Obituaries

WALTER R. HIBBARD JR., who retired as university distinguished professor of engineering at Virginia Tech, died Feb. 24, 2010. He was 92. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he received his degree with honors and with high distinction in chemistry, and was elected to both Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa. He was the brother of D He received a doctor of engineering in metallurgy from Yale University and then served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Before joining the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1974, he had been the manager of metallurgy and ceramics research for the General Electric Research Lab, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and a vice president of Owens Corning Fiberglass. He was also the director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research. The author of numerous publications, and the recipient of many honors, including two honorary degrees, he received Wesleyan’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1979. His first wife, Charlotte Tracy Hibbard, died. His brother David S. Hibbard ’41 and cousin, Eric K. Begg Jr. ’49, predeceased him, as well. Survivors include his wife, Louise Brembeck Hibbard; three children, including Douglas T. Hibbard ’66; and two grandchildren.

BRYNOLF HAMMARSTROM SR., a chemist who retired as the manager of the technical service department of the Tarkett Company, a flooring manufacturer, died July 18, 2008. He was 90 and was the brother of the late Eric C. Hammarstrom ’36. A member of Chi Psi, he was a conscientious objector during World War II and served in various posts as a smoke jumper and medic. Originally a chemist charged with developing a better floor covering using vinyl materials after World War II, he later moved into management. He was also active both professionally and in his community, serving as a founder of the Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Friends Meeting and continuing his commitment to peacemaking. After a bicycle accident left him disabled, he spent more than two decades as a volunteer in his community. His wife, Helen Bissell Hammarstrom, predeceased him. He is survived by his son, Bryn Hammarstrom ’69, his daughter, three granddaughters, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Bryn Hammarstrom Sr., 90 (Wes ’39), of Westminster House in Allentown, Penn., died July 18, 2008, at Samaritan House, a Wellsboro, Penn. volunteer-staffed hospice, with his son and daughter-in-law at his side. He was born Brynolf Hammarstrom on August 6, 1917, in Brooklyn, NY, the third son of Erik Hammarstrom, an immigrant Swedish engineer, and Inez Dahl, his Swedish-American wife. Bryn was predeceased by his wife of almost 50 years in 1995, Helen Treat Bissell, whom he married at Montclair (NJ) Friends Meeting in 1945, and three brothers, Carl, Eric (Wes ’36), and Sten. He is survived by his son, Bryn Hammarstrom (Wes, class of ’69), and daughter-in-law, Lynne Graham, of Middlebury Center, his daughter, Wendy Hammarstrom of Murrieta, Calif., three granddaughters, Emma Priya, Laura Sunita, and Marina, and numerous nieces and nephews.

He graduated from Ridgewood, N.J., High School, and then Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., (’39) with a BS in chemistry. He was a three-letter athelete (soccer high-scorer in New England in 1938), and active in the Wesleyan Outing Club and in Chi Psi (both steward and president his senior year). His first job was managing an asphalt plant in Cleveland, Ohio, for classmate Bill Stilwell’s father, but preparations for WWII cut that career short. When he was among the first men drafted in 1941, as a Conscientious Objector to war, he was sent to an ex-CCC camp in Buck Creek, NC, where he worked with the National Park Service for two years. He then volunteered with other COs for the next two years as a Smoke Jumper in Montana, replacing the fire-fighting crews depleted by the war. And finally, he spent two years as a medic in Puerto Rico, using his chemistry degree working in a rural health outreach program, until released in 1946. He subsequently wrote a brief paper which he sent to Wesleyan on the high number of both Conscientious Objectors and non-registrants in WWII who had graduated from Wesleyan. He attributed his own pacifist understanding in part to Wesleyan’s philosophy professor Cornelius Cruse. In 1946 Bryn was hired by a Philadelphia company to develop a better floor covering, working with vinyl chloride and other “new” chemicals. In 1948 the Sandura (later GAF) company bought a factory near Allentown, and he moved from the lab into management, eventually running the quality control, technical service, and customer service departments.

Over the next two decades, Bryn was active in the Lehigh Valley both professionally and in the community. He helped found Lehigh Valley Friends Meeting, serving periodically as clerk, treasurer, and chair of the building committee. He founded and served as officer in local chapters of both ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and ASQC (American Society for Quality Control). He led a Boy Scout explorer pack, worked with a local scientific mentoring program for high school students, and was a citizen activist in Lower Milford Township. He continued his commitment to peace-making, as a co-founder of an ongoing peace center in Bethlehem, and as a draft counselor during the War against Vietnam.

In 1970, while bicycle riding in his beloved White Mountains near Jackson, N.H., he apparently suffered a stroke, and was severely brain injured in the fall from his bike. After extensive rehabilitation, he spent over two decades as a volunteer for the American Friends Service Committee, the Bethlehem Council of Churches, the local Prison Society (driving men to look for work before their release), etc.

His wife, Helen, had donated her body to her alma mater, Temple University, but Bryn?s body was rejected due to the MRSA infection developed after a (broken) hip replacement two months earlier. Numerous efforts to find a way to honor his “Humanity Gifts Registry” wish failed, so he was buried the day after his death on his son?s farm in Tioga County, Penn. A small group of friends gathered there, and a memorial service was held at the Lehigh Valley Friends Meetinghouse on September 20.

GEORGE L. DEMORE, who retired as plant manager of the Scovill Manufacturing Company in Clarkesville, Ga., died Mar. 12, 2006, at age 88. He was a member of Alpha Chi Rho. Predeceased by his first wife, Mae Carlin DeMore, and by two daughters, he is survived by his wife, Alice Johnson DeMore, two daughters, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

ROBERT M. DAY, M.D., 92, an ophthalmologist and longtime professor and staff member at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, died Oct. 28, 2009. The son of Louis D. Day of the class of 1904, he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and received both medical and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps during World War II. Among those who survive are his wife, Barbara Brush Day, three children, four grandchildren, and his sister.

DONALD C. DAVIS, a former Wesleyan trustee and president of the L.O. and E.S. Davis Lumber Company in Middletown for many years, died Apr. 13, 2003. He was 86. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he was the son of Frank T. Davis of the class of 1911 and the father-in-law of J. Geoffrey Pierson ’61. He was active in community service, serving as a director of numerous civic and professional organizations and received a distinguished alumnus award from Wesleyan, on whose board of trustees he served for three years. Predeceased by two wives, survivors include two daughters, a stepson, nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his stepmother.

EMILIO Q. “Mim” DADDARIO, 91, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1958 to 1970, and who was a former Wesleyan trustee as well as mayor of Middletown, Conn., from 1946 to 1948, died July 7, 2010. A member of Eclectic, he received his law degree from the University of Connecticut and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, later returning to serve in military intelligence during the Korean War. He was a star athlete at Wesleyan and played professional football to help pay his way through law school. He was also a highly decorated Army officer and was credited with capturing Mussolini’s chief of staff; he also negotiated the surrender of Milan from the Germans. While in Congress he was known for his support of science research and development. Subsequently, he served as the director of the former congressional Office of Technology Assessment and as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In addition to receiving several honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate in science from Wesleyan, he served on the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and retired as an Emeritus Trustee. He received a Distinguished Alumnus Award. His wife, Berenice Carbo Daddario, died in 2007. Survivors include three sons, seven grandchildren, and his sister.

JEROME A. CAPLAN, a Springfield, Mo., real estate developer and investor, died Aug. 12, 2009, at age 91. A graduate of Columbia University, he was a hero of the Battle of the Bulge, for which he received a Bronze Star, and the all-Black unit he led received a Presidential Citation. A supporter of community institutions and of the arts, he is survived by his wife, Theda (Tac) Karchmer Caplan; two children; four grandchildren, including Lindsay A. Caplan ’02; and three great-grandchildren.

HERBERT A. CAHOON JR., 91, a social worker and community activist who was director of the Yale University Volunteer Services for 22 years, died Aug. 18, 2008. He was a member of Psi Upsilon and received an MSW from the Columbia University School of Social Work. Prior to his appointment at Yale, he worked in other social service agencies. At Yale, he nearly tripled the number of Yale students involved in community service activities, and he remained associated with Dwight Hall, The Center for Public Service and Social Justice at Yale, for another 25 years following his retirement. In addition to developing programs that reached out to the New Haven community, he organized Freedom Rides during the Civil Rights Movement and acted as counselor and mediator in other student areas. He is survived by his wife, Jean Williamson Cahoon, two daughters, and a grandson.

MILTON I. BARNETT, a retired sales executive in the industrial safety industry, died Sept. 3, 2006 at age 91. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, serving for five years in the Sixth Army. Survivors include his wife, Grace Sechtman Barnett; two sons, including Peter R. Barnett ’72, M.D.; and three grandchildren.

GEORGE A. DORR JR., the retired president of the Dorr Woolen Company, died June 4, 2006. He was 89. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a well-known textile industry executive and was an innovator who constantly adapted new technologies to the manufacture of integrated woolen fabric. He also served on industry and community boards. Predeceased by his first wife, Marjorie Parker Dorr, and by a son, he is survived by his wife, Olive Hadley Dorr; two sons, including Christopher Dorr ’74; a daughter; three stepchildren; four grandchildren; 10 step-grandchildren; and three sisters.

DAVID C. BAKER, D.D.S., died Oct. 20, 2003, at age 87. A member of Sigma Nu, he received a dental degree from the University of Pennsylvania and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He practiced dentistry in East Hampton, N.Y., until his retirement. Survivors include his wife, Eleanor; two sons, including David C. Baker Jr. ’65; four grandchildren; and a sister.