Obituaries | 1950-1959

ROGER S. HANFORD, an estate and trust administrator, died Aug. 19, 2015, at age 90. A member of Sigma Nu, his father was Jay Hanford of the class of 1921, his father-in-law was Frederick F. Lovejoy Jr., of the class of 1923, his brother was Gerald H. Hanford of the class of 1964, his uncle was Eric V. Sandin of the class of 1919, and his brothers-in-law were Frederick A. Lovejoy of the class of 1950 and Jonathan Lovejoy of the class of 1953. During World War II he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He devoted all 41 years of his professional career to the Norwalk, Conn., law firm of Lovejoy, Heffernan, Rimer & Cuneo as a professional paralegal. Active in his community, he was a member of the Norwalk Kiwanis Club where he was elected lieutenant governor for southwestern Fairfield County. He was president of the Laura Raymond Homes for seniors, and had a longtime membership and one-term chairmanship of the Norwalk Historical Commission, plus a a six-year directorship on the board of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion museum. He served on the Norwalk Board of Education and the Norwalk Common Council, and he chaired the Norwalk Concert Hall restoration. He was also president of the Norwalk YMCA, as well as serving on other boards and committees. Predeceased by his wife, Martha Lovejoy Hanford, and by a son, survivors include two daughters, a son, two grandchildren, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews.

PETER J. FERNALD, who retired as vice president of planning and development for the Times-Mirror Company, died Sept. 25, 2015. He was 86. A member of Eclectic, he received his degree with high honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was awarded the Thorndike Regional Scholarship, which forged his enduring desire to support financial aid at Wesleyan. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he received both a master’s degree and an MBA from Harvard University. He worked at Arthur D. Little until he was hired by the Chandler family, the owners of the Los Angeles Times, to help them develop their affiliated businesses. He spent many years as the Times-Mirror Corporation’s director of planning, overseeing strategic development and acquisitions. In 2009 he was interviewed and featured at length in the PBS documentary, Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times, which highlighted the ways in which the growth of the Times-Mirror Company was tied to the development of modern Los Angeles. He never married and remained close to the Chandler family in his early retirement years.

WILLIAM W. ANDERSON, 86, the former president of the Somerset Press in New Jersey, died June 20, 2015. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received his degree with honors. From 1951 to 1953 he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Since 1954, he was employed at the Somerset Press since 1954, beginning as the sports editor for the Somerset Messenger Gazette, then manager of the Princeton Shopping Center News, and later as executive vice president of the Somerset Press printing operation. He continued as president after the company was sold to Forbes, Inc., retiring in 1989. In 1990 he was appointed court administrator for Bridgewater Township, then purchasing agent and later administrator for the division of golf management for the Somerset County Park Commission. Always involved in his community, he was one of the original partners in radio station WBRW in Bridgewater. He was a commissioner of the Somerset County Park Commission for 25 years, past president of the Raritan Valley Country Club, the Somerville-Raritan Exchange Club, and the Somerville Jaycees, as well as serving on the Board of the Somerset Valley YMCA, as past chairman of the Somerville Advisory Board of Security Savings and Loan, and as director of the Somerset Savings Bank. An avid golfer, in 1963 he won the N.J. State Golf Association Amateur Championship, in addition to other championships. His wife of 58 years, Josephine Nagrodzki Anderson, survives, as do two daughters, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

CONCETTA P. GRANSKI, a retired kindergarten teacher and an artist, died Apr. 29, 2015, at age 97. She was a graduate of Central Connecticut State University, and received her MALS from Wesleyan in 1958, a sixth-year certificate from the University of Hartford in 1963, and a PhD from Michigan State University in 1971. She was a volunteer and contributor to the New Britain Museum of American Art. Predeceased by her husband, Joseph A. Granski, D.D.S., she is survived by three stepchildren, five grandchildren, three great-granddaughters, and several nephews.

DAVID R.W. RAYNOLDS, 87, a bison rancher, diplomat and author, died June 19, 2015. He was an alumnus of Dartmouth College. After U.S. Army service from 1950 to 1953, he received a master’s degree from Wesleyan in 1955, did pre-doctoral work at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and later graduated from the National War College in 1973. Joining the Foreign Service in 1956, he served in the diplomatic corps in El Salvador, France, Haiti, Pakistan, and Washington, D.C. In 1966 he received the Meritorious Service Award from the U.S. Department of State. In 1964 he and his family spent a year in Lander, Wyo., where he wrote a book on El Salvador, and in 1975 they settled permanently in the Lander area and developed a bison herd at Table Mountain Ranch. He spent almost 40 years deeply involved in the community and spent 26 years on the steering committee of the Wyoming Business Alliance, with its Leadership Wyoming program. He was also involved with other local and national associations, including as president of the National Buffalo Association. Survivors include his wife, Mary Alice (May) Kean Raynolds, five children, eight grandchildren, and his sister.

EDWARD McGREW JR., a retired business manager, died May 31, 2015, at age 78. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, his career as a business manager took him from the Chicago Board of Trade to the International College of Surgeons. He later worked for H&R Block in their premium division and enjoyed teaching tax preparation to their new students. His wife, Carol William McGrew, survives, as do three daughters, eight grandchildren, and his sister.

JIM R. BROWNING, M.D., an ophthalmologist and well-known gardener, died Mar. 12, 2015. He was 77. A member of Eclectic, he received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College and served in the U.S. Navy. He practiced ophthalmology for 44 years. A renowned gardener of rhododendron, azaleas, magnolias, and dwarf conifers, he was also a hybridizer of hardy rhododendron and a dedicated member of the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, which awarded him the Bronze Medal, their highest honor. Among those who survive are his wife, Blanche Rider Browning, two children, two grandchildren, and his brother.

EUGENE V. ALESSANDRONI II, a career prosecutor in the Philadelphia district attorney’s office, died Nov. 25, 2014, at age 77. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received his law degree from Villanova University. During his 38-year career in the district attorney’s office, serving under five district attorneys, he had, at various times, headed the child support division and the anti-obscenity enforcement division. He had also been a public defender and an assistant counsel to former governor Raymond P. Shafer. His wife, Maria Lochetto Alessandroni, and his brother survive.

WARREN WITHERELL, 79, a former headmaster and the founder of Burke Mountain Academy, died May 26, 2014. He was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. After serving as an administrator in several independent schools, he founded Burke Mountain Academy in 1971, where he served as headmaster, English teacher and coach. He promoted the ability of student athletes to thrive and learn in a non-graded and physically active school. Through his coaching, more than 115 students and alumni of the school have been named to the U.S. Ski Team, and 43 to Olympic teams. In 2004 he came out of retirement to become headmaster of Crested Butte Academy, from which several top athletes moved on to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard teams. He wrote How the Racers Ski and co-authored The Athletic Skier and Lessons from Burke—One School That Works. He was inducted into two athletic halls of fame for both snow skiing and waterskiing. He set multiple world records in water skiing, including five world water skiing titles. Survivors include two daughters, two sisters, his brother, and a large extended family.

THOMAS H. CONNELL, a retired attorney and an artist, died Feb. 17, 2015, at age 80. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and received his law degree from the University of Connecticut after serving in the U.S. Navy. As an attorney, he specialized in heavy construction and was president of the Connecticut law firm Michelson, Kane, Royster & Barger. After retirement he devoted much of his time to artwork. Many of his works feature Cope Cod and the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, where he was also a volunteer naturalist. Two children and four grandchildren survive.