Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

ROBERT E. SLOAT, a teacher, administrator, and former chair of the arts faculty at the Pomfret School, died Aug. 9, 2017, at age 76. He was the son of Frederick P. Sloat of the class of 1927. A member of Gamma Psi, he received a master’s degree from the University of Connecticut. He was active in the performing arts in northeastern Connecticut. He directed and conducted performances at the Bradley Playhouse and served as a board member and technical director for P/Arts (formerly Opera New England of Northeast Connecticut). He also directed productions for Marianapolis Prep. His wife, Caroline Fuller Sloat, survives, as do two children, three grandchildren, his brother, Frederick P. Sloat Jr. ’51, and a large extended family.

JOHN N. HARVEY, 75, a marketing executive, died Aug. 3, 2017. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he served in the U.S. Navy and received an MBA in marketing from Clark University. His work was focused on state-of-the-art industries, such as solar energy. A military war buff and a big-game hunter, he also sang classical and folk music with choirs. He walked more than 80 percent of the Appalachian Trail with the Over-the-Hill Gang, and had numerous hobbies. He is survived by three daughters, five grandchildren, his brother, and several nieces and nephews.

PHILIP G. PUTNAM, 76, a financial executive for more than 40 years, died June 25, 2017. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree with honors and with distinction in English literature. He received an MBA from Harvard University, after which he joined Smith Barney & Co. in New York City. He subsequently held a variety of positions, including as executive vice president of Brean Murray and managing director of Flagstone Securities. For many years he was on the Board of the Middleby Corporation. He served as class agent and fundraiser for many years, for which he received the Wesleyan University Service Award. A classroom in the career center was also named in his honor. Active in his local Essex, Conn., community, he was a volunteer for a variety of local organizations. Survivors include his partner Jeanne, two daughters, his granddaughter, and his sister. His wife, Thea C. Putnam, predeceased him.

MICHAEL H. BLAKE, a corporate executive, died Oct. 3, 2017, at age 81. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and was a U.S. Naval Reserve veteran. He started his career with the Budd Company in Philadelphia, then moved to Boston with the former Bache & Co. After executive roles at Lowden Tree & Landscape and Dalton Electric, he completed his career with Harvest Capital Management. He was an avid athlete. Predeceased by his second wife, Penelope Stowell, he is survived by his former wife, Susan Livingston; four children; two grandchildren; his sister; and several nieces and nephews.

MILTON W. DOUGLASS, 80, a systems engineer at IBM, died Jan. 17, 2017. He was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. The founder of the Carying Place in Cary, N.C., he was also active in other local endeavors. Survivors include his wife, Patsy O’Neal Douglass, four children, three grandchildren, and his sister.

CAREY CONGDON, a sales representative in the publishing industry, died Aug. 2, 2017. He was 86. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he served for three years in the U.S. Marine Corps prior to attending Wesleyan. He began a career in graphic arts as a sales representative for Mead Papers and then joined the Maple-Vail Books Manufacturing Group, retiring in 1999. He is survived by his wife, Mary Margaret Del Borrello Congdon.

JOHN A. BRUCE, a healthcare executive, died Aug. 24, 2017, at age 82. He received his degree with honors and was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. He also received a theology degree from the General Theological Seminary and, after serving as an Episcopal clergyman, received a PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1972. In 1975 he moved to Oregon and served as executive director of the E.C. Brown Foundation and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, until retiring in 1998. His wife, Judith Bruce, three children, three stepchildren, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren survive.

H. BARRETT PENNELL JR., 82, a journalist and advertising executive, died July 19, 2016. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and served in the U.S. Army. At Wesleyan he hosted a classical music radio show, wrote for the Argus, and edited the yearbook. An avid photographer, he was a newspaper reporter and then worked at Curtis Publishing and TV Guide, where he was head of advertising promotion. His work was published in magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post. After his retirement, he was an active community volunteer. Among those who survive are his wife, Janet Davidson Pennell, and two daughters.

WILLIAM D. SHEPHARD, 84, professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, died July 28, 2017. A member of Chi Psi, he received his degree with high honors and was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. He received master’s and PhD degrees in physics at the University of Wisconsin. He then went to the University of Kentucky and in 1963 joined the faculty at the University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame he co-founded the Notre Dame High Energy Elementary Particle Physics group, which carried out experiments at Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermilab, and CERN over the years, resulting in more than 200 refereed publications and 90 published papers in conference proceedings. He was a Fulbright senior research scholar and a guest professor in the Netherlands, and was a co-organizer of several international symposia on multiparticle dynamics. His first wife, Barbara Ann Parker Shephard, died. Survivors include his second wife, Nancy Kavadas Shephard, two stepchildren, seven grandchildren, and a nephew.

ALAN F. FLYNN JR., a teacher and headmaster, died Aug. 30, 2017. He was 85. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he received a master’s degree from Trinity College. He also studied at the University of Hawaii’s East-West Center and the International Christian University in Tokyo. In 1954 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and retired as a First Lieutenant. He later taught at the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan, where he met his wife and where his children were born. Returning to the United States, he taught Japanese history and was head of Kingswood-Oxford Middle School in West Hartford, Conn. He then became headmaster of the Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, R.I., where the Alan F. Flynn Academic Center was built and dedicated in his honor. From 1992 to 1998 he was the headmaster of St. Michael’s School Country Day School in Newport, R.I. In addition to traveling, he was active in Rotary and was a charter member of a special group that was dedicated to bringing clean water, health, and literacy to Cambodia. He is survived by his wife, Emiko Tanaka Flynn; two children, including Sarah A. Flynn ’90; and five grandchildren.