Obituaries

LAWRENCE ALEXANDER, who retired as the administrative attorney for the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate courts, died June 5, 2014, at age 91. After serving in the front lines at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, he received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan with honors and then received a law degree from Columbia University. He was a member of Sigma Chi. He and his first wife, Colleen Spielman Alexander, the mother of his four children, moved to the Philadelphia area, where he was an executive in a family business before returning to the law as a Pennsylvania assistant attorney general. He then moved to Connecticut, where he continued his work for political and social causes. After retiring in 1993, he continued to work for private practice attorneys, taught paralegal courses, and served a two-year term as a magistrate in small claims court. Survivors include his wife, Ruth F. Alexander; four children, including David Alexander ’74; two stepchildren; five grandchildren, including Molly B. Alexander ’09 and Jaclyn Alexander ’09; two step-grandchildren; and a nephew, Marc Levin ’73. He was the brother-in-law of the late Alan M. Levin ’46.

F. EDWARD (Muzz) MOLINA, the retired president of Edward Molina Designs, Inc., died Sept. 17, 2014. He was 93. A member of Psi Upsilon, he served in the U.S. Navy as a bi-lingual flight instructor during World War II. Later, he received an MBA from Dartmouth College and began a successful career in the textile industry. An avid athlete and traveler, he was also a loyal fan of Wesleyan football. In retirement, he became a community volunteer. His wife, Margaret Shippen Grubb Molina, predeceased him, as did a granddaughter. Among those who survive are three daughters; one son; nine grandchildren, including Dana E. Matthiessen ’09; and four great-grandchildren.

J. ALDEN NICHOLS, 95, a retired professor of European history at the University of Illinois who had taught at Wesleyan, died June 28, 2014. A member of the John Wesley Club, he received his degree with high honors and with high distinction in history. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II he served as a conscientious objector. After receiving his master’s and PhD degrees from Columbia University, he taught at Wesleyan and at Skidmore College before returning to Wesleyan where he taught and was the managing editor of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which was then published by Wesleyan. In 1961 he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois. An authority on German history, he also created a new course at the University of Illinois that incorporated the music, art and literature of the Romantic period. An avid amateur musician, he was an active participant in local groups. His wife, Barbara Tuttle Nichols, and one son predeceased him. He is survived by a daughter-in-law with whom he lived, two daughters, five grandchildren, several step-grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

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.

BRIAN LENHARD, an attorney and computer programmer, died Mar. 13, 2014, at age 44. After graduating from Wesleyan he worked at Continental Life Insurance Company and earned an MBA from Villanova University at the same time. A gifted computer programmer, he founded Grayson Consulting and Lightning Bolt Software. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, from which he graduated in 2004. He clerked for the Honorable Vice Chancellor Stephen P. Lamb in the Delaware Court of Chancery before becoming a commercial litigator at Skadden, Arps in Wilmington, Del. He spent time on pro bono matters and helped with adoption services and children’s literacy programs. He served as general counsel of Lightning Bolt Software, and he and his wife also founded Lenhard/Clark Legal Services. He was an enthusiastic outdoorsman as well. Survivors include his wife, Melissa Dodds Lenhard, two children, his parents, his brother, and two nieces.

JASON G. HUNT, 45, a specialist in computer graphics technology and photography, died May 2, 2013. He received a master’s degree from New York University and worked for several corporations before becoming an independent consultant for Star Company. An award-winning photographer, he was also an avid athlete and volunteer fireman. His parents survive, as do his twin brother, his sister, and a large extended family.

MARGARET E. ELKIND-VAN GELDER, an educator and counselor, died Jan. 30, 2014, at age 52. She received a master’s degree from the Bank Street College of Education. Survivors include her husband, Todd Van Gelder, two sons, her sister, and her brother.

JUSTINE JACOBY COOK, 53, a former casting director and production manager, died Nov. 7, 2013. She worked as a casting director for film and television in Hollywood and later as a production manager for the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet in Los Angeles. Her husband, Douglas Cook, and two children survive.

PETER W. WEISMILLER, an ethnomusicologist and guitar teacher, died Jan. 14, 2014. He was 63. After receiving his degree cum laude and with honors, he moved to Seattle in 1979 for the master’s program in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. He taught humanities for many years at the Northwest School in Seattle and helped organize programs of Asian music in the Seattle area. One brother, three sisters, and nine nieces and nephews survive.