Obituaries

BARBARA GIFFEN SWAIN, 57, an attorney who spent most of her professional legal career in the Office of the Maryland Attorney General, most recently serving as Principal Counsel to the State Treasurer’s Office, died Feb. 4, 2011. A religion major, she served as a VISTA volunteer after receiving her degree cum laude, and then received a dual MBA/JD degree in 1981 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also participated in the family business, The Dunes Manor Hotel and Dunes Motel in Ocean City, Md. A community leader, she was active in educational, religious, and professional organizations. Among those who survive are her husband, Fred Demers, two sons, and a large extended family.

TIMOTHY B. SAUM, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and preventive medicine at Meharry Medical College, died May 9, 2005 at age 53. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia and a master’s degree in public health from Yale University. Among those who survive are his wife, Jean L. Byassee, a daughter, his parents, and a brother.

CARL B. SWANSON, 85, who retired as a quality control representative for Pratt & Whitney, where he spent his entire career, died Dec. 25, 2011. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. There are no immediate survivors.

ROBERT T. SULESKE, a biochemist and musician, died Jan. 17, 2004 at age 52. Among those who survive are his mother, a sister, and a nephew and niece.

PETER DELLA SANTINA, a professor of Buddhism, died Oct. 14, 2006, at age 56. Blind since the age of 12 as a result of infantile glaucoma, he received a master’s degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Delhi. His writings ranged from the technical to the popular, and he served as coordinator of curriculum studies in Buddhism for the Singapore Ministry of Education, was a senior fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, taught philosophy in Taiwan and Thailand, and conducted numerous courses for Buddhist communities in all these countries as well as in Italy, where he lived for extended periods. For more than 30 years, he was a student of His Holiness Sakya Trizin, leader of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism. Survivors include his wife, Krishna, and a son.

DAVID SIME JR., the founder of Growth Ventures Incorporated and a specialist in mergers and acquisitions, died Aug. 10, 2011. He was 80. A member of Delta Upsilon, he was a U.S. Army Ranger during the Korean War and then received an MBA from Babson College. Among those who survive are three daughters, six grandchildren, and a sister.

ALAN B. SANDERSON, a reporter and teacher, died May 16, 2006. He was 75. A U.S. Army veteran, he received a master’s degree from Boston University. Survivors include a brother, several nieces and nephews, and a special friend, Rolanda (Lolly) Sturtevant.

ALEJANDRO D. SUJO, a journalist and musician in New York, Caracas, and Buenos Aires, died Oct. 5, 2008. He was 59. At Wesleyan, he had majored in theater. He and his wife, Laney Salisbury, who survives him, are the authors of a forthcoming book, Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art (Penguin Press, 2009). He is also survived by their daughter, Sophie Salisbury–Sujo. Other survivors include his mother, his brother, a niece, and a nephew, Nicholas During ’06.

THE HON. JOHN W. SCOTT JR, civil rights leader and circuit court judge, died of complications from eye surgery on April 16, 2008. He was 59 and had been blind since birth. As a teenager in 1963, he and several others won a federal lawsuit allowing them to attend James Monroe High School, considered a milestone in the integration of Fredericksburg, Va. At Wesleyan he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and earned his bachelor’s with honors in government. He received his JD from the University of Virginia, worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and became a managing partner at Hill, Tucker & Marsh. In 1989, he was appointed General District Court Judge in Stafford County, becoming the first black to serve on the bench in the Fredericksburg area, rising to the circuit level seven years later. He is survived by his wife, Alma, and three sons.

RICHARD B. SMITH, 48, a screenwriter, director, and creative director of digital media and live events, died June 29, 2011. He received a master’s degree from The School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, from which he launched his screenwriting career. In addition to writing for the screen he also wrote a novel and was a member of the Writers Guild of America. He created immersive media for trade shows and experiential installations for museums, and he worked with numerous corporate clients. In addition to his professional accomplishments, he was also lead guitarist for the band Nooner, and an avid tennis player and sailor. Among those who survive are his wife, Mariana Schwartz; three daughters, including Adriana Clare Smith ’15; his mother; three sisters; three brothers; and a large extended family.