Obituaries | 1990-1999

Thea Trachtenberg ’90 passed away on April 12, 2020 at the age of 51. A full obituary can be found here.

John Griffin Jr. ’94 passed away on March 5, 2020 at the age of 47. A full obituary can be found here. At Wesleyan, John majored in history. He played football and lacrosse at Wesleyan and he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

His mother Carolyn Griffin said, “John enjoyed sailing, skin diving, and squash in his free time. He also enjoyed opera and historical bios. His two cats Perseus and Cleopatra were his soulmates as he battled this disease with a fierce determination for eight years.”

Thank you to John’s mother Carolyn Griffin for providing the photos.

Scott Timberg ’91 passed away on Dec. 10, 2019. A full obituary can be found here.

David J. Bucci ’90 passed away on Oct. 15, 2019 at the age of 50. A full obituary can be found here.

Nicole Zell ’93 passed away on June 4, 2019. A singer/songwriter, Nicole majored in English while at Wesleyan. She leaves behind three young children. She was 48.

James C. Kamm ’92 passed away on June 20, 2018. At Wesleyan, Kamm majored in theater and was a member for Alpha Delta Phi. He earned an MFA in acting from DePaul University. Most recently, he worked as a desktop support specialist at Wesleyan for 10 years. “Jim was well liked and respected by the faculty and staff that he served, and was highly regarded by his ITS colleagues for his deep knowledge of all things Apple and his attention to detail when it came to writing and editing documentation for ITS services,” said Dave Baird, vice president and chief information officer at Wesleyan said. “He will be missed by one and all.”

Elizabeth A. Bender ’96 passed away onNov. 27, 2017. A full obituary can be found here.

Jon-Sam C. Frank ’93 passed away on Sept. 28, 2017. A full obituary can be found here.

April E. Cotte, an outdoor educator and advocate for the rights of indigenous people, died Jan. 25, 2018. She was 49. After graduation she worked in the Connecting with Courage program at Outward Bound in Boston and then moved to the Bay Area to work with adolescent girls as the first program director at Girl Ventures in San Francisco. Her association with Outward Bound continued as she facilitated courses in the Chihuahuan Desert, and she became an advocate for the rights of indigenous communities along the U.S. border with Mexico. She divided her time between her home in California and working as a community activist in Texas. At the time of her death, she was also involved with Gaia Girls, a Bay Area organization that provides long-term mentoring for girls through nature-based programs. She is survived by her partner, Brian Young, their 7-year-old son, her mother, and a brother and sister, as well as the countless friends and young people whose lives she enriched.