Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

ELIZABETH BUES WITTEMANN MALS’92, a journalist and pioneer in travel writing, died Jan. 30, 2017, at age 75. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle and began her career as a reporter in Rochester, N.Y., before spending a year teaching in Greece. She then returned to Connecticut to work at the Hartford Times. She also worked in public relations for several years. A pioneer in travel writing, she wrote multiple travel guides about New England, and she wrote travel features for publications including The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Coastal Living. She received a master’s degree in creative writing from Wesleyan in 1992. In recent years she worked part-time as a tutor in the writing center at Manchester Community College and was on a volunteer breakfast team with the House of Bread in Hartford for more than 20 years. She also loved watercolor painting and creative writing. Predeceased by her husband, Ross Gardner Wittemann, survivors include two children, two grandchildren; and her brother.

MARCIA P. PLAVIN MALS’84, a dance professor at Bates College, died Nov. 3, 2016. She was 84. An alumna of the University of Maine, in 1953 she started to teach dance at the Y in Auburn, Maine, which led to a position at Bates College in 1965, where she started to build the dance program. In 1969 she founded the Bates College Modern Dance Company, which produced and performed multiple dance concerts under her direction and became a haven for Bates dancers. In 1983 she founded the Bates College Dance Festival, at which world-class dancers teach college-age students and adults during the summer, and in 1984 she received her MALS degree from Wesleyan. The Marcy Plavin Dance Award and the Marcy Plavin Dance Studios at Bates are named in her honor. She also received the Distinguished Service Award from Bates. A short-term course she created, in which her students presented dance programs to area school children, resulted in more than 4,000 children getting their initial exposure to modern dance. Predeceased by her husband, Leonard N. Plavin, one daughter, two sons, and five grandchildren survive.

WILLIAM A. KOLDEWYN PHD’76, a physicist and engineer in the aerospace industry, died Nov. 5, 2016, at age 74. He was an alumnus of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and received his PhD from Wesleyan in 1976. As a physicist and engineer, he worked on projects that contributed to ground-breaking scientific discoveries, such as the Advanced Camera for Surveys for the Hubble space telescope. After his retirement he worked as a consultant, reading and assessing proposals for NASA. He taught physics as an adjunct professor at Dixie State University. Passionate about science, he also was an accomplished organist. His wife, Katherine Koldewyn, survives, as do two children and a grandchild.

MARY J. GILBERT MA’47, a retired administrator at Vassar College, died Nov. 24, 2016. She was 91. An alumna of Vassar College, she received a master’s degree from Wesleyan in 1947 and did additional graduate work at Yale University. A teacher of mathematics and English, she taught in Arizona and Connecticut, and also served on the staff of Elmo Roper & Associates, the market research pioneer. In 1959 she joined the administration of Vassar as administrative director of the Office of Public Relations, and she served subsequently as director of editorial services until 1979. Her son predeceased her. A stepsister and several cousins survive.

DONNA RAE POLLEN DeSANDO MALS’02, a retired teacher, died Jan. 28, 2017. She was 71. An alumna of the University of Missouri, she taught in Virginia until moving to Connecticut, where she received her MALS from Wesleyan in 2002 and continued to teach history and English for 38 years. After retirement she worked for various colleges as a supervisor of student teachers. She is survived by her husband, Lawrence DeSando, her sister, and many cousins and friends.