Obituaries | 2000-2010

JOCELYN MOORE SWEET, 31, an attorney and health insurance specialist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, died Apr. 2, 2014. She received her degree with honors. In the years since her diagnosis with bone cancer, she earned a law degree from American University and became a health insurance specialist so that she could make sure others had access to health care. Among those who survive are her parents, Laurie Kaslove and David Moore, and her husband, Brian Sweet, two sisters, and a nephew and nieces.

DAVID L. HARRIS, a government major, died July 31, 2008, in a hiking accident in Oregon. He was 21. During the fall semester of his senior year he studied in India. While at Wesleyan, he volunteered with the Traverse Square tutoring program and enjoyed playing and learning music. Among those who survive are his mother, father, and brother.

TADD GERO, 22, a reporter and writer who often performed stories that he h ad written, sometimes accompanied by live music, died Aug. 17, 2009, of pneumonia. At Wesleyan he was a theater major and reported for the Argus. He had been living in a community of artists in Philadelphia and working at Urban Outfitters. Among those who survive are his mother, Felissa Rose Gero,

NOAH L. SIMRING, a talented musician who had been on leave from Wesleyan for two years, died July 29, 2006, his 21st birthday. Described as multi-talented and highly creative by family and friends, he is survived by his parents and a sister.

BRENDAN R. O’REILLY died Sept. 5, 2005, of injuries sustained in a biking accident in Prescott, Ariz. He was 20. At Wesleyan he studied chemistry and French and was the recipient of the CRC Award for outstanding work in chemistry during his freshman year. Survivors include his parents, Brian and Gail O’Reilly, a brother, and a sister.

TERENCE B. LEARY, 19, died unexpectedly Nov. 4, 2003. He was a member of Psi Upsilon. Among his extracurricular activities, he was a pitcher for the Wesleyan baseball team. Survivors include his parents, a brother, his paternal grandparents, his maternal grandmother, and a large extended family.

LILLY J. M. NGUYEN, 29, a biology major who was in the process of applying to medical school, was killed on Nov. 21, 2010, the innocent victim of a domestic dispute between her sister and her sister’s boyfriend, both of whom died. She was working at Tufts University School of Medicine as a research technician. Among those who survive are her parents, one sister, and several nieces and nephews.

AARON K. THALER, a social services case manager and avid musician, died of a brain tumor on Apr. 24, 2011. He was 28. Despite being diagnosed with a brain tumor during his junior year abroad in South Africa, and all the treatments that followed, he managed to travel to Africa, Israel, South America, and all over America with his family and friends. Within weeks following major surgery in 2009, he hiked to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. As a case manager, he assisted clients disabled by HIV/AIDS. He is survived by his parents, his brother, his paternal grandfather, and a large extended family.

ALEX OKRENT, 29, a political organizer who had worked in presidential campaigns since 2004, died July 13, 2012. Survivors include his parents, Michael Okrent and Lynn Pollack, his sister, his grandmother, and a large extended family.

IAN H. E. HANKS, the co-founder of Hanks Brothers Chinese Trading Company, which sources Chinese products, died Dec. 23, 2011. He was 30. A lymphoma survivor in his teens, he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2005. He was an East Asian Studies major who had been inspired first by a Wesleyan course in Buddhism that piqued his interest in Asia and then by his courses in Mandarin Chinese, in which he became fluent. A Princeton in Asia scholar, he worked as a consultant in Shanghai with Tractus Asia, a management consulting firm, and later moved to Hangzhou, where he and his brother founded their company. He and his wife also provided heart surgery for seven Chinese school children through Project Hope. Among those who survive are his wife, Sandra Hanks; his mother and father; his brother and sister; his grandmother; and his other mother, Tita Dueñas.