RUSSELL H. KNISEL, 76, the retired vice chairman of Shawmut/Fleet Bank and a Wesleyan trustee from 1973 to 1976, died Apr. 30, 2010. He was a member of Gamma Psi and began his career with Connecticut General Insurance before transitioning into the banking industry. A longtime chairman of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, he served on several community boards. Among those who survive are his wife, Diane Taylor Knisel, four children, and nine grandchildren.
MARK R. KRAVITZ, 62, a prominent New Haven, Conn., attorney and specialist in First Amendment and appellate law, who was appointed as a U.S. District Judge in 2003, and who received a Distinguished Alumnus award in 2012, died Sept. 30, 2012. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree magna cum laude and with high honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, he clerked for the Honorable James Hunter III in the Third Circuit and later for the Honorable Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court. He then joined the firm of Wiggin & Dana, where he worked for 27 years, eventually building and serving as Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. In 2003 he was nominated as a U.S. District Judge and was sworn in by Chief Justice Rehnquist. During the course of a nine-year career he wrote more than 700 opinions, an extraordinary achievement. He was extremely proud of his work on the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure in the United States Court, and he chaired the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. Involved in numerous community activities and boards, he was a founding director of the Friends of Yale Children’s Hospital and the Connecticut Food Bank. The Connecticut Bar Foundation recently created a symposium series in his honor. He taught at the University of Connecticut Law School, Yale Law School, and the University of Melbourne (Australia) Graduate School of Law, and also enjoyed mentoring aspiring lawyers and law clerks. Survivors include his wife, Wendy Evans Kravitz; three children, including Jennifer E. Kravitz ’00; and three grandchildren.
CHARLES J. KREINER, 57, a consultant for social service and educational seminars, and a former dancer with Sonomama Improvisation Dance Theater, died Feb. 19, 2007. A College of Letters student who graduated with honors, he served as an assistant dean at Wesleyan and a faculty fellow at West College. He was also a gifted photographer.
JOHN K. KNIGHT, 72, a retired computer systems manager with Toyota Tsusho America, died June 6, 2006. He was a member of Sigma Nu and earned a master’s degree from Columbia. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He is survived by his wife, Caroline Maury Knight, three children, four grandchildren, and a sister.
John D. Ketcham ’70 passed away May 11, 2006, Kinnelon, N.J., from the effects of cancer of the pancreas. He was raised in Westfield, N.J. His father, Frank, was a Wesleyan graduate, Class of 1936 and captain of the football team. John had four siblings, iincluding another Wesleyan graduate, his brother Mike ’67, who was captain of the swim. Team.
John graduated from Westfield High School in 1966, an All-American High School Swimmer in a number of events; Eastern Interscholastic Swimming Champion in multiple events; and at the millennium was voted onto the 1960’s decade team of best swimmers in New Jersey.
While at Wesleyan, he majored in economics and was a member and treasurer of Delta Tau Delta. He earned his varsity swimming letter in his sophomore, junior and senior years, and was team captain senior year. He held numerous team and pool records, many of which stood for years after his graduation. He won New England titles in multiple events and excelled in the backstroke, winning the small college nationals (now Division III) three years running and placing second in the Division I nationals in his junior year. He was named New England Swimmer of the Year in March 1970.
After graduation John went to Hong Kong to work in a YMCA camp, returning to the States to get his MBA from The Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth. After a stint with Price Waterhouse, he joined his father’s accounting practice in Westfield, N.J.
John raised his four children in Kinnelon, N.J. Three of these were with his first wife, whom he had met in Hong Kong, and his youngest child was from his second marriage, to Jody Davis, who is also from Westfield, N.J.
Throughout his life, John stayed very active with the YMCA, having grown up swimming at the Westfield YMCA (particularly Frost Valley YMCA). Additionally he served on a number of boards and volunteered in programs throughout his community.
He built his father’s business into a thriving tax/accounting practice in northern New Jersey, which his one son, Steve, has joined in the past several years. John also became very accomplished in home construction, through his renovation and addition projects over the years.
John stayed a self-effacing, honest, straight forward and loyal friend to the end?always more concerned about others than himself. Over the final months, his many Wesleyan friends came back together, culminating in an overflow crowd at his memorial service on May 20, 2006, at which John would have been quite uncomfortable being the center of attention.
He is survived by his wife, Jody, four children, five grandchildren and four siblings.
LAWRENCE L. JONES III, 77, an attorney, land developer, and nationally recognized professional magician and performer, died Aug. 24, 2003. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he received a law degree from the University of Virginia. He retired as an attorney with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs in Louisville, Ky. During the 1960s he performed on television shows and later opened a magic performance theater in Louisville. Among those who survive are his wife, Deede, six children, eight grandchildren, and a sister.
J. EVAN JENKINS II, a retired editor at the New York Times who was an authority on linguistic dilemmas, died Nov. 30, 2007. He was 72. A member of Eclectic, he received his degree with honors and with distinction in English. He was the grandson of John Evan Jenkins of the class of 1891 and of Katherine Jenkins Mitchell of the class of 1888, the nephew of Mitchell Jenkins of the class of 1918, the son of Hugh C. Jenkins of the class of 1920, and the brother of the late Hugh C. Jenkins Jr. ’50. After working at other newspapers, he joined theTimes in 1966 as a copy editor, retiring in 1991 as deputy news editor. He then became senior editor at the Racing Times and from 1997 to 2003 was editor-in-residence at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. At the time of his death he was the consulting editor for the Columbia Journalism Review, where he wrote a column that became the basis for his book, That or Which, and Why: A Usage Guide for Thoughtful Writers and Editors, which was published this year. Survivors include his wife, Diane Gauthey Jenkins; four children, including Anne Jenkins ’83; and six grandchildren.
EUGENE L. JACOBS, M.D. ,a psychiatrist in private practice in Manhattan, New York City, died Sept. 17, 2011, at age 78. A member of Delta Sigma, he received his degree with honors and with distinction in biology, and was elected to Sigma Xi. He received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and was also affiliated with Beth Israel Hospital. After retiring from practice, he pursued his lifelong interests in art and antiques. Among those who survive are his wife, Vera Vento; two daughters, Hilary Jacobs Hendel ’85 and Amanda Jacobs Wolf ’87; four grandchildren; and a niece, Makaela J. Kingsley ’98.
Obituary for Dr. Eugene Leslie Jacobs
Jacobs, Eugene Leslie, MD (Class of ’55) died September 17th after a long illness. He was 78 years old. A native New Yorker, he was raised in Forest Hills, Queens before moving permanently to Manhattan. An alumnus of Wesleyan University and Downstate Medical Center, he had a private practice in psychiatry and was affiliated with Beth Israel Hospital until his retirement in 1989. Since that time, he pursued his life-long interests in art and antiques. He loved to cook, paint, travel and most of all laugh with his beloved wife of 22 years, Vera Vento. In addition to his wife Vera, he is survived by his daughters, Hilary Jacobs Hendel (’85) and Amanda Jacobs Wolf (’87), and four grandchildren. He loved Wesleyan always.
HAROLD W. JUHRE, a New York State budget official for 35 years, died Feb. 27, 2009. He was 76. A member of the John Wesley Club, he received a master’s degree in public administration and served in the U.S. Army. He was a fellow of the American Society for Public Administration and retired as deputy chief budget examiner for New York State. He is survived by two children, two grandchildren, and his brother.
DANA B. JOHNSON, who was the chief economist and senior vice president of Comerica Inc., died Apr. 29, 2012, at age 64. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and received a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University. After beginning his career in economics at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., he joined the First National Bank of Chicago (eventually Bank One), where he was managing director and head of research for Bank One Capital Markets. He joined Comerica in 2005. Survivors include his wife, Susan Hering, his son and daughter, his father, two granddaughters, and his sister.
