Obituaries | 1980-1989

Categories Obituaries, Obituaries | 1980-1989Posted on

Paul Perkins Ratliff ’88

Paul Perkins Ratliff died after a 13-month battle with brain cancer on December 22, 2021. He was 56 years old. He was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1964 to Jack and Clare Ratliff. He graduated from St. Stevens High School in Austin, Texas, and attended Wesleyan University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1988 with a double major in film and theater. 

Paul was multifaceted; he seemed to live many lives—he was an actor, a cabinetmaker, a writer, a therapist, an ethnographer, an adventurer, a storyteller, a humorist, a deeply observant and wise human. In his presence you felt truly seen, heard, understood—and funnier, smarter, and more interesting somehow. He approached life with a sense of play and humor that was steeped in his love of language—which sometimes took the form of haikus, limericks, an artful turn of phrase. These were experiments in expression, grounded in connections he had to the people in his life and his collection of experiences. 

He was a theater actor in Chicago for much of the ’90s. There he was a founding member of the Great Jones Theater Company. He performed at the Goodman Theatre, one of Chicago’s most preeminent theatres, as well as at smaller theatres all over Chicago. He earned praise from The Chicago Tribune and other Chicago theatre critics for his roles in American Divine, the collected short plays of Joe Pintauro (for which he garnered a Jeff nomination,) and Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day among others. 

He went on to work at a small start-up in Chicago called E-Lab, doing work that combined anthropology and product design to help companies think better about people’s experiences with their products. E-Lab was eventually purchased by Sapient, a multinational consultancy. With them Paul moved to London, where he lived for seven years. Across this time, he worked as a consultant for organizations like Ford, Unilever, Frito Lay, Steelcase, Johnson & Johnson, UPS, and BMW, and conducted research all over the world. 

He moved back to the U.S. in 2008 where he met and married his wife Maggie Siff.  They welcomed a daughter, Lucy Luna Ratliff, in 2014. During this time he turned his attention to a lifelong interest, psychotherapy. He returned to school and received his master’s from Pacifica Graduate Institute. At the time of his death, he was a licensed MFT in practice in Manhattan, New York. 

He is survived by his parents Jack and Clare Ratliff, his wife Maggie Siff, daughter Lucy Ratliff, and his brothers John and Ben Ratliff.  Not to mention friends all over the world, with and for whom he cultivated a lifelong practice of daily ordinary joy. 

Categories Obituaries, Obituaries | 1980-1989Posted on

John “Johan” F. Booth ’86, MA’86

John “Johan” F. Booth ’86, MA’86 passed away on June 29, 2022. His brother, David Booth, shared the following obituary:

John Booth ’86 died June 29, 2022. Early in 2021, John experienced
odd symptoms—phantom smells, brief episodes of loss of balance, brief
episodes of difficulty word finding.  In April, an MRI revealed a mass
in his brain. This turned out to be a glioblastoma, an aggressive and
almost invariably fatal brain tumor. John underwent surgery to remove
much of the tumor. Radiation and chemotherapy followed with the aim
of slowing regrowth of the tumor. During eight weeks of radiation
therapy John stayed with his Wesleyan friend Bill Belt and family in
Philadelphia. Treatment allowed him about a year to enjoy old
friendships before the tumor began to progress once again. Early on,
John resolved that he did not want to endure a terrible final illness,
nor did he want to prolong his life through burdensome interventions.
Thankfully, the law in Washington State, his longtime legal residence,
provides for the possibility of “death with dignity,” or physician-
attended death. He took the final medicine on the morning of
Wednesday, June 29.  His final words revealed neither anxiety nor
doubt: “Cheers” (as he lifted the cup), “Jesus!” (as he encountered
the bitter taste), and “well, here we go” (as he began to get drowsy).
A hospice nurse said she had never served a patient who seemed more at
ease in their final repose. John donated his body to the medical
school of Washington State University, where it will serve medical
education.

John studied computer science and astronomy at Wesleyan and later at
UC Santa Cruz. He found his life’s work in the U.S. Antarctic Program
where he came to be called Johan. He worked at Palmer and South Pole
Stations as a science technician. He loved the social life of the
South Pole, where a small staff community would fend for itself during
the long isolation of dark months. He loved the physical beauty of
the South Pole, where the aurora danced overhead. He loved the varied
science conducted at the Pole, where his intelligence, meticulousness,
and curiosity found purpose. He loved mentoring others in that
science. He loved sharing about Antarctica through countless visits
and slideshows in schools and community settings, and through a
celebrated email correspondence chronicling both the social and the
scientific aspects of life on the ice. By the time his Antarctic
career concluded he was among a short list of the people who had
wintered over the most seasons. In the Northern Hemisphere he
cultivated a community of companions from every chapter of his life.
He loved the Mountain West with its vistas, its histories, and its
opportunities for hiking and biking. He loved reasoned arguments.  He
respected statistics and probability. He applied his intelligence
happily to baseball, the economy, politics, human behavior. He was a
faithful and generous friend who gave freely of his attention and his
resources. He was great at helping you puzzle out a life problem.
Confronted with an absurd and terrible diagnosis, he lived and died on
his own terms. He is missed by parents, siblings, stepsiblings,
nieces, a nephew, and cousins. He is also missed by the grand
community of his friends and colleagues, including friends from
Wesleyan. Memories are being collected at GatheringUs.com.
https://www.gatheringus.com/memorial/john-johan-booth/9381

 

 

Categories Obituaries, Obituaries | 1980-1989Posted on

Julie Kraushaar Zurcher ’82, P’18

Julie Kraushaar Zurcher ’82, P’18 passed away on July 21, 2022. A report of her death can be read here.

Class Secretary Michael Ostacher contributed a personal note about Julie in the Fall 2022 Class Notes:

Julie Kraushaar Zurcher passed away on July 23 after a struggle with her mental health that developed over the past year, unable to find a clear diagnosis or successful treatment. I had a chance to sit with her husband Werner and son Bryce ’18, in their home in Ladera, California, to remember Julie’s vibrancy, love, and optimism. I met Julie freshman year in Clark Hall and we lived near each other in Silicon Valley. When I moved here in 2010, we stayed in a hotel until our housing became available. Julie happened to be staying there, too, returning herself with her family from Switzerland and waiting for their own home to become available, and we recognized each other immediately. Her warmth and hospitality made our transition from Cambridge so much easier. She will be missed terribly, but our memories of her and how she touched us will remain.