Author: Leslie Egbo

FRANK D. ROBINS, 92, a teacher, died Mar. 29, 2004. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received a master’s degree from Boston University. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Force. He taught at New London (Conn.) High School for many years and was the director of dramatics. The grandson of Joseph E. Robins of the class of 1868 and the nephew of George D. Robins of the class of 1898, he was predeceased by his wife, Marjorie H. Robins, Among those who survive are his son, Douglas H. Robins ’66; a nephew, J. Knox Robins ’52; and a cousin, Douglas M. Robins ’37.

CHARLES V. PERRILL, M.D., a physician and surgeon, and a medical missionary in India for many years, died June 6, 2007. He was 94. A member of Sigma Chi, he received his degree with honors and was elected to Sigma Xi. He received a master’s degree and a medical degree from Northwestern University. Born in India to Methodist missionary parents, he returned there after medical school with his fellow physician and wife, Wilma Conger Perrill. As a physician, administrator, fund-raiser, and engineer, he built several hospitals while teaching and practicing medicine, and was widely respected for his many contributions. In 1971 he returned to the US, worked as an emergency physician, and continued to write and teach. His wife, Dr. Wilma Conger Perrill, died in 1981, and he later married Bertha Corfield Perrill, who also predeceased him. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law.

ROBERT C. NEWTON, a physical chemist, died Sept. 5, 2007. He was 95. A member of Chi Psi, he received his degree with honors and was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. He received a master’s degree from Wesleyan and a Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he did pioneering research in the field of spectroscopy. He then was on the faculty at the University of Vermont and later joined Armstrong World Industries, from which he retired as head of analytical research and development. He is survived by his wife, Mary Elizabeth Newton, three children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

WALTER J. MUELLER, who retired as a senior foreign service officer with the US Department of State, and a former dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Alaska, died Nov. 2, 2006. He was 92. The son of Carl S. Mueller of the class of 1903, he received his degree with distinction in German. In 1935 he received a master’s degree from Wesleyan and later a PhD from Cornell, where he taught until joining the US Army during World War II. After the war he joined the US State Department and served in various posts. He retired in 1970 and became a faculty member at the University of Alaska, where he launched innovative programs in Peace Studies and the preservation of Native Alaskan cultures. Predeceased by his wife, Eleanor Maack Mueller, survivors include two children and four grandchildren.

WINTHROP T. LEWIS, an actuary, died May 6, 2003 at age 90. He was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa and received his degree with high distinction in mathematics. He retired as an associate director at the John Hancock Life Insurance Company. Predeceased by his wife, Alma, among those who survive is a grandson, Samuel Lewis ’92.

Dr. REUBEN P. JESCHKE, former college president, minister and long-time educator, died Nov. 20, 2004, at his residence in Salem, Ore. He was 93.

Jeschke, who moved to the Capital Manor retirement community in 1982, was born July 20, 1911, near Volinia in the Russian Ukraine. When he was two, he and his family immigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada, where he lived until 1928.

At the age of 18, Jeschke moved to the United States to study at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, N.Y. He graduated from Wesleyan University, with a bachelor of arts and was awarded a bachelor of divinity and master of sacred theology from Hartford Theological Seminary. He received a doctor of philosophy degree from New York’s Columbia University in 1951 and was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity from Northern Baptist Seminary, Chicago, Ill., and an honorary doctor of humane letters from Sioux Falls College, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Jeschke was president of Sioux Falls College, now the University of Sioux Falls, from 1953 to 1970. He was proud of his leadership of the college during its period of greatest development. He is credited with strengthening the finances of the then-struggling liberal arts college and was a primary motivator in helping the college obtain accreditation. Before assuming the presidency, Jeschke was dean of the college.

His teaching career included a professorship from 1947 to 1952 at the North American Baptist Seminary, Sioux Falls, S.D., where he also served as registrar.

As a Baptist minister, Jeschke served as pastor of the Memorial Baptist Church in New Britain, Conn., 1933-1937; the Fourth Street Baptist Church, now Shroyer Road Baptist Church, Dayton, Ohio, 1937-1947; and the First Baptist Church, Branford, Conn., 1970-1974.

He was listed in Who’s Who in America in 1964. He was the author of two books, Dream of the Pioneers, a history of Sioux Falls College; and My Life and My Family, an autobiography.

He was married in 1935 to Sabina Jacopian of Stratford, Conn. He is survived by his wife, Sabina, two sons, Paul Jeschke of Muir Beach, Calif., and Thomas Jeschke of Panora, Iowa, sisters Walda Kwast, Lansing, MI, and Elva Kuhn of Salem, Ore/, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Private interment will be at Salt Creek Cemetery, Dallas, Ore. The family requests that donations in his honor be sent to the University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, S.D.

EDGAR W. HORTON, 92, a leather-goods businessman, died April 7, 2004. Prior to retiring, he was co-owner of Horton Handicraft in Plainville, Conn., from 1942-1988, along with his brother. He is survived by seven children.

SIBLEY A. HALL, 92, a founder of Fort Worth (Tex.) Gear and Axle, died Apr. 9, 2005. A member of Psi Upsilon, he was the brother of Warren “Rib” Hall ’37. He had also retired from U.S. Rubber/Uniroyal and from the H.H. Brown Shoe Co. In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Hall, four children, seven grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.

WILLIAM H. DOYLE, an attorney and longtime U.S. Foreign Service diplomat, died June 16, 2005 at age 91. He received a law degree from New York University and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After he retired from the State Department, he joined Motorola, Inc. Among those who survive are his wife, Barbara Bronson Doyle; three sons, including Michael B Doyle ’72; and a daughter.

DONALD M. DAVIES, who had been a U.S. foreign service consular officer, died Jan. 20, 2005, at age 93. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he joined the foreign service in 1947 and served in Indonesia during its accession to independence and in Algeria during the battle of Algiers. His wife, Martha Birch Davies, predeceased him, and there are no immediate survivors.