JOSHUA KEMENY, 36, died Feb. 23, 2009. After graduation from Wesleyan, he worked in advertising in New York and Chicago and won a number of awards in 2003 and 2005. He is survived by his wife, Madeleine Klein, his son, two half-siblings, his mother, and his grandparents.
PETER A. SALZMAN, 38, who received his degree with high honors in anthropology with a minor in religion, died May 19, 2013. He interned in the Jewish chaplain’s office at Wesleyan and after graduation, continued his religious studies in Israel and his special interest in Jewish mysticism. An avid musician, he sang and played the guitar and piano, in addition to experimenting with electronic music. Survivors include his mother, Jill Roberts; his father, Scott Salzman; his stepfather; his brother and sister; his grandmother; and a large extended family.
ANDREW I.K. WEBER, 34, who had worked as a marketing coordinator for a financial firm, died Jan. 17, 2012. His mother, Sylvia Weber, and many aunts, uncles and cousins survive.
JORDAN S. GREENBERG, 30, a systems analyst at Morgan Stanley, died Feb. 1, 2008. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he majored in philosophy. He is survived by his parents and sister, Jennifer Greenberg ’01.
TARAS PETROVICH GAPOTCHENKO, 26, died April 12, 2005 of complications from cancer. An economics major at Wesleyan, he received his master’s degree from the university in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Survivors include his father and a niece.
VANESSA J. CABRERA, who worked as a chef after graduating from the Natural Gourmet Cooking School, died Feb. 22, 2012, at age 34. In addition to working as a chef, she pursued her many dreams: natural food and cooking, natural healing, and entrepreneurship. Survivors include her parents; her sister, Melissa Cabrera ’96; her brother; her nephew; her aunt; and several cousins.
Submitted by C. Anne Brockelman ’96 on behalf of Vanessa’s family:
After graduating from Wes (‘99), Vanessa went on to graduate from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. From that point on, Vanessa worked as a vegetarian chef in a variety of ways: running her own cafe (for a short time), teaching cooking to young people, working as head chef at Rockin’ Raw in Williamsburg, traveling to India and working as a chef for the Purple Valley Yoga Retreat, and more.
Upon returning from her work in India, Vanessa discovered she had breast cancer. She waged a gallant, private battle, demonstrating extreme courage and strength. Vanessa ultimately lost her battle as a variety of complications from her treatment became too much to overcome.
Her funeral service was held in her hometown of Montclair, NJ. Among the attendees were her sister, Melissa Cabrera ‘96, and classmates: Nichole Morris ‘99, Janelle Bryan ‘99, Farrah Darbouze ‘99, and Rebecca Reeves (formally Elliot) ‘99.
Vanessa from a cooking demo she ran at the New York Botanical Garden just following her diagnosis in the summer of 2010. She loved to cook! It was her art.
ALEX T. HANDLER, 31, died July 5, 2007. He had majored in Earth and Environmental Sciences. Among those who survive are his parents, Dr. Mark and Leslie Handler, two brothers, his grandmother, and a cousin, Julie A. Burstein ’80. (For more information, contact Vielhauer-Clepper funeral home.)
JARRETT TAHIR SEALS, 27, died June 9, 2003. He had majored in art history. Among those who survive are his mother, his father, a brother, a sister, and several aunts and uncles.
ARAMIS GONZALO RIOS, 31, an assistant U.S. attorney in Puerto Rico, died June 25, 2007. He had been a government major at Wesleyan. Among those who survive is his child, Amaris, his parents, and his grandmother.
MARGARET (MEG) L. ZUPANCIC, 36, a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland Medical School, died Oct. 7, 2010, one day after giving birth to her second son. After receiving her degree from Wesleyan magna cum laude, she received a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Her research centered on the interaction of the human microbiome with the genetic bases of obesity. She was also a talented clarinetist and an accomplished backcountry explorer. Survivors include her husband, Bill Vinje, her parents, two children, and her sister, Nellie Zupancic ’00. Her brother died in 1999.
