Author: Leslie Egbo

EDMUND H. SONNENBLICK, MD, 74, a cardiologist whose research formed the basis for the modern treatment of heart failure, died Sept. 22, 2007. He received his degree with high honors and with high distinction in chemistry, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to Sigma Xi. After receiving his medical degree at Harvard University, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, he trained at Columbia University’s Presbyterian Hospital, continued his research at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md., and at Harvard University, and joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine faculty in the Bronx, N.Y., where he was a distinguished university professor of medicine. His findings about the structure and function of heart muscle cells and how the heart muscle contracts and relaxes contributed to the development by others of a new class of lifesaving drugs, called ACE inhibitors. He and other researchers also adapted beta blockers for use in heart failure, and he was credited as the first to use an electron microscope to image heart muscle under scientifically controlled conditions. He received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American College of Cardiology in 1985, and this year the American Heart Association named him the recipient of one of its highest prizes, the Research Achievement Award. His daughter, Annie Sonnenblick ’80, for whom the Annie Sonnenblick Lecture/Distinguished Writer Series and the Annie Sonnenblick Writing Prize is named, predeceased him. He is survived by his wife, Linda Bland Sonnenblick; two daughters, including Charlotte Van Doren ’84; and five grandchildren, including Caroline Offit ’10.

RALPH E. SHORT, 77, who retired as chaplain at Wentworth Military Academy, died Oct. 6, 2009. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and received master’s degrees from Andover Newton Theological School and from James Madison University. A U.S. Army veteran who served as a chaplain in Vietnam, he taught for 25 years at schools in Virginia and Missouri. He is survived by his wife, June Fagg Short, his son, and a brother.

HOWARD L. SCHIFF, an attorney, died Feb. 14, 2007. He was 73. After receiving his law degree from Cornell University, he founded his own firm in East Hartford, Conn., in 1958. Survivors include his wife, Carol Bleich Schiff, four children, and six grandchildren.

JONATHAN L. ROSNER, a trial attorney, died Jan. 12, 2008. He was 75. A member of Phi Sigma Kappa, he received his law degree from New York University. In addition to a private practice of law, he was an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law. He served as chief counsel and deputy commissioner of the New York State Commission on Criminal Justice and the Use of Force, and he was the general counsel of the Commission of Inquiry into the 1977 Energy Failure in New York City. Among those who survive are his wife, Lydia Sokol Rosner; three children, including Marianne Klimchuk ’83; four grandchildren; and a brother, Seth Rosner ’52.

WILLIAM T. ROCHE JR., who founded the real estate company Roche and Associates in Kirkland, Wash., died Nov. 13, 2011, at age 80. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he attended the University of Pennsylvania as part of IBM’s MBA program. After several years with IBM, he taught at Bellevue (Wash.) College and then began his career in real estate. Survivors include his wife, Biff Motschall Roche, four children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

JOHN P. REMENSNYDER, M.D., a surgeon who specialized in burns and who had been chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as chief of staff at the Shriners Hospital for Children, died Oct. 14, 2006. He was 75. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he received his degree with honors and was a member of Psi Upsilon. He received a medical degree from Harvard University. During his long and productive career, he was an invaluable mentor, teacher, and surgeon. He also traveled to other countries to teach and perform plastic and reconstructive surgery. In Moscow, he helped to start the Project HOPE Burn Center for children, work that was featured in a story on National Public Radio. Survivors include his wife, Mary Baldridge Remensnyder; two daughters; a son,Stuart W. Remensnyder ’84; a granddaughter; a sister; a brother-in-law, Robert W. Baldridge ’56; and a niece, Lynn C. Baldridge ’86.

MARK M. ROSENTHAL, an attorney and partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro in Los Angeles, where he chaired the National Sports Law Group, died Feb. 3, 2010, at age 61. He was a member of Gamma Psi and received his law degree cum laude from the University of Michigan. A litigation specialist, he represented sports teams in arbitration and negotiations for more than 20 years. He also chaired his firm’s recruiting department for many years. He is survived by his wife, Julie Veneklase Rosenthal; two sons, including William Rosenthal ’06; his mother; and his sister.

JAMES S. ROBINSON, an award-winning journalist, died Jan. 13, 2004, of complications from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 44. After graduating from Wesleyan he received a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism. At the time of his death he was the associate director of the Stanford University News Service and edited the university’s faculty/staff newspaper. Under his editorship the paper won the Gold Medal for Excellence from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in 2002. He came to Stanford in 1998 following a distinguished career at newspapers including the Springfield (Mass.) Republican and Agence France-Presse. A certified interpreter, he spoke French, Italian and Spanish fluently. Survivors include his partner, Ken Wingard, his parents, a brother, and a nephew and niece.

WILLIAM R. QUATTROCCHI JR., the retired president of Q Petroleum, died Dec. 7, 2005, at age 75. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received his bachelor’s degree from Babson Institute. He is survived by his wife, Portia Brown Quattrocchi, a daughter, and a grandchild.

PETER E. de JANOSI, an economist and the retired director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, died Feb. 16, 2011. He was 82. After receiving his degree with honors, he received master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He was a member of Sigma Nu and was a New School for Social Research Board member. Survivors include his wife, Monica Reis de Janosi, and three children.