Obituaries | 1960-1969

TIMOTHY H. POLK, 69, a theologian who taught religious studies at Hamline University for 30 years, died July 8, 2015. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and received his degree cum laude. After earning a master’s degree in divinity from Yale University, he received his PhD in religion there. He taught a variety of courses in religion and was involved in many initiatives across campus. An enthusiastic teacher, he was an internationally recognized scholar of Soren Kierkegaard’s work as it relates to Christianity. He was also an active lecturer and participant in the broader community. Survivors include his wife, Lucy, three children, one grandson, and his sister.

FRANC A. BARADA JR., M.D., a rheumatologist, died Feb. 8, 2015. He was 69. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he received his medical degree from the University of Virginia. After interning at the University of Wisconsin, he completed his training at the University of Virginia, in between serving as chief of medicine at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. He was assistant professor of rheumatology at Duke University and in 1982 founded Durham Rheumatology. He served the Durham community for more than 30 years and was also an active volunteer in both medical and local organizations. He helped to found Project Access of Durham County to secure medical specialty care for the uninsured. He is survived by his wife, Placide Noell Barada, two children, four grandchildren, and his sister.

ROBIN M. BURNS, 70, an architect in New York City, died Feb. 5, 2015. A member of Kappa Nu Kappa, he received his degree cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Architecture, he worked for New York City agencies for four decades to improve the design of public buildings. Among those who survive are his wife, Rena Grossfield, his daughter, two grandchildren, and his brother.

Rena writes, “Robin graduated from Columbia School of Architecture and spent most of his career working for various agencies in the City of New York, including City Planning, the Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development, the Department of General Services and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC). He served as chief architect of the Parks Department, overseeing the buildings in the city’s 200-plus parks. In the mid-’80s, he left public service to head the real estate development arm of the South Street Seaport Museum, at the time when the Rouse Corporation was transforming the Seaport area into one of its “festival marketplaces” akin to its projects in Boston and Baltimore. In his final years back with the city at DDC, he was senior project manager for the new multi-building police academy going up in Queens and the city’s new backup 911 emergency call center.

“Besides me, Robin left behind his daughter Jenny Burns and her husband, Geoff Sanoff, our two grandsons, Alexei (8) and Jesse (6), his brother Bruce, and his former wife and our dear friend Judy Burns and her wife Pat Magnuson. As I wrote in The New York Times obituary, he was a good man, taken too soon. Donations may be made to Learning Ally, where Robin was a longtime volunteer reader, 545 5th Avenue, NY, NY 10017; or to support Dr. Eileen O’Reilly’s pancreatic cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering: mskcc.convio.net/goto/Robin_Burns.” Rena may be reached at rgrossfield at gmail.com.

MICHAEL E. TIMM, 72, an attorney and former assistant New York State attorney general, died Mar. 15, 2015. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and received his law degree from New York University Law School. He practiced law in private practice and as an assistant attorney general. In 1995, he and his wife opened the Bijou Galleries, an antiques and collectibles shop in Cold Spring, N.Y. Survivors include his wife, Jane Silver Timm, his son, and his granddaughter.