervisor at Cardwell Manufacturing Co.; inventory clerk at Kansas Gas & Electric; and saxophonist and clarinetist who played in big bands in the 1930s and ’40s, May 3, 2012, Wichita.
Verlyn E. White ’61, farmer/rancher and industrial engineer who opened his own consulting and surveying business, White’s Engineering, in 1971 in Oswego, Kan., selling his firm in 2004 and continuing his career as an engineering consultant for the city of Galena, Kan., April 27, 2012, Oswego.
David A. Wise ’81, Wichita State physical plant supervisor, former owner of Pip Printing and retired U.S. Army master sergeant, June 2, 2012, Wichita.
Swana L. (Hess) Brooks Wittgow ’74, retired special education teacher who taught in Melbourne, Australia, and in Quinlan, Kan., and Wichita, Dec. 23, 2011, Denton, Texas.
Gene D. Young ’55, businessman who worked at Beech Aircraft, Case Tractor and General Dynamics, among others, before starting his own general contracting business, Metroplex Handling Systems, March 27, 2012, Fort Worth, Texas.
Dean K. Zellers ’67, retired world history and social sciences teacher, April 10, 2012, Chapman, Kan.
