JOHN S. KOCH JR., a singer and an actor, died Jan. 30, 2015. He was 54. He volunteered at a library and on a farm. A former long-distance runner, he was also an avid sports fan. Survivors include his mother, Constance Chadwell Koch, two sisters, his brother, and four nieces.
PAUL LENKEIT, a managing director with Babson Capital, died Mar. 25, 2015. He was 55. An economics and mathematics major, he joined the Travelers Insurance Company in their accounting and actuarial department before joining the marketing department at MassMutual. In 1992 he was invited to join Babson Capital, where he was the lead portfolio manager for mortgage-backed hedge funds and oversaw trading in mortgage securities, before his most recent role as a managing director in charge of derivatives trading and insurance asset management. He also had a passion for jazz music. Survivors include his wife, Lori Cullis Lenkeit, three children, his brother, and two sisters.
ANTHONY I. STEPHENSON, a freelance writer, died Sept. 30, 2014. He was 47. Among those who survive are his parents, Tracy and Charles Stephenson, two sisters, seven nieces and nephews, and many loving friends, including Annie Rush.
ANNIE RAVITZ, who worked in children’s theater and television, died Jan. 26, 2015. She was 48. Stricken with Lupus at age 11, she faced constant health problems. After graduating from Wesleyan she became an assistant to a New York City Councilman and then worked in children’s theater and television. Her father, Robert J. Ravitz, survives, as do her brother and several nieces and nephews.
SHARON BYRNE MCGOWAN, an ironworker, died Oct. 23, 2014. She was 54. After starting a medical career, she decided to work outdoors and became an ironworker. She also enjoyed restoring VW diesels and doing fine woodworking, in addition to birding. Her father, Dr. Robert Byrne, survives, as do her husband, Philip McGowan, her brother, two aunts, and six nieces and nephews.
ANTHONY I. STEPHENSON, a freelance writer, died Sept. 30, 2014. He was 47. Among those who survive are his parents, Tracy and Charles Stephenson, two sisters, seven nieces and nephews, and many loving friends, including Annie Rush.
ANNIE RAVITZ, who worked in children’s theater and television, died Jan. 26, 2015. She was 48. Stricken with Lupus at age 11, she faced constant health problems. After graduating from Wesleyan she became an assistant to a New York City Councilman and then worked in children’s theater and television. Her father, Robert J. Ravitz, survives, as do her brother and several nieces and nephews.
SHARON BYRNE MCGOWAN, an ironworker, died Oct. 23, 2014. She was 54. After starting a medical career, she decided to work outdoors and became an ironworker. She also enjoyed restoring VW diesels and doing fine woodworking, in addition to birding. Her father, Dr. Robert Byrne, survives, as do her husband, Philip McGowan, her brother, two aunts, and six nieces and nephews.
SETH TELLER, a member of MIT’s computer science and engineering faculty, who was internationally renowned for his efforts to develop robots that are useful to people in their daily lives, died July 1, 2014. He was 50. After graduating from Wesleyan he received his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, and did research at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at Princeton University before joining the faculty at MIT, where he rose to the rank of full professor. He led a research group that focused on making machines aware of their surroundings and capable of interacting naturally with people in healthcare, military, civilian, and disaster-relief settings. As leader of MIT’s Fifth Sense Project, he worked with colleagues and students to develop wearable devices to assist people who are blind or have low vision. A neighborhood activist and longtime ultimate Frisbee player, he led grassroots efforts to promote neighborhood-friendly development decisions and to improve open spaces in Cambridge, Mass. Among those who survive are his wife, Rachel Zimmerman, two daughters, his parents, two brothers, and a large extended family.
JULIA WU TRETHAWAY, 55, a history teacher and administrator at the Hotchkiss School, died July 9, 2014. An East Asian and Modern European studies major, she joined the Hotchkiss faculty in the fall of 1980. After teaching there for several years she studied in the PhD program in East Asian studies at the University of Michigan and returned to Hotchkiss two years later when she married fellow Hotchkiss teacher Tom Trethaway. She later received a MALS from Dartmouth College. She served as a class dean and founded the Hotchkiss faculty women’s ice hockey team, in addition to being a well-known and respected presence on the campus. Survivors include her husband, Tom Trethaway, two children, and her mother.
