Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

Samuel A. Lieber ’79 passed away on June 21, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

“Deborah Stuckey Mulhern ’78 passed away on Jan. 6, 2019, surrounded by family and friends, including two daughters and a son—Kiera, Hayley, and Will. She had been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer five years earlier. Marilyn Fagelson ’78, Elise Bean ’78, and I had visited with her just two weeks before, spending a lovely day trimming her Christmas tree and cherishing what was clearly close to the end of 45 years of friendship that started in Clark Hall freshman year and wound through Delta Tau and the William Street apartments and Foss Hill and McConaughy. Debbie was a government major and then got her doctorate in psychology from Boston U and Harvard.  She was a family relationship therapist with her own practice in Washington, D.C. At Wes, Debbie was a fabulous dancer and singer. Her intense joy in music, among countless other things, will be remembered by us and many other classmates.”

Thank you to Ruth Pachman ’78 for this heartfelt tribute.

Esther R. Mancarella ’76, MALS ’99 passed away on Nov. 15, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

“We note with deep sadness the passing of our beloved classmate Diane J. Cornell ’75, who passed away on Jan. 7, 2020. At Wesleyan, she was known for her boundless energy and the delight she took in her numerous friends. She was a wonderful companion, talking and drinking long into the night and joining in such zany efforts as a collective attempt to levitate a table full of beer bottles to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix playing the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’

“As a student in the College of Letters, she took possession of The Magic Mountain and In the Penal Colony, works that her friends can never hear mentioned without thinking of her. Diane somehow combined a matter-of-fact demeanor with an inexhaustible warmth and a deep commitment to the causes she cared about.

“Since leaving Wesleyan, Diane continued to be a triple threat—as a distinguished communications lawyer, as a national badminton champion and sports executive, and as a political and social activist.  Her extraordinary life has been detailed in an obituary in The Washington Post. She will be profoundly missed by all who knew her.”

Thank you to Philip Swoboda ’75, Jeff Cox ’75, and Gina Novick ’75 for this heartfelt tribute.

Richard J. Fairbrother ’74 passed away on Dec. 19, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

David E. Thomson ’71, MAT ’72 passed away on Sept. 13, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

Thurman Northcross ’70 passed away on June 20, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

Edward McCune ’67 passed away on Jan. 5, 2020. A full obituary can be found here.

Frederick P. Newschwander ’65 passed away on Dec. 18, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

Gerald L. “Jerry” Baliles ’63, Hon. ’88 passed away on Oct. 29, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.