KATHERINE A. ROELTGEN, a nurse, died Mar. 6, 2017, at age 36. She received a master’s degree in nursing from Yale University in 2008. A volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, most recently in the South Sudan, she also worked at New York Presbyterian Hospital and at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Her parents, David and Margaret Roeltgen, survive, as do two brothers, two aunts, three nieces and nephews, and many cousins.
JOHN K. GOULD, 52, who taught speech and language pathology students at Elms College, died May 6, 2017. He also received degrees from Emerson College and from Boston University. Survivors include his wife, Rebecca Riccio, two sons, his father, his sister, and a large extended family.
PENNY Z. APTER, 93, a freelance photographer who received her undergraduate degree in art history at age 62, died May 27, 2017. As a community volunteer, she worked weekly at the soup kitchen in Middletown for 30 years; she had also been an administrative assistant at Wesleyan for many years. She was the first woman elected to the Portland (Conn.) Board of Education. An amateur photographer, she worked entirely in black and white and developed the photos herself. She had several public showings of her work. She was also a lifelong accomplished classical pianist and an avid duplicate bridge player. Her husband, Stanley Apter, D.D.S., predeceased her, as did a close companion, Al Tager. Among those who survive are her daughter; her son, Robert L. Apter ’70; seven grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; her sister; and several lifelong close friends, including Betsy and Al Crosswell, Mel Ellis, and Jackie Zwillinger.
JOHN B. LOBKOWICZ, a writer and marketing executive, died July 23, 2017. He was 60. After graduation from Wesleyan, he began his career in advertising in New York City. In the mid-1990s he moved to Prague, working in advertising and branding. He later founded a magazine featuring politics, health, travel, and the arts in the Czech Republic and Europe. His special interests included poetry and literature. He is survived by his wife, Irena; his mother, Brooks Lobkowicz; two brothers; one sister; a stepdaughter; and five nieces and nephews.
CAROLE J. MURPHY, 74, a published poet, a college professor, and the owner of Wild Mountain Thyme in Pennington Gap, Va., died Oct. 27, 2016. At Wesleyan she was an Etherington Scholar, a member of the first group of non-traditional students returning to college through the community college system. She received a master’s degree from Wesleyan in religious studies in 1981. Throughout her career, she worked and taught at Berea College, Middlesex Community College, Bangor Theological Seminary, and Mountain Empire Community College. She was honored as the MECC Adjunct Faculty of the Year in 2015. As a published poet, her poem “Annie’s Night Out” was selected as a Chapbook Award winner by Nightshade Press in Maine, followed by other publications, including a poem published in Anthology of Adrienne Rich. She also owned and operated a shop, Wild Mountain Thyme. Among those who survive are two daughters, one granddaughter, two great-grandchildren, and an extended family.
THOMAS C. TUCKER, 62, an insurance executive and a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City, died Aug. 31, 2017. He received a master’s degree and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and also attended the Wharton School of Business insurance executive program. During a career spanning almost 40 years, he held positions as the Chief Underwriting Officer for the Hartford Insurance Company’s Commercial Markets Division and Senior Vice President of the Specialty Commercial segment. Prior to joining The Hartford, he worked at AIG, where he served as Chief Underwriting Officer and Chief Risk Officer for its U.S. operations. He spent the first 20 years of his career at the Travelers Insurance Company. During the 9/11 terrorist attack he helped a number of strangers to safety. Survivors include his wife, Maureen Gorman; his parents, Floyd J. and Geraldine Tucker; three sisters; and several nieces and nephews.
ANDREW C. THOMAS, an attorney at Idaho Legal Aid Services for 42 years, died July 17, 2017. He was 67. A member of Kappa Nu Kappa, he received his law degree from the University of Idaho College of Law in 1975. He devoted his entire professional career to providing free legal services to low-income people in cases involving housing, family, public benefits, and senior law. A leader in his community, he served in many community organizations and also served as president of the Third District Bar Association. He was known for his encyclopedic knowledge of statutes and obscure procedural rules. As well, his compassion for his clients was legendary, and it was known that he would sometimes give his eviction clients a month’s rent to help them when there was no legal argument to save them. A voracious reader and aficionado of popular culture, he had a wide circle of friends. Survivors include his brother, John Thomas, and a nephew. For the past year he was cared for by his good friend, Kathy Farber.
MICHAEL E. HUNTER, 67, an organist and choirmaster, as well as a countertenor, died May 30, 2017. He was a member of Kappa Nu Kappa and received a master’s degree from Wesleyan in 1973. Passionate about church music, he served churches in Connecticut and sang in the choirs at St. Thomas Church in New York City, and at Christ Church and St. Mary’s in New Haven, Conn. In 1999 he moved to Tampa, Fla., and became active at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, serving as director of music and organist until his retirement in 2016. He was a member of both the American Guild of Organists, for which he had been a regional councilor, and the Association of Anglican Musicians, for which he had chaired a national conference in 2015. He is survived by several cousins and many friends and colleagues.
PETER M. MARGOLIUS, an attorney and Catskill, N.Y., town justice, died Oct. 12, 2017. He was 71. A member of Kappa Alpha, he joined the U.S. Army after graduation and served in a military intelligence battalion; he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal. After graduating from Albany Law School in 1975 he became an officer with the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General and served for several years in Japan, doing criminal trial work and assisting military personnel with a variety of legal and personal problems. In 1979 he entered private practice. He served as a prison prosecutor, assistant district attorney, assistant public defender, as well as town attorney. He was elected town justice and held that position for 17 years, until he retired in 2014. He was also a volunteer firefighter and a talented marksman. His first wife, Barbara Davis Margolius, predeceased him. Survivors include two sons, two grandchildren, and his wife, Janice Protano.
JAMES G. SNYDER, an assistant professor at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., died Sept. 22, 2017, at age 76. He was the son of George C. Snyder of the class of 1936. A member of Eclectic, he received his degree with distinction in history. During his teaching career he created new courses on World War II and the Vietnam War. He also attended graduate school at the University of Rochester. Among those who survive are his wife, Judy Peer, three children, one granddaughter, his sister, and several nieces and nephews.
