Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

MICHAEL BOTEIN, 71, a professor at New York Law School and the director and founder of the Media Center, died Aug. 3, 2016. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. After receiving his J.D. degree from Cornell University in 1969, he received an L.L.M. in 1972 from Columbia University and a J.S.D., also from Columbia, in 1979. A scholar in telecommunications, cable television and regulation, he was the author of multiple treatises, casebooks and articles, and shared his expertise as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and a visiting professor in law schools around the world. His wife, Kris Fischer, survives, as do two children, including Elizabeth Botein Walker ’99; their spouses, including his son-in-law, Ike Walker ’99; and four grandchildren.

SPURGEON L. (Lee) ROBINETTE III, a journalist, public relations specialist, and drummer for Gary and the Wombats, died June 5, 2016, at age 73. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he received his degree cum laude and with honors in English from the College of Letters. In 1967 he received an M.S. from Columbia University. During the middle and late 1960s he worked for several news and international trade organizations in New York City and Seattle. In 1969 he joined Weyerhaeuser Company’s communications department and worked at their Washington headquarters before transferring to Hot Springs, Ark., in 1980. He retired as the corporate communications director in the South for Weyerhaeuser in 2006. He was a lifelong, accomplished rock ‘n’ roll drummer who played several times each year with Gary and the Wombats, his college band. Preceded in death by his wife, Venda, he is survived by four sons and a loving and extended circle of family and friends.

DAVID G. ALLEN, M.D., 75, a retired oncologist, died May 23, 2016. He was a member of Eclectic and received his M.D. degree from Duke University in 1967. After an internship at Duke, he entered the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1969 to 1971. He then completed a fellowship in oncology at the University of Michigan and joined the Pinehurst Medical Clinic as the first board-certified oncologist in Moore County, N.C. In retirement he continued to make patient care visits and oversaw the clinic laboratory. In 1979 he co-founded, with a local clergyman, Sandhills Hospice, now FirstHealth Hospice and Palliative Care. For this, the governor of North Carolina awarded him the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. In the last days of his life, he was served by the organization he founded and championed. Among those who survive are his wife, Kathleen Allen, a son, his sister, and many friends.

DIRCK E. WESTERVELT, 75, a retired social worker who worked for years counseling at-risk youth, died Mar. 18, 2016. A member of Delta Sigma, he received his degree with distinction in history and later received an MSW from the Hunter College School of Social Work. His social work career was prompted by his early commitment to civil rights and social justice, which started as a participant in a lunch counter sit-in in the South as a college student. He worked for more than two decades for New York State’s Office of Mental Health, specializing in the treatment of adolescents, including incarcerated youth and young adults. He also volunteered for years as a counselor for Vietnam veterans. He had a lifelong passion for the history, culture, art and architecture of the Middle East, and he attended the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. As part of that graduate program he moved his young family to Saudi Arabia for a year to study in an Islamic culture. He had a love of the outdoors as well. Survivors include his three children, four grandchildren, his sister, and his former spouse, Joanne Westervelt.

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Dirck E. Westervelt, a retired psychiatric social worker, who worked for years counseling at-risk youth, died March 18 in Brewster, MA. The cause was complications of congestive heart failure. He was 75.

Mr. Westervelt was born in Schenectady, NY and had been a longtime resident of New York’s Hudson River Valley before moving to Cape Cod in 2014. He worked for more than two decades for New York State’s Office of Mental Health, specializing in the treatment of adolescents, including incarcerated youth and young adults. He also volunteered for years as a counselor for Vietnam veterans.

A 1962 graduate of Wesleyan University with a B.A. in History, Dirck always encouraged intellectual and geographic exploration. He had a lifelong passion for the history, culture, art, and architecture of the Middle East, and attended the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

As part of that graduate program, he moved his young family to Saudi Arabia for a year to study in an Islamic culture. That was when goats still roamed the dusty streets of Riyadh, before the oil boom. He once hitchhiked to Rome to see the Pope installed, and traveled widely throughout his life, including to the Middle East, Asia, North Africa, Central America, and Europe.

Dirck later earned an MSW from Hunter College in New York and began his social work career. This interest grew out of his early commitment to civil rights and social justice which started as a participant in a lunch counter sit-in the Deep South as a college student.

Dirck grew up camping, canoeing and fishing in upstate New York, particularly the Adirondack Mountains. That instilled in him a love of the outdoors that he passed on to his three children. He rafted whitewater rivers in New England and across the West including the Grand Canyon. In addition to Cape Cod, his other passions included collecting Asian and Middle Eastern art, cabochons, and exotic knives; sailing; gourmet food and ice cream.

He is survived by his children: Lisa Westervelt of Provincetown, MA, Gerrit Westervelt of Denver, CO, Eric Westervelt of Berkeley, CA; his sister Deidre Westervelt of Savannah, GA; as well as grandchildren: Aidan, Evan, Olivia, Zuzu and former spouse Joanne Westervelt of Schenectady, NY.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in any amount be made in his name to Doctors Without Borders donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/tribute.cfm or to the Sierra Club sierraclub.org/giving/commemorative-gifts

A private family burial will take place at Vale Cemetery in Schenectady, NY. A memorial celebration of his life is planned for early summer on Cape Cod.

Expressions of condolence for the family may be left in the guest book at gatelyfuneralservice.com.

WILLIAM N. SCHULTZ SR., an art and antiques appraiser, died Aug. 6, 2016. He was 76. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he studied at the University of Pennsylvania and was a teaching fellow in art history there, before becoming an appraiser of art and antiques in Philadelphia. He enjoyed reading, book collecting, art, the Philadelphia Eagles, jazz, and spending time with his family. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Serri Schultz; two sons, including Jared S. Schultz ’99; one grandson; three siblings; and many nieces and nephews, including Katherine N. Sadlon ’99.

TERRY M. SMITH, 79, a retired coach and athletic director, died July 10, 2016. He was a member of Chi Psi and received a master’s degree in teaching from Vanderbilt University. He was a teacher and the head athletic director at Croton-Harmon High School in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. Among those who survive are his wife, Maureen Jordan Smith; his daughters, Nicole Padgett ’97 and Adrienne J. Smith ’00; and a son.

DAVID W. BENTLEY, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and geriatrician, died Jan. 8, 2016, at age 78. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received his medical degree from the University of Rochester. For many years he was on the medical faculty of the University of Rochester, as well as head of the infectious disease department of Monroe Community Hospital. He later moved to St. Louis, where he joined the medical faculty of St. Louis University in geriatrics, as well as working at the local VA hospital. Later retiring to Valparaiso, Indiana, he volunteered with many organizations. Survivors include his wife, Christine Palermo Bentley, two children, five grandchildren, and two sisters.

PETER C. VAN VOORHEES, 81, a banker and former assistant development officer at Wesleyan, died Apr. 28, 2016. He was a member of Delta Sigma and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont. After working in sales at MacMillan Company, he joined the development office at Wesleyan, later moving into banking as a trust officer. He then spent the major part of his career in Philadelphia with First Pennsylvania Bank. While in Middletown, he and his family were active in the Oddfellows Playhouse, and he was an avid fan of Wesleyan football. He is survived by his wife, Susan Thomas Van Voorhees, two children, and three grandchildren.

FRANK O. AVANTAGGIO JR., M.D., a retired surgeon, died Feb. 8, 2015. He was 80. A member of Alpha Chi Rho, he received his degree with honors and was elected to Sigma Xi. He spent a year in Holland as a Fulbright Scholar and then received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. After surgical training at the Maine Medical Center, he served in the U.S. Air Force for two years and then returned to Damariscotta to practice surgery for the next 26 years. A lifelong bibliophile, he volunteered at a used bookshop. He was also an avid gardener. Predeceased by a son, he is survived by his wife of 33 years, Mary McFarland Avantaggio. He is also survived by four sons; one daughter, Andrea Avantaggio ’87; eight grandchildren; two sisters; and his former wife, LaDeana.

WALLACE E. CARROLL, M.D., a pathologist, died Mar. 23, 2016, at age 82. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania after a year in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. Drafted into the U.S. Army, he was in charge of the laboratory and blood bank at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for two years. At Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, Calif., he worked as a pathologist, in addition to being in charge of the school of medical technology, the blood bank, and infectious disease control. For many years, he and his cousin worked on an invention that would revolutionize assessment of blood coagulation. He also ran 16 marathons, including Boston twice. Among those who survive are his wife, Maria Luisa Lahusen Carroll, four children, 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, his brother, and his cousin.