COCHRANE CHASE, an advertising executive, died Feb. 5, 2016. He was 85. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree with honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1966 he established his own advertising agency, Cochrane Chase. He started as a one-person agency and rose to be in the top 100 agencies in the country. Predeceased by a son, survivors include his wife, Janis Kueber Chase, two daughters, and five grandsons.
CHARLES H. ROGOVIN, 84, emeritus professor of law and a longtime law enforcement official at the state and federal level, died Jan. 10, 2016. He was a member of Chi Psi and received his law degree from Columbia University. A specialist in criminal law, as well as in organized and white-collar crime, he joined the Temple University School of Law faculty in 1977 and upon his retirement in 2009 was named professor of law emeritus. He held numerous high-profile jobs in public service, including serving as vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, assistant attorney general and chief of the criminal division in Massachusetts, and several positions with the Philadelphia district attorney’s office. A former director of the federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, he was a member of the President’s Commission on Organized Crime during the Reagan administration and was also an active civic volunteer. Among those who survive are his wife, Marcy Rogovin, two children, two stepchildren, two grandchildren, his brother, and his former wife, Amy Levy Rogovin.
FREDERICK R. PITTS JR., M.D., a neurosurgeon, died Mar. 6, 2015. He was 87. A member of Chi Psi, he received his degree with high distinction in creative art. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Rochester, he established a private practice in Madison, Wisc., and served as chief of staff at Madison General Hospital. He retired from medicine and relocated to Costa Rica, where he ran his sheep ranch for 35 years. Survivors include his wife, Tracy Yiu Shin Fu Liu, four daughters, one son, seven grandchildren, six-great-grandchildren, and his brother.
ROBERT R. METZ, the former president and C.E.O. of United Media, died Dec. 13, 2015, at age 86. He was a member of Sigma Nu. After beginning his career as a copy boy at The New York Times, he was promoted to the foreign news desk and then worked for five years as a reporter and editor with the International News Service until it merged with United Press in 1958, at which time he became an assistant news editor at the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He went on to become its president in 1972 and then vice president in 1976 of United Feature Syndicate, which merged to form United Media, a licensing and newspaper syndication company that launched and syndicated the Garfield and Dilbert comic strips under his leadership. United Media also syndicated such popular comic strips as Peanuts and distributed hundreds of features, columns, and editorial cartoons. The company’s Pharos Books division also published The World Almanac, among other nonfiction titles, and a subsidiary, TV Data, sold TV listings to newspapers. He led the company into a major international expansion and also established a joint venture that produced children’s animated television programs. In 1992, United Media donated the Robert Roy Metz Collection of more than 83,000 original cartoons by more than 100 cartoonists to Ohio State University’s Cartoon Library and Museum. He retired in 1994. His first marriage, to Beth Blossom, ended in divorce. His wife, Susan Blair Metz survives, as do two sons, a stepson, and three grandchildren.
CHARLES E. FIERO JR., an international banker and former Wesleyan trustee, died Jan. 24, 2015, at age 88. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he received his degree with high honors and distinction in economics, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy. After graduation he joined Chase Bank’s training program. During his 25 years at Chase he was made vice president and was put in charge of the credit department. Later, he joined the international department and opened Chase’s first branch in Geneva; he also helped to restructure and improve Chase’s European network. In 1965 he moved to London, where he became a Board member of what was then the Standard Bank, with branches in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1968 he was asked to become Under Secretary of Commerce to check and control the U.S. funds being moved to Europe. He spent a year in Washington and then returned to Chase as directly of long range planning and corporate development. He traveled extensively in the Middle East to assess the impact of OPEC’s wealth on the world’s monetary system, and he later became an executive vice president. In 1976 he left Chase to join the Hay Group, an international consulting group, as partner and chief financial officer. He also ran sessions at Northwestern University’s business school about mergers and acquisitions. When Hay was sold, he and two others formed MLR Holdings, a venture capital firm, from which he retired at age 78. He was a trustee of Wesleyan from 1974 to 1977, the chairman of the Mount Holyoke College Parent Fund, and a member of the Board of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Among those who survive are his wife. Dorothy Hagenbuckle Fiero; three children; six grandchildren, including Christopher A. Brown ’04 and Brian C. Morgan ’09; one great-grandson; two sisters; and his brother.
MARTIUS L. ELMORE, who taught English and film at Manchester (Conn.) Community College, died Jan. 19, 2016. He was 87. The son of Lynwood K. Elmore of the class of 1918, he was a member of Delta Upsilon. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After receiving a master’s degree in English from Ohio State University, he taught English in several schools before joining the faculty at Manchester Community College, where he spent 23 years teaching English and film. He also wrote film reviews for various publications. His wife, Eleanor Ritchie Elmore, predeceased him. He is survived by two children and one grandchild.
GEORGE D. BRYANT, 77, a local architectural historian, architectural consultant, and public servant in Provincetown, Mass., died Mar. 25, 2015. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and received a master’s degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among the first group of Peace Corps recruits, he was stationed in Peru where he oversaw construction of a housing project. Later, he worked for a large architectural firm and also bought and renovated buildings in Cambridge, Mass., before returning to Provincetown, his hometown. He was a trustee of Seamen’s Bank for many years. Survivors include two sons, one of whom is the son of his second wife, Dr. Rosemary Elliott, a grandson, a brother, and several cousins.
RICHARD E. STEPHENS, who had been a business manager for a realty company, died Aug. 14, 2015. He was 82. A member of Alpha Chi Rho, he had worked in retailing and advertising, and served in the U.S. Army in Korea for three years. Survivors include his brother, a niece and nephew, and his very close friend, Ron Carty.
SOMERVILLE PARKER, whose entire career was in private secondary education, died July 13, 2015. He was 82. A member of Eclectic, he received his degree with honors. He received a master’s degree in teaching mathematics from the University of Virginia and taught at Christchurch School of Virginia, St. Albans School, and the Blue Ridge School, before spending the rest of his career at the Landon School of Maryland, as a teacher, coach, head of the upper school and assistant headmaster. His wife of 56 years, Joan Hovendon Parker, survives, as do three children, eight grandchildren, and his brother.
HOYT CHAPIN, the retired owner and president of the Pottery Barn Inc., died July 16, 2015, at age 82. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and also attended the Columbia University School of Business. After beginning his retail career at Bloomingdale’s and then moving to Dansk International Designs, he spent the majority of his work life since 1966 as owner and president of the Pottery Barn Inc., until he retired. His forward thinking, creative and entrepreneurial approach championed “good contemporary design at a great price,” according to his family. After he retired, he remained involved in several business adventures, including the creation of two developments, Browns Hill and the Georges Mills Boat Club, in Sunapee, N.H., and consulted to Mesa International in Warner, N.H. He was an active member of the New London community, as a director of the Little Sunapee Protective Association, New London Hospital, and the Kearsarge Council on Aging, among others. Among those who survive are his wife of 60 years, Marybelle Carruth Chapin; three children, including Deborah Chapin ’81; three grandchildren; a niece and nephew; and several cousins, including Edward W. Hoyt ’69, who officiated at the memorial celebration of his life.
