CHARLES E. RUSSELL, associate professor of chemistry at Muhlenberg College and a specialist in organometallic chemistry, died Jan. 26, 2012, at age 55. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Colorado State University. After post-doctoral work in Paris, France, he joined the faculty of Muhlenberg in 1988. He was also an active community volunteer. Survivors include his wife, Winifred Neifert Russell, and several cousins.
JEFFREY D. ROTHBERG, 52, a screenwriter and film and television producer, died Oct. 9, 2009. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. Survivors include his wife, Meg Rothberg, two children, his mother, and his sister.
ELIZABETH (LIZ) MARINER, 52, an executive who had been associated with several large corporations and was also an active handweaver, died May 21, 2007. She was in the College of Letters and later received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Most recently she worked for the Upjohn Company and for the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo (Mich.). An Olin Associate, she provided for Wesleyan in her will. Her husband, David Magerlein, and her brother survive, as do many friends. (For more information, see the Boston Globe on 5/24/2007.)
DORATHEA ANN LINDBECK, 54, an artist, bookbinder, and teacher, died Sept. 5, 2011. She received an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art. Survivors include her husband, William D. Stempel, one son, and a brother and two sisters.
ANN G. FARRAR, home in Wilton, CT, on the evening of July 17 of ovarian cancer. She was 49. Ann (or Nan, as she was known to many) was born Thanksgiving Day in 1956 in New Haven to William Gregg Farrar and Lucy Brady Farrar. She grew up in Guilford, CT, where she attended Guilford schools, and to which she has maintained close ties throughout her life. Ann also loved Cushings Island, Portland, Maine, and Kington, England, where she had spent significant time throughout her life. She graduated from Wesleyan University, cum laude, in 1978, and went to live in Madrid, Spain where she worked for several years for the Fulbright Commission. With this experience she began her lifelong interest in international education, an interest encouraged by her aunt, Barbara Burn, a pioneer in the field. Ann attended Harvard University School of Education, earning an M.Ed in Education Administration in 1982, and then the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, earning an M.A. in International Development in 1984. Ann worked in international programs in Costa Rica, Mexico, Washington DC and El Salvador before joining Save the Children Federation in Westport Connecticut, as Program Manager/Operations Director for the Latin American and Caribbean Region. Ann belonged to the Congregational Church in Wilton. An optimist by nature, Ann looked for the best in every person and every situation. She had a tremendous appetite for new and different experiences, paid attention to the big picture while working to perfect the little details, and was a people person, making sure that she connected with everybody who entered her life in whatever capacity. With the onset of her cancer, this active empathy for others increased and became a sustaining force. Ann had a special talent for creating fun, and savored both the ridiculous and the sublime in daily life. Above all, Ann was a family person; her daughters, Marian and Alexandra, were the center of her world, and other family members were kept very close. Ann leaves her mother, Lucy Farrar of Guilford, CT, sisters Barbara Preneta of Farmington, CT, and Virginia Balser of Danbury, CT, brother William Farrar of South Pasadena, California, three nieces and three nephews, many aunts, uncles and cousins, her devoted former husband Jorge Obando of Washington DC, stepson Jordi Obando of Norwalk, CT, two step-granddaughters, and her most treasured daughters Marian and Alexandra Obando of Wilton CT. In lieu of flowers, Ann wished for donations to be sent to one of two organizations that were important to her. Donations in her honor to Save the Children’s programs in Latin America may be made to the Ann Farrar Memorial Fund online at www.savethechildren.org or by mail to 54 Wilton Rd, Westport CT 06880, attention Bibiana de Dios. Donations in her honor may also be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, 14 Pennsylvania Plaza, Suite 1400, NY, NY 10122. A celebration of Ann’s life was held at the Congregational Church in Wilton, CT, on Wednesday July 26 at 2 pm.
FATIMAH ALI, a radio host and Philadelphia Daily News columnist, died Jan. 23, 2012. She was 56. Known for her views as an advocate of social justice, she was also associated with a newspaper written and edited by the homeless. Survivors include her former husband, State Senator Vincent Hughes; her most recent partner, Natu Ali; five children; two grandchildren; and her sister. Her second husband, A. Brahin Ahmaddiya, predeceased her.
