Obituaries | 1940-1949

CHARLES A. BRIGGS SR., former executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency, died Nov. 4, 2015, at age 89. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II and in 1952 joined the CIA after receiving a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. Over the course of the following 34 years he went from being a Junior Officer Trainee to the top position of CIA Executive Director. He served in administrative roles in all four divisions with the agency, including postings as Inspector General, Comptroller, Director of Services Staff, Congressional Liaison, and Executive Director. He held the unique distinction (in June 1983) while serving as Executive Director, of being briefly designated as the Acting Director of Central Intelligence and Acting Deputy Director, serving in all three positions simultaneously. He was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal in honor of his service and accomplishments. After retiring in 1986, he was called back to served the intelligence community as a private contractor. A notable contribution was serving as liaison for the creation of the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Tex., dedicated to the JFK Assassination. He served five years as chairman of the board for the Central Intelligence Retirement Association (CIRA) and also four years as chairman of the board for the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO). In 1999 he was awarded the distinguished David Atlee Phillips Founder’s award by AFIO for sustained and exceptional contributions. He was also active with his children in numerous sports leagues and organizations in his Vienna, Va., community. His wife, Catherine Ann Murphy Briggs (Caty) died in 2008. Nine children, 20 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, three brothers, and a large extended family survive.

DOUGLAS F. DORCHESTER, a retired minister, died Nov. 1, 2015. He was 91. The great-grandson of Daniel Dorchester of the class of 1847 and the son of Donald H. Dorchester of the class of 1917, he received his degree with high honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II he served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy and then received a degree from the Yale Divinity School. He served a wide range of ministries from the local parish to the denominational level. For more than 20 years he served as executive secretary of the Board of Education in Southern New England and Northern New Jersey, as well as serving in a number of ecumenical positions. His wife, Janice Potter Dorchester, survives, as do four children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. One son predeceased him.

VINCENT W. JONES JR., 92, a financial adviser, died Nov. 27, 2015. The son of Vincent W. Jones of the class of 1911; the grandson of Robert W. Jones of the class of 1871; the cousin of Frederic W. Frost of the class of 1923, Bradford R. Frost of the class of 1935, and Frederic W. Frost III of the class of 1956, he received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, from which he also received an MBA. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy. His first wife, Marie Prince Jones, predeceased him. Among those who survive are his wife, Cindy Fisher Jones; three children; five grandchildren; his brother, David P. Jones ’51; a nephew, David P. Jones Jr. ’83; two nieces, Suzanne H. Varney ’84 and Lisa J. Chung ’86.

JOSEPH L. WEITZ, professor emeritus of geology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and a former assistant professor of geology at Wesleyan, died July 22, 2015, at age 93. He was the brother of John H. Weitz of the class of 1938. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he received his degree with honors and was elected to Sigma Xi. He received an MS and a PhD from Yale University. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He did his doctoral field studies in Newfoundland, co-authored a geologic map of Wyoming in 1954, and worked for the U.S. Geologic Survey. He joined his father’s company, Independent Explosives Company, in Pennsylvania for three years, then left to teach at Wesleyan from 1958-1960. In 1960 he took a position as professor of geology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, retiring in 1983. During this time he served as director of the Earth Science Curriculum Project and did significant summer field work for the U.S.G.S. in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Connecticut, Colorado, and Switzerland. He was a member and leader of several professional societies and authored several publications for the U.S.G.S. Active in his community, he had been a volunteer firefighter and also helped to establish the Front Range Forum, an educational program, in addition to helping to arrange and catalogue the mineral collection at the Fort Collins Museum. Survivors include his wife, Jean Corthell Weitz, three children, one grandson, and a large extended family. One granddaughter preceded him in death.

CHARLES C. GILLISPIE, 97, the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History and professor emeritus of the history of science at Princeton University, died Oct. 6, 2015. He was the son of Raymond L. Gillispie of the class of 1910, the brother of Robert L.J. Gillispie of the class of 1942, the nephew of Robert W. Gillispie of the class of 1904, and the cousin of David L. Gillispie of the class of 1939. He received his degree in chemistry with honors and with high distinction in history. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he was a member of Psi Upsilon. After graduation he remained at Wesleyan for his master’s degree in history. During World War II he served with the U.S. Army. Following the war, he returned to the study of history, joining Princeton University’s faculty and earning a PhD in history from Harvard University. A leading figure in the establishment of the history and philosophy of science as an academic discipline, he founded the Program in the History of Science at Princeton in the 1960s. He was the author of many books that have become classics in the field, including Genesis and Geology: A Study in the Relations of Scientific Thought, Natural Theology, and Social Opinion in Great Britain, 1790-1850; The Edge of Objectivity: An Essay in the History of Scientific Ideas; and Pierre-Simon Laplace, 1749-1827: A Life in Exact Science. He was also the editor-in-chief of the Dictionary of Scientific Biography, a monumental reference work in 16 volumes with more than 4,500 essays on scientists and mathematicians of all periods and nationalities, for which he received the Dartmouth Medal from the American Library Association in 1981. He co-authored his final work, Lazare and Sadi Carnot: A Scientific and Filial Relationship, which was published in 2014. His many awards and distinctions include the 1997 Balzan Prize for History and Philosophy of Science for “the extraordinary contribution he has made to the history and philosophy of science by his intellectually vigorous and exacting works.” He received the Pfizer Prize in 1981 from the History of Science Society for his book, Science and Polity in France at the End of the Old Regime, and the Sarton Medal in 1984. Among his other awards are the Dibner Award for Distinction in History of Science and Technology from MIT in 1994 and la Médaille Alexandre Koyré from the Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences in 1985. In 1972 he was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society, America’s oldest learned society. He received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Wesleyan in 1971, from Lafayette College in 2001, and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Princeton in 2011. His wife, Emily Clapp Gillispie, predeceased him.

CHARLES F. BELL, a retired pharmacist, died Jan. 20, 2015. He was 96. A member of Psi Upsilon, he was the brother of Albert M. Bell of the class of 1935, the nephew of Harry W. Bell of the class of 1912, and the cousin of Warren F. Bell of the class of 1943. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Previously the president of Bell and Halpern Pharmacy, Inc., after his retirement he became the outpatient pharmacist at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, N.Y. Predeceased by his first wife, Castine Swanson Bell, and by a daughter, his wife of 32 years, Bess Herdt Bell, survives, as do two children, two step-children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

WALTER B. GERKEN, a Wesleyan trustee emeritus, the former CEO of Pacific Life Insurance Company, and a founder of PIMCO, died Oct. 5, 2015, at age 93. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta. After attending the University of Vermont, from which he had to withdraw due to lack of funds, he worked various odd jobs and then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He became a B-24 flight navigator and served through the end of the war, attaining the rank of Captain and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he attended Wesleyan on the GI bill and graduated with a degree in economics. After earning a master’s degree in 1950 in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, he became a budget analyst for the state of Wisconsin. In 1954, he was hired by Northwestern Mutual Life as an investment specialist in their bond department, where he became an expert in transportation finance. In the 13 years he spent there, he rose to Manager of Investments, in addition to being elected to the Milwaukee School Board and serving on the boards of the World Affairs Council and Planned Parenthood. In 1967, Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company hired him to be their financial vice president and chief investment officer. Two years later, he recommended that because their investment division invested the company’s assets so well, they should create a subsidiary to invest third-party money, a subsidiary called PIMCO, the Pacific Investment Management Company, which today manages $1.5 trillion and is the largest bond fund manager in the word. Pacific Mutual promoted him to executive vice president in 1969 and president in 1972. He became chairman and CEO in 1975, serving in those positions until his retirement in 1986. Under his tenure, Pacific Life nearly quadrupled in size and achieved his goal of becoming one of the top 20 largest life insurance companies in America. He served on numerous boards and was chairman of the American Council of Life Insurance in 1981. In 1982 and 1983 he chaired the California Business Roundtable, an association of the state’s largest corporations. A believer in giving back to his community, he also served as a director of the United Way of America, and of numerous other community organizations. His belief in the power and importance of education led him to, among other things serve as a trustee of Wesleyan from 1971 to 1981, after which he became a Trustee Emeritus. In 1987 he received the University’s highest alumni honor, the Baldwin Medal. He also chaired the Board of Trustees of Occidental College and received the University of California at Irvine’s highest honor, the UCI Medal, for his contributions to the school. In addition, UC, Irvine, endowed the Walter B. Gerken Chair in Enterprise and Society in 1998. His beloved wife, Darlene Stolt Gerken, died in 2009. Survivors include six children, including Walter C. Gerken ’75 and Ellen Gerken Mainthow ’77; 14 grandchildren; and two brothers, including F. James Gerken ’58.

HARRY S. ROWLAND JR., M.D., a urologic surgeon, died July 30, 2015, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 88. A member of Eclectic, he received his medical degree from the University of Maryland. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and again from 1953 to 1957. For 28 years, he practiced urology in Richmond, Va. After retiring from private practice he was employed as a physician surveyor for the Joint Commission and as a consultant for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia. In his spare time, he enjoyed staying active and spending time with his dogs. From hunting to scuba diving in the Caribbean, he was always looking for the next big adventure. Among his many hobbies were shooting, archery and studying military history. In 2014 he donated his collection of British military weapons to the Virginia Military Institute Museum. His wife of 47 years, Lorna Beres Rowland, predeceased him. Survivors include his wife of more than eight years, Jacqueline Rhodes Rowland; five children; and 12 grandchildren, including Colfax D. Phillips ’16.

GEORGE P. VENNART, M.D., a renowned pathologist, died Sept. 13, 2014, at age 88. He was a nephew of Elizabeth D. Clark of the class of 1907. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy. A member of Sigma Nu, he received his degree with honors and with distinction in biology. He was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Rochester, he held teaching positions at Columbia University and the University of North Carolina before becoming chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Medical College of Virginia. His wife, Mary Joan Miller Vennart predeceased him. He is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

JOHN B. HALSTED, 88, the Winkley Professor of History, Emeritus, at Amherst College, died Feb. 25, 2015. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree with high honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master’s degree from Wesleyan and a PhD from Columbia University. He also received an honorary master’s degree from Amherst College, where he taught European history in a career that spanned 45 years. His publications included Romanticism: Problems in Definition, Explanation, and Evaluation; Contemporary Writing on the Coup d’État of Louis Napoleon; and Romanticism. After he retired he volunteered in his community. Among those who survive are his wife, Betty Nilsen Halsted, three children, five grandchildren, and two brothers.