Obituaries | 1960-1969

ROBERT S. “Bob” BURNETT, one of the original folk-singing group The Highwaymen, and an attorney and banker, died Dec. 7, 2011, at age 71. A member of EQV, he received his degree with honors. At Wesleyan, he and three of his fraternity brothers formed The Highwaymen and recorded the song “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore,” which was a gold-record phenomenon in 1961. After graduation he joined the U.S. Army. Upon his discharge from the Army he lived and sang with the Highwaymen in Greenwich Village at the height of the folk-singing era. He then attended Harvard Law School, receiving his degree in 1967, and joined the firm of Edwards & Angell. He later worked as a senior vice president in the trust departments of the Hospital Trust National Bank, Fleet, Bank Boston, and, more recently, Bank of America. He was an active member of both the Probate & Trust Committee of the Rhode Island Bar and the Estate Planning Council of Rhode Island. An active community volunteer, he served as the chairman of the board of Moses Brown School, was on the board of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Cancer Society, and sat on and advised numerous non-profit boards. He was also an avid sailor and athlete, in addition to continuing to sing. In 1990 the original Highwaymen began to perform together again, reviving the sounds of the 1960s, and did so for 20 years. Among those who survive are his wife, Kathleen Cullis Burnett, three children, nine grandchildren, two brothers, and a large extended family.

STEVEN B. BUTTNER, a management consultant and former dean at Wesleyan, died Aug. 1, 2012. He was 72. A member of EQV, and an active participant in the fraternity for all his years, he received a master’s in Russian Studies from the University of Wisconsin and was a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University in Eastern European and Russian Medieval History. After teaching at Queens College, he joined the administration at Wesleyan, where he was a lecturer in History and Dean of the Class of 1974. See Faculty and Administration.

HOWARD F. BOWLES JR., 68, a retired airline pilot, died June 22, 2008. A member of Kappa Nu Kappa, he served in the U.S. Air Force for six years, attaining the rank of captain. He was a Vietnam War veteran and participated in Operation Ranch Hand. After leaving the Air Force, he joined Pan American Airways. After retiring, he dedicated much of his life to volunteer work in his community. Survivors include his wife, Barbara Binsacca Bowles; his daughter, Abby Bowles ’96; and his son-in-law, Stephen Vopelak.

ANDREW C. ACKEMANN, 61, a management consultant and expert in rationalization of complex global organizational structures, died July 19, 2006. He was a member of Eclectic. During his nine-year service in the U.S. Navy, he commanded a coastal minesweeper as well as a unit of the Special Warfare Operations Command and was awarded numerous medals. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, he was associated with Booz Allen Hamilton, Alexander & Alexander, and MGM. He also served, pro bono, as a National Safety Inspector for Outward Bound Schools and for NOLS (the National Outdoor Leadership School), and he served in the search and rescue operations at the site of the World Trade Center attack in 2001. Survivors include his wife, Deborah Ackemann, and six children.

MICHAEL A. AUSTIN, 68, an attorney who specialized in tax, and in trusts and estates, died Dec. 7, 2011. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi, received his degree magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After four years of service in the U.S. Navy, he entered Harvard Law School and upon receiving his degree began practicing law in Boston, first with a larger firm and later on his own. Predeceased by his daughter, he is survived by his wife, Nolly Corley; two sons, including Jeffrey M. Austin ’00; two sisters; a stepson; and many nieces and nephews.

DAN R. ARONSON, an anthropologist whose career spanned 25 years at McGill University and 15 years at the World Bank, where he was the principal social scientist until his retirement in 2003, died Feb. 26, 2010. He was 69. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he received his degree with honors and with distinction in anthropology, and was a member of EQV. He received master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. A specialist in developmental anthropology, particularly in African countries, he tried to incorporate a deeper understanding of social structure and cultural values into efforts to improve the well–being and income–earning potential of the poor. He is survived by three children, including David A. Aronson ’86; eight grandchildren; two brothers; a large extended family; and his former wife, Theresa Lopez.

RICHARD M. ARMSTRONG, 72, the president of Armstrong Engineering Associates and the former chair of both the boards of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and of Chester County (Pa.) Hospital, died May 9, 2010. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received a master’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His company, founded by his father, designs and makes heat–transfer equipment for the chemical and oil–refining industry. He was an advocate of open land and he served on several boards in addition to his hospital commitments. Survivors include his wife, Susan Dole Armstrong, three children, seven grandchildren, and a brother.

KENNETH C. ALLEN, 73, a builder who rehabilitated houses on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., died Oct. 18, 2011. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received his law degree from the University of Virginia. After serving in the U.S. Navy for six years, he returned to the Washington, D.C., area and went into the building business. He was president of Walden Construction, but had been disabled since brain surgery in 1985. Survivors include his wife, Beverly Jones Allen, a stepson, and a brother.

Gus Napier ’60 writes about his friend, James Alexander, Jr. ’60.

I vividly remember meeting Jim at Alpha Chi Rho, this big guy from the Bronx–tall, with a deep, booming voice that seemed to reverberate down into his very long legs; he had a crew cut and a steady, confident smile. Jim seemed inveterately friendly, full of energy and talk, and with a flair for the dramatic. He reached out to this shy kid from southern Georgia and he impressed him–among other ways–with his story of seeing man get caught halfway into a New York subway door just as the train was pulling out, and yanking the man free. The story makes a good metaphor for Jim: the rescuer, the giver; and the dramatist.

At Wesleyan Jim majored in religion, with minors in Spanish and biology. He was a swimmer, a member of Cardinal Key, and on the Freshman Orientation Committee. Joining after the initial pledge period, he was an enthusiastic member of AXP/EQV.

After graduating from Wesleyan in 1960, Jim went to medical school for a year (the rescuer), but his love of Theater (capital T) proved stronger, and he left to chase this dream. Singer, dancer and actor, he performed with Carol Burnett on the Garry Moore Show. For a couple of years he announced all the commercials for the Masters Golf Tournament, as well as doing numerous voice-over commercial spots. He also acted in soaps, including As the World Turns, and Days of Our Lives. He modeled in clothing, automobile, and cigarette advertisements, and appeared in Life magazine four times. He even appeared in a Frankenstein advertisement with Boris Karloff. Jim’s success in these public ventures got him invited twice to the White House for dinner–by Presidents Kennedy and Ford.

Running parallel with this theatrical side of Jim there was the giver and the helper. In 1962, while working as Assistant Director of Admissions/Recruiting at New York University, Jim wrote a proposal for a counseling department “model” that included the role of college consultant. The head of the counseling program at Highland Park High School (in Highland Park, Illinois) saw this proposal, and hired Jim to implement it. There, Jim created the oldest counseling resource center in the country, a center that helped students not only with college planning but with career planning and with the larger issues of the post-high school world.

In his 34 years at Highland Park, Jim was wellspring of energy and creativity. He created a system in which students saw one counselor for all four years; he was deeply committed to providing equal access to counseling for all students, including minority students and those with learning disabilities; he pioneered the use of the computer in providing college and career information and referral. He visited countless colleges, made hundreds of speeches, consulted widely, and was a tireless advocate for Highland Park and its students. Jim worked with students’ families in doing long-term educational financial planning. He also tried to bring a healthy “reality dose” to the counseling process. Jim believed that his varied experiences allowed him represent the larger world more accurately to students.

In his “spare time,” Jim coached the water polo team which he founded at Highland Park.

Jim’s innovative approaches to high school counseling brought him national recognition: he was active in the Illinois Association of College Admissions Counselors, which has created an award in his name; and he served as president of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. He received a number of other citations and awards. The center Jim helped create at Highland Park is now named for him.

Jim was full of life, and he led a full life. He and Gita–the former Margareta Jarnstedt, who worked as an interior designer–had two children, James and Caryn. Jim was extremely devoted to and proud of his family. He and Gita also bought and renovated and sold real estate; collected antiques (the couple owned and ran a small antiques business in Illinois). Jim painted (in oils), loved music, antiques, travel, his friends, his family.

In 2000, Jim and Gita retired to Hendersonville, N.C., which is also near the renowned Flat Rock Playhouse. The last time I saw Jim (I live in nearby Brevard) was at a party he and Gita gave to celebrate the expansion and renovation of their house. Jim knew he was very ill; he couldn’t wait to show the unfinished project to his friends. He led us around the house, his expansive gestures filling in their dreams of new rooms, new surfaces, new spaces. He talked the whole time; you could hear his booming voice all over the house.

Jim died on December 19, 2004, of leukemia. I am only one of a huge number of people who miss him.

A a retired attorney, died Oct. 28, 2012, at age 73. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he received his degree with distinction in government. He received an LLB from the University of Pittsburgh and an LLM from Georgetown University. After a career in the U.S. and London, he retired in 2000 as general counsel for Kaiser Aluminum. He then became an avid genealogist. Survivors include his wife, Marcia Mann Butler, three children, and his brother.