Author: Caroline Liu '18

JOHN C. HAURY, 66, an attorney in private practice and a public defender, died May 16, 2015. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and received his law degree from Indiana University. An attorney in Bedford, Indiana, for 40 years, he practiced law in eight firms bearing his name, most recently at Haury Law Office. For more than 25 years he was a public defender and an attorney for the Lawrence County Department of Child Services, and he served on several community boards of directors. Among those who survive are his wife, Lee Ann, and three children.

TIMOTHY H. POLK, 69, a theologian who taught religious studies at Hamline University for 30 years, died July 8, 2015. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and received his degree cum laude. After earning a master’s degree in divinity from Yale University, he received his PhD in religion there. He taught a variety of courses in religion and was involved in many initiatives across campus. An enthusiastic teacher, he was an internationally recognized scholar of Soren Kierkegaard’s work as it relates to Christianity. He was also an active lecturer and participant in the broader community. Survivors include his wife, Lucy, three children, one grandson, and his sister.

FRANC A. BARADA JR., M.D., a rheumatologist, died Feb. 8, 2015. He was 69. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he received his medical degree from the University of Virginia. After interning at the University of Wisconsin, he completed his training at the University of Virginia, in between serving as chief of medicine at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. He was assistant professor of rheumatology at Duke University and in 1982 founded Durham Rheumatology. He served the Durham community for more than 30 years and was also an active volunteer in both medical and local organizations. He helped to found Project Access of Durham County to secure medical specialty care for the uninsured. He is survived by his wife, Placide Noell Barada, two children, four grandchildren, and his sister.

ROBIN M. BURNS, 70, an architect in New York City, died Feb. 5, 2015. A member of Kappa Nu Kappa, he received his degree cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Architecture, he worked for New York City agencies for four decades to improve the design of public buildings. Among those who survive are his wife, Rena Grossfield, his daughter, two grandchildren, and his brother.

Rena writes, “Robin graduated from Columbia School of Architecture and spent most of his career working for various agencies in the City of New York, including City Planning, the Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development, the Department of General Services and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC). He served as chief architect of the Parks Department, overseeing the buildings in the city’s 200-plus parks. In the mid-’80s, he left public service to head the real estate development arm of the South Street Seaport Museum, at the time when the Rouse Corporation was transforming the Seaport area into one of its “festival marketplaces” akin to its projects in Boston and Baltimore. In his final years back with the city at DDC, he was senior project manager for the new multi-building police academy going up in Queens and the city’s new backup 911 emergency call center.

“Besides me, Robin left behind his daughter Jenny Burns and her husband, Geoff Sanoff, our two grandsons, Alexei (8) and Jesse (6), his brother Bruce, and his former wife and our dear friend Judy Burns and her wife Pat Magnuson. As I wrote in The New York Times obituary, he was a good man, taken too soon. Donations may be made to Learning Ally, where Robin was a longtime volunteer reader, 545 5th Avenue, NY, NY 10017; or to support Dr. Eileen O’Reilly’s pancreatic cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering: mskcc.convio.net/goto/Robin_Burns.” Rena may be reached at rgrossfield at gmail.com.

MICHAEL E. TIMM, 72, an attorney and former assistant New York State attorney general, died Mar. 15, 2015. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and received his law degree from New York University Law School. He practiced law in private practice and as an assistant attorney general. In 1995, he and his wife opened the Bijou Galleries, an antiques and collectibles shop in Cold Spring, N.Y. Survivors include his wife, Jane Silver Timm, his son, and his granddaughter.

EDWARD McGREW JR., a retired business manager, died May 31, 2015, at age 78. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, his career as a business manager took him from the Chicago Board of Trade to the International College of Surgeons. He later worked for H&R Block in their premium division and enjoyed teaching tax preparation to their new students. His wife, Carol William McGrew, survives, as do three daughters, eight grandchildren, and his sister.

JIM R. BROWNING, M.D., an ophthalmologist and well-known gardener, died Mar. 12, 2015. He was 77. A member of Eclectic, he received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and served in the U.S. Navy. He practiced ophthalmology for 44 years. A renowned gardener of rhododendron, azaleas, magnolias, and dwarf conifers, he was also a hybridizer of hardy rhododendron and a dedicated member of the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, which awarded him the Bronze Medal, their highest honor. Among those who survive are his wife, Blanche Rider Browning, two children, two grandchildren, and his brother.

EUGENE V. ALESSANDRONI II, a career prosecutor in the Philadelphia district attorney’s office, died Nov. 25, 2014, at age 77. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received his law degree from Villanova University. During his 38-year career in the district attorney’s office, serving under five district attorneys, he had, at various times, headed the child support division and the anti-obscenity enforcement division. He had also been a public defender and an assistant counsel to former governor Raymond P. Shafer. His wife, Maria Lochetto Alessandroni, and his brother survive.

WARREN WITHERELL, 79, a former headmaster and the founder of Burke Mountain Academy, died May 26, 2014. He was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. After serving as an administrator in several independent schools, he founded Burke Mountain Academy in 1971, where he served as headmaster, English teacher and coach. He promoted the ability of student athletes to thrive and learn in a non-graded and physically active school. Through his coaching, more than 115 students and alumni of the school have been named to the U.S. Ski Team, and 43 to Olympic teams. In 2004 he came out of retirement to become headmaster of Crested Butte Academy, from which several top athletes moved on to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard teams. He wrote How the Racers Ski and co-authored The Athletic Skier and Lessons from Burke—One School That Works. He was inducted into two athletic halls of fame for both snow skiing and waterskiing. He set multiple world records in water skiing, including five world water skiing titles. Survivors include two daughters, two sisters, his brother, and a large extended family.

THOMAS H. CONNELL, a retired attorney and an artist, died Feb. 17, 2015, at age 80. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and received his law degree from the University of Connecticut after serving in the U.S. Navy. As an attorney, he specialized in heavy construction and was president of the Connecticut law firm Michelson, Kane, Royster & Barger. After retirement he devoted much of his time to artwork. Many of his works feature Cope Cod and the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, where he was also a volunteer naturalist. Two children and four grandchildren survive.