Author: Anne Marcotty

ADRIENNE WIENER BERNARD, an attorney and special counsel with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP, died Mar. 17, 2013, at age 56. She received her degree magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving her law degree from New York University, she served in the New York City Department of City Planning’s Office of the Counsel. In 2003 she joined Fried Frank, where she specialized in land use, planning, and environmental and zoning law. Among those who survive are her husband, Mitchell Bernard; three children, including Hannah S. Bernard ’15; and a cousin, Pamela G. Dorman ’79.

MICHAEL E. NEWTON, a systems analyst in Seattle, Wash., died Sept. 26, 2012. He was 57. He received his degree cum laude and with honors, and attended graduate school at Washington State University. An avid outdoorsman, he was a member of the Mountaineers and enjoyed exploring the mountains of the Northwest. He is survived by his wife, Mira Zalokar-Newton ’79, D.V.M., three children, his mother, five brothers, one sister, and a sister-in-law, Nadja Z. Golding ’77.

ARTHUR C. CLAFLIN, an attorney in Seattle, Wash., died May 23, 2013, at age 62. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he received his degree magna cum laude and then received his law degree from Yale University. He had been with the law firm of Bogle and Gates for 25 years, and since 2000 was with Hall, Zanzig, Claflin, McEachern. He had an interest in current events, great literature, and history, and he was an avid runner, having completed several marathons, including the Boston Marathon. Among those who survive are his wife, Gretchen Anders Claflin, two daughters, his brother, and several nieces and nephews.

WILLIAM W. LEWIS JR., 66, who worked in community development and who had worked in the alumni office at Wesleyan, died May 19, 2013. He received an MALS from Wesleyan in 1982. He worked for Community Action of Greater Middletown until the agency closed, then was employed by The Middletown Press and most recently by Kuhn Development Opportunities. Survivors include his mother, Frances Lewis, a cousin, and several close friends.

ALAN B. NICHOLS, a freelance writer who specialized in golf travel reviews, died July 6, 2013, at age 67. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and had majored in English. Among those who survive are his sister and a lifetime friend.

ROBERT R. BLAKE, 66, a development economist with the World Bank, died Feb. 9, 2013. He received his degree cum laude and with honors in economics. After receiving his PhD in economics from the University of Michigan, he worked in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Treasury in various international affairs departments for 15 years before taking a job as a development economist at The World Bank. He concentrated on Africa, and following postings in Cameroon, Uganda, and Madagascar, he retired in 2009. Among those who survive are his wife, Claudia Kobles Blake, two children, two grandchildren, and his sister.

ROBERT L. CASEY, an energy service representative at Northeast Utilities, died Jan. 13, 2013, at age 69. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1966 to 1970. Active in his Turners Falls, Mass., community, he served on the school committee. Survivors include his wife, Jo-Ann Sojka Casey, two children, four grandchildren, and his sister.

BRUCE D. PODEWELL, 69, a member of the theater faculty at Tulane University for nearly 40 years, died Mar. 29, 2013. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received a master’s degree from Emerson College. A co-founder and former artistic director of the Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, he had also served as the associate artistic director of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane, and was the longtime director of Tulane Center Stage, the theater department’s former summer-stock company. The author of Shakespeare’s Watch, a handbook on Shakespeare’s plays, he was also an accomplished jazz musician, often playing banjo in the French Quarter. He founded the Patchwork Players, a children’s theater troupe that is now led by his daughter. Among those who survive are his wife, Banu Gibson, his daughter and son, and two sisters.

PHILLIP L. MARTH, 72, an educator who taught in public schools for 30 years, died Mar. 16, 2013. He was a member of Gamma Psi and received a master’s degree from the University of Hartford. An expert gardener and amateur hybridizer of miniature roses, daylilies and canna lilies, he was an active member and past president of the Central Florida Daylily Society and member of the Connecticut Daylily Society. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Trudy Foster Marth, one daughter, one son, a granddaughter, three brothers, and many nieces and nephews.

HENRY L. ERNSTTHAL, 72, a leader in the association management field, died May 20, 2013. He was a member of EQV and received his law degree from Stanford University. Formerly the executive director of the California Dental Association and the executive director of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, he was the director of the MAM (master’s of association management) degree program at George Washington University. He was a well-known speaker and consultant on association governance and corporate structure, strategic planning, board management, trend forecasting, ethical behavior, and contemporary legal issues, as well as the author of Principles of Association Management, the primary text in the field. A fellow of the American Society of Association Executives, in 1994 he was called one of the “Heroes of the Profession” by the association’s magazine. After retiring, he continued to volunteer with national health advocacy groups. Survivors include his wife, Mary Lynn Miller Ernstthal, two children, and two grandchildren.