Obituaries

H. RICHARD DIETRICH JR., a philanthropist and well-known collector of early American decorative and fine arts, died Aug. 30, 2007, at age 69. A member of Psi Upsilon, he attended Columbia University’s business school until he was called home to run the family business when his father died. From 1974 to 1980 he was a member of Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees. President of the Dietrich Corporation, a conglomerate that was sold to the Hershey Company in 1986, he then retired and devoted himself to philanthropy, conservation, and collecting high-quality objects both for the Dietrich American Foundation and for private use. Works from the foundation’s collection have been lent to more than 50 institutions, making them available to the public. He was particularly active with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and served as board chairman there for 35 years; the museum’s curatorship of American decorative arts is named in his honor. Survivors include two sons, a daughter, a granddaughter, two brothers, and his former wife, Cordelia Frances Biddle. (See further information in the New York Times of 9/10/07.)

RUSSELL G. “Toby” D’OENCH III, 58, an attorney and partner in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, and founder of the North Star Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports grassroots groups fighting for equality, economic justice and peace, died Jan. 23, 2012. Known as Toby, he received his law degree from Columbia University Law School in 1992, where he was both a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York before entering private practice. A member of Skadden’s Financial Institutions Group, he handled mergers, acquisitions, equity offerings and other transactions, both public and private. In 1977 he founded the North Star Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports grassroots groups fighting for equality, economic justice and peace, and he served as the organization’s executive director until 1983. The son of the late Ellen G. D’Oench ’73, he is survived by his wife, Tani Takagi, two children, his sister, and his brother, Peter G. D’Oench ’73.

The Rev. ALBERT R. DREISBACH JR., 72, an Episcopal priest and civil rights activist, died Apr. 29, 2006. A member of Psi Upsilon, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps and then received his divinity degree from the Union Theological Seminary. He was founding president of the Atlanta International Center for Continuing Study of the Shroud of Turin. Predeceased by his wife, Jane Corey Dreisbach, he is survived by a son, a daughter, two grandchildren, and his companion, Nancy Whitworth.

GLENN T. DULMAGE, 77, an educator and former Peace Corps member, died Apr. 22, 2012. After seven years as the Sports Illustrated magazine librarian, he and his wife joined the Peace Corps, serving in the Ivory Coast and Iran. Upon his return, he taught at the Northfield Mount Hermon School, where he was director of the ESL program for 17 years. After he retired, he volunteered with the AARP Tax Aide Program and was a member of its state management team, in addition to his hobbies of photography, SCUBA diving, and birding. He is survived by his wife, Juliana Kasius Dulmage, and a daughter.

An environmental activist and politician, died Feb. 13, 2013, at age 63. A 33-year resident of Fountain Valley, Calif., he was a member of the City Council and later served as the city’s mayor. Survivors include his wife, Verna Ayer, his parents, two sons, and three siblings.

Dennis M. Dubin, a child advocate in the Philadelphia court system, died Nov. 12, 2008. He was 58. A College of Letters major at Wesleyan, he initially worked as an actor in New York and Hawaii after graduation. In the 1980s, he began his second career, earning a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and serving as a child advocate until his death. He had been undergoing treatment for bladder cancer. Survivors include a sister.

DAVID S. DUNAVAN, a retired electro-optical engineer, died Dec. 21, 2003 at age 72. The son of the late Caryl C. Dunavan ’22, he received a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also a U.S. Navy veteran. An avid sailor and environmentalist, he was a longtime member of the Norwalk (Conn.) Harbor Management Commission. He is survived by his wife, Sally B. Dunavan; a son; and two daughters, including Caryl Dunavan ’85.

JOHN A. DAVIDSON, the retired proprietor of Goodsports and Company, and a retired principal in the firm of Davidson and Bigelow, Inc., died May 5, 2008, at age 77. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. He is survived by his wife, Joan Griffiths Davidson, three children, five grandchildren, a brother, and a sister.

WARD T. DEWITT, who retired as second-in-command of the New York State prison system and who went on to be the executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Institute for Nonviolence, died June 12, 2010, at age 62. A member of Eclectic, he began his career as counselor and then became a criminal justice adviser to the New York State Governor. He served on the Albany, N.Y., school board for five years, including as chair, and he helped to lead the board of the New Covenant Charter School, Albany’s first charter school. Survivors include his wife, Mary Ferguson DeWitt, four children, two grandchildren, three sisters, and a large extended family.

WILLIAM H. DAUGHERTY JR., a pharmaceutical consultant, died July 5, 2010. He was 49 and had most recently worked for CIGNA in Tennessee. Among those who survive are his wife, Laura Lamb Daugherty, his mother, his daughter, two aunts, and many cousins.