JAMES D. TRUMBOWER, 79, a retired high school English teacher and language arts supervisor, died June 21, 2008. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and received a MALS from Wesleyan in 1969. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Dale Trumbower, three children, eight grandchildren, one great–granddaughter, and a sister.
ANDREW F. TOTH, 1948-2005, passed away in November at his home in Denpasar, Bali after a long battle with lung and brain cancer. A self-actualized individual, he devoted his life to what he loved best: the classical music traditions of Bali and Java, their performance and analysis. He was highly respected in the field of ethnomusicology as a first class musician, researcher, teacher, scholar, recorder and colleague. As American Consular Agent in Bali he was instrumental in helping numerous others – musicians, scholars, students, tourists, politicians, sailors – find the “real” Bali beyond the typical tourist experience. He was a passionate friend and husband who loved fishing, SCUBA, white water rafting, squash and, most of all, punning. He leaves behind a gaping hole, and will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends. Andy was a local Connecticut boy who attended the public schools in the nearby town of Meriden.
His interest in music began early with the accordion which he played at family and school events. In high school, he played guitar with the most popular rock and roll band in the region, the North Atlantic Invasion Force. A product of the post-Sputnik era, he was fascinated by science and won a Special Summer Study Grant from the National Science Foundation to study astronomy. He was valedictorian of his class at Orville Platt High School and came to Wesleyan as a freshman in the fall of 1966 as one of Hoy’s Boys in the class of 1970. His extraordinary family also sent his younger siblings Patrick (1978) and Mary Ann (1975) to Wesleyan. Andy came to Wesleyan with the intention of being a Chemistry major and quickly became associated with the brilliant Dr. Peter Leermakers. As Leermaker’s research assistant, Andy worked in the photochemistry lab and co-authored papers on photochromism as an undergraduate. Rock and roll remained a force in his life, and he was a member of the dynamic campus band, Uranus and the Five Moons. But this was Wesleyan, and Professor Bob Brown (who passed away within days of Andy) had established a ground-breaking program in ethnomusicology focusing on both performance and scholarship including the cultural traditions of West Africa, North and South India, Japan and Indonesia. Visiting artists from these countries and their students put on compelling concerts of music and dance which riveted the attention of most undergraduates many of whom would try their hand at mastering one or more of these disciplines. Some took up the infectious talking drums of Ghana; others were fascinated by the sinuous rhythms of the tabla and mrdungam; and many fell in love with the ethereal and stately classical tradition of Javanese gamelan. This was one of the things that made (and still makes) the Wesleyan experience so distinctive, unique and exciting.
Andy experimented with several music traditions, but, with Bob Brown as his mentor, committed himself to the musical culture of Java and Bali. He performed regularly with the gamelan orchestra under the supervision of Pak Prawotosaputro and finally made the difficult decision to become a music major. He received a Wesleyan Honors College Fellowship and spent a semester traveling and studying with Bob Brown in India, Java and Bali, his first taste of international travel. He was hooked.
Andy wrote his Honors Thesis on The Gamelan Sekati of Central Java and graduated Cum Laude with High Honors in Music. He was well on his way to becoming a master musician specializing in gender, an elaborating instrument which plays phrasings around the core melody line. After graduation, Andy accompanied Bob Brown to the brand new California Institute of the Arts where Bob was establishing a program in Ethnomusicology. Andy was a graduate student in the MFA program and served as a Teaching Assistant. In 1971, supported by a Foreign Study Grant from Cal Arts, Andy went on the first American Society for Eastern Arts trip to Java and Bali. Coordinated by Bob Brown, this seminal trip included many of the people who would become key figures in the field of Ethnomusicology particularly in the area of Indonesian music. The group included several other Wesleyan students: Alan Feinstein (1970), Michael Flynn (1970) and John Pemberton (1970). Bob arranged for this group to study with many of the top musicians and teachers in Java and Bali.
On this trip Andy met Danielle Diffloth, a professional photographer who was resident in Java doing a photo documentary accompanied by her young daughter, Natalie Diffloth ’87). Andy married Danielle in 1974. After receiving his MFA from Cal Arts in 1972, Andy joined the PhD program in Ethnomusicology at UCLA where he was able to work with the legendary Mantle Hood, one of the giants of the field (and who also passed away recently).
As a visiting instructor he taught courses in ethnomusicology and performance at several schools in the LA area. He was also Curator of the Colin McPhee Collection at UCLA. In 1975 he received a Fullbright-Hays Dissertation Abroad Fellowship, and he and Danielle spent a year in Bali doing research and making recordings on tuning systems for Balinese gamelans. Andy became fluent in both Indonesian and Balinese and continued studying with the best musicians in Bali. Andy was very active publishing articles and reviews, assisting on record albums and films, attending and giving papers at the Society for Ethnomusicology and other professional organizations, and giving invited lectures. Of course, he also maintained a satisfying schedule of performances of both Javanese and Balinese music.
After completing the requirements for the PhD at UCLA in 1978, Andy took a position back East as an Assistant Professor at Brown University teaching Ethnomusicology. Using instruments he had brought back from Indonesia, he set up performing groups for both Javanese and Balinese music in Providence. He also performed with the Boston Village Gamelan established in 1979 by Wesleyan graduates Sam Quigley and Alan Robinson. He continued working on his dissertation research and his active program of teaching, publishing, speaking and performing.
In 1983 Andy left Brown and got divorced. After a brief stint working as a computer programmer, he made the decision to follow his heart and return to Bali where he could continue his studies and immerse himself in the culture that he loved. For a number of years he worked with the Ford Foundation and as a Visiting Lecturer at the Indonesian College of Arts (STSI) in Denpasar teaching field research methods and ethnomusicology. He became a mainstay of the expat community in Bali performing gender wayang regularly in local festivals and available to help students and researchers, scholars and film-makers.
In 1989 he became the third American musician proficient in Balinese music to become US Consular Agent. In this position he was in charge of caring for US interests and citizens in Bali. He took care of visa problems, legal problems, illness and accidents, seeing that American citizens received necessary services and aid in returning to the US. He organized visits by dignitaries including Secretaries of State, Presidents and ships full of sailors. And he continued to play a critical role facilitating the visits of students, scholars and tourists and gaining them entry to vast and intriguing cultural life of Bali. Many people dramatically benefited from his knowledge of music and culture and his expertise at negotiating the system to gain access to the most interesting people and events. He was active in the Rotary Club and settled into a productive and satisfying life in Bali.
Andy met Janti Nasution, a Batak from Java, and married her in 1993. She became his soul-mate and played a major role in the rest of his life.
After so many years in the tropics, Andy’s fair skin became a problem. He suffered from a variety of skin cancers that required numerous medical procedures in Australia and Singapore.
In October, 2002, the second of two terrorist bombs exploded outside his office, thankfully with no casualties. Shortly thereafter, Andy resigned as Consular Agent. He took a position in a silver exporting company and continued his life as a well-connected expat. Over time, his illness increasingly compromised his ability to function, and after a long struggle, he finally passed away in November, 2005.
His widow, Janti, intends to donate his extensive collection of books, papers, research notes, recordings and photos to the Wesleyan University Music Library. It is her wish that these materials be available to scholars and interested researchers.
JOHN H. STEEB, 36, died Apr. 20, 2004. A diverse musician, he played the bass, trumpet, double bass, and guitar. Among those who survive are his parents, his grandmother, and two sisters.
JUDITH CAREY SCHLESINGER, a psychotherapist, died of breast cancer Aug. 15, 2008. She was 40. A government major at Wesleyan, she graduated with honors and earned her master’s degree in social work from Smith College. She is survived by her husband, Eric Rosenthal ’87, two children, her parents, three sisters, and a large extended group of family and friends.
ELIZABETH R. TURNER ’86, a former resident of Bethesda, Md,, died on Oct. 12, 2003, at the Baylor University Medical Center, in Dallas, Texas. She had been suffering from leukemia.
Elizabeth was born in Bethesda and graduated from Winston Churchill High School, a valedictorian and member of the National Honor Society. She attended Wesleyan University, graduating in 1986. She worked as a paralegal for Williams & Connolly, in D.C., before attending Harvard Law School; and worked at Miller and Chevalier, in D.C., between her first and second years of law school. She received the Juris Doctor degree in 1990, and then moved to Dallas to join the law firm of Hughes & Luce, specializing in estate planning and trusts. She became a partner in 1999.
At Winston Churchill, Elizabeth developed a strong and continuing interest in stagecraft, along with her interest in choral singing, and, at Wesleyan, extended that interest to performing and writing for the musical stage, and adding singing lessons to her curriculum. At Harvard, she was president of the Harvard Law School Drama Society and helped stage and appeared in the 30th annual law school show, a musical, The Crimson Slippers. In her early years in Dallas, she continued voice lessons and began writing for and performing in the annual Bar None satirical musical revues put on by the Dallas Bar Association, to raise money for law scholarships. When her illness prevented her performing, herself, she still contributed her ideas and songwriting. And, last spring, she performed in the XVIII Bar None revue, My Big Fat Geek Lawyer.
Elizabeth worked on construction projects with the Dallas chapter of Habitat for Humanity, co-chaired the Dallas Bar Association’s Community Involvement Committee, and became an active member of Altrusa International, Inc., serving on the board. She gave lectures at legal conferences and published several articles in law journals. In 2001, the magazine Texas Lawyer named her one of the “Top Forty Under Forty” lawyers in the state of Texas. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation and elected a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Elizabeth was also cited as an “unsung hero” in Head Notes, the monthly newsletter of the Dallas Bar Association. In all her associations, people knew Elizabeth for her intellect, humor, sensitivity, and her profound concern for the well being of others.
She is survived by her fiance, Joshua Kamman of Dallas; her mother and father, Nancy and Bob Turner of Gaithersburg, Maryland; her borhter, Michael Turner of Takoma Park, Maryland; and her sisters, Christie Degener of Pittsboro, North Carolina, and Wendy Sullivan of Gaithersburg.
G. Vance Smith Jr., an advertising, public relations, and marketing executive, died Feb. 22, 2009. He was 78. At Wesleyan, he was a member of Chi Psi. After beginning his career with Central Advertising Agency, he also served as a vice president of Standard Life Insurance Company of Indiana and retired from the Indianapolis Star in 1998. He was an Eagle Scout and served on numerous local and civic boards. His wife of 49 years, Virginia Reavis Smith, survives him. Also surviving are a daughter, a son, a sister, and three grandchildren.
GEORGE E. SLYE, 81, the co-founder of Spaulding & Slye Corporation, a national real estate company, died July 13, 2012. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received his degree from Babson Institute. A U.S. Navy veteran, he began his career in 1958 at Texaco, Incorporated, where he worked in sales promotion and real estate—specifically, developing and executing plans to leverage the federal highway program started by the Eisenhower administration. A career in real estate planning, development, construction, and management began at Dwight Building Company of New Haven and continued at American Urban Corporation of Meriden, Conn., where he served as Executive Vice President and Secretary and oversaw numerous mixed-use and industrial park developments. Having met his future business partner, Charles Hank Spaulding, at an Urban Land Conference in 1965, George co-founded Spaulding & Slye Company in 1966 and grew the business from a local urban and suburban development concern into a nationally recognized full-service real estate platform with an active presence throughout the Boston-Washington corridor, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Birmingham among other locations. Following a planned transition of leadership at Spaulding & Slye between 1981 and 1987, he founded GESCOM, a diversified investment platform, through which he joined numerous Boards and started several new business ventures. He pursued business interests in communications, banking, and real estate. He purchased Hayden Tolzmann & Associates, which was subsequently sold to Boston Mortgage. He served as a director on two real estate investment trusts for Travelers Insurance Company, as advisor to RealEnergy and Brentwood Capital Partners, and was a trustee at Babson College, where he started the Babson Center for Real Estate and was also awarded the Babson Medal for Distinguished Accomplishment and Service. He served on the Wesleyan University Hill Committee, as well as on many other boards of educational and community institutions. Among his hobbies was modeling (railroads and buildings), and his work was seen in National Geographic as well as on public television. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Goodwin Slye; four children, including Paul E. Slye ’84; a stepson; his brother; 12 grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren. His first wife and the mother of his children, Susan M. Mayer, predeceased him.
ANTHONY SAVAGE JR., 81, a criminal defense attorney, died Jan. 3, 2012. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he received his law degree from the University of Washington. A mentor to defense lawyers in the Seattle area, he practiced law for more than 56 years. His wife, Barbara Scribner Savage, predeceased him. Among those who survive is his sister.
LAWRENCE E. SCANLON, a retired professor, died Nov. 22, 2008, at age 81. He was a member of Sigma Chi and received his degree with honors and with distinction in English. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II he received a master’s degree from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University. The recipient of several Fulbright grants, he taught at Mt. Holyoke College and then for more than 30 years at the Hartford College for Women. Survivors include his wife, Anne Sherrend Scanlon, three children, four grandchildren, a great–granddaughter, two brothers, and a sister.
JOHN PERRY STRANG ’50, an award-winning photographer and director, died Mar. 25, 2012, at age 85. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After further study at the University of Tulsa, the University of Houston, and New York University, he became a freelance photographer for national magazines. He later worked as a photographer and director in film and television. His short film, A Poem of Life, is in the Permanent Collection of the Library of Congress. He also established a nonprofit organization, Huguenot Heritage, to research and inform the public about the contributions of the descendants of the Huguenots, and he was active in professional societies. Survivors include a daughter, Suzanne Lightbourn, and two granddaughters.
