Obituaries | 1920-1929

RALPH K. WHITE, 100, a psychologist, professor, and government official who studied the psychological causes of war, died Dec. 25, 2007. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his degree with high distinction in psychology, he received his PhD from Stanford University. An award-winning psychologist, he taught at several universities before becoming a federal official. He served in many capacities in government, wrote numerous books and papers, and had been president of various professional organizations, including Psychologists for Social Responsibility. Among the first people to analyze how underlying psychological causes and misunderstandings can lead nations to engage in warfare, he was perhaps best known for his theory distinguishing between empathy and sympathy for one’s adversaries. He was the brother of the late Lyman N. White ’28. His daughter, Dorothy White, from his first marriage to Eleanor Lack White, died, as did his second and third wives. Survivors include a son from his first marriage; nephews Kirby White ’59, Duffield White ’62, and Benjamin White ’66; and niece Bliss White McIntosh ’75.

HUBERT H. SCHWERDTLE ’28, 98, the former president of the Schwerdtle Stamp Company in Bridgeport, Conn., died Oct. 10, 2003. A member of Alpha Chi Rho, he had been active on community boards and commissions in Monroe. Predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth, and a daughter, survivors include two sons, including John B. Schwerdtle ’52, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

RALPH A. MEAD ’28, a personnel supervisor with the New York Telephone Company for nearly 40 years, died Oct. 8, 2003. He was 97 was and predeceased by his wife, Altina Gervin Mead. An piano player, he was also the librarian for his local community orchestra. His brother, Stuart Mead ’27, died in 1991. He is survived by his son and his daughter, Barbara Anthony, who is the wife of J. Danforth Anthony Jr. ’57 and the daughter-in-law of Julian Anthony ’28. Their mutual granddaughter is Susan H. Anthony ’87. In addition, he leaves three other grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

JULIAN D. ANTHONY, 102, a trustee and emeritus trustee of Wesleyan for more than 50 years, and the first president of the Hartford Life Insurance Company, died June 26, 2009. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he received his Wesleyan degree with honors and also received a law degree from Northeastern University in 1943. He joined the Columbian National Life Insurance Company in 1931 and held a number of positions in its financial and investment areas before he was elected its president in 1947. When the company was acquired by The Hartford Insurance Group in 1960, he became the first president and a director of Hartford Life Insurance Company. He remained as president of that company until his retirement in 1966, and as a director until 1977. A director of several other companies, including Hartford Fire Insurance Company and New England Merchants National Bank, as well as of various business and industry organizations, he held leadership positions in a wide variety of educational, religious, and other charitable organizations. In 1968 he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Wesleyan. He also served as secretary for his class, writing notes for the Wesleyan magazine. At the time of her death in 1993, he had been married for 61 years to Eleanor Hopkins Anthony. A daughter also predeceased him. Among those who survive are three sons, including J. Danford Anthony Jr. ’57; a son–in–law; three daughters–in–law; many grandchildren, including Susan H. Anthony ’87, and many great–grandchildren.

KARL D. HARTZELL, who in 1962 as executive dean in the Albany office of the Central Administration of the New York State University system was sent on assignment for a year as acting chief administrative officer and dean of Arts and Sciences at the new University Center at Stony Brook, and who remained there until his retirement in 1971, died Dec. 6, 2008. He was 102. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he was the nephew of Robert C. Hartzell of the Class of 1902. He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Wesleyan and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving a Ph.D. in history at Harvard University he taught at several colleges before joining the New York State War Council, which led to the publication of his book,The Empire State at War: World War II. He then joined the administrative staff at the then–new Brookhaven National Laboratory and from there returned to higher education as a college dean before becoming executive dean of the New York State University system. At Stony Brook he performed the duties of president for three years while a search for a permanent head was continuing, and he remained as administrative officer in the office of the president until he retired, successfully guiding the structure and substance of the new university campus and the development of a comprehensive health sciences center there. After he retired, he concentrated on specialized areas of human thought and experience, which culminated in the publication of his last book, The Laws of the Living: American Values in Action. His first wife, Anna Lomas Hartzell, predeceased him. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Farnum Guibord; three sons, including K. Drew Hartzell Jr. ’60 and Richard L. Hartzell ’65; a granddaughter; and two great–granddaughters.

MILTON ALEX ’27 died Dec. 21, 2002 at age 97. The recipient of a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He retired as a manager for the State of Connecticut Records Center and had previously owned a shoe store. Survivors include his wife, Minnie Weisman Alex, a daughter, two grandsons, a brother, and a sister.

OSCEOLA CURRIER McEWEN, M.D., former dean of New York University School of Medicine, world-renowned rheumatologist, and international award-winning hybridizer of Siberian and Japanese irises, died June 23, 2003 at age 101. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he received his degree with honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a medical degree from New York University School of Medicine; he also received honorary degrees from Wesleyan and from Marietta (Ohio) College. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army, establishing hospitals for wounded Allied soldiers and serving as chief consultant in medicine for the European Theater of Operations. Initially a researcher at the Rockefeller Institute, he joined the faculty at the New York University School of Medicine in 1932 and served in both clinical and administrative posts. During this time he established the Rheumatic Disease Study Group at the school, a pioneering interdisciplinary research effort that helped to usher in the era of modern rheumatology. He not only served as dean of the medical school, but also as director of NYU’s University Hospital and of Bellevue Hospital. After his retirement as professor of medicine in 1970, he continued to see patients pro bono in various parts of Maine. During one of his trips to northern Maine, his wife, Kay Cogswell McEwen, was killed in a tragic automobile accident. In Maine he did most of his hybridizing and maintained his flower gardens, developing registered new varieties. Until his late nineties, he continued to make cross-hybridizations in his garden, as well as to write books and journal articles, both about medicine and about Japanese and Siberian irises. Among those who survive are his wife, Elisabeth Fulkerson McEwen, three daughters, a son, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.