Obituaries

WALTER N. PLAUT, a business executive, died July 4, 2016, at age 97. A member of Beta Theta Pi, after graduation he worked for the Westinghouse Corporation at a job critical to the war effort. He then served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a top turret gunner on B-17s and flew his first combat mission over Normandy on June 6, 1944. An associate of the management consulting firm, Frank C. Brown & Co., Inc., he was also president for many years of the Lehn & Fink Products Company, a consumer products company, which first introduced Lysol to the U.S. He was an alumnus of the Lawrenceville School and remained active in the alumni association, while also leading other volunteer development efforts in Fairfield County, Conn. His wife, Sally Hayes Plaut, and one son predeceased him. Among those who survive are his second wife, Beryl Plaut, three children, and ten grandchildren.

JAMES FIZZOLIO, 95, an attorney, died Aug. 10, 2015. He was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his degree with honors and with distinction in French, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a graduate of Yale Law School and began his long career as an attorney on Wall Street. He later moved to Southern California where he and his twin brother, Tom, opened the firm Fizzolio and Fizzolio in North Hollywood, where he practiced for more than 20 years. Later, he was a partner in the law firm Fizzolio & McLeod. He was a member of the Los Angeles Bar Association, Unico, and the San Fernando Bar Association, where he was recently honored for more than 50 years of service. Predeceased by his wife, Joyce Krause Fizzolio, survivors include three children and five grandchildren.

DOUGLAS R. ROSS Sr., a banker, died Feb. 6, 2015. He was 95. A member of Psi Upsilon, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in the battle for Guam and participated in the battles for Iwo Jima, Guam, and Bougainville, along with many others. He worked for Fortune Federal in Clearwater, Fla., for many years and was an active member of the community. His wife, Elizabeth (Betsy) Carmack Ross, predeceased him. Survivors include two sons, one daughter, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Bruce W. Miller ’63, M.D. an ophthalmologist and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Medical School, died Dec. 6, 2014 at age 74.

Eugene D. Jacobson ’51, M.D., a retired professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, died August 14, 2015. He was 5.

The Rev. Frank Wayne, born November 10, 1924 in Johnstown, PA died on March 28, 2015. He was the seventh child of Ray Emmet Penick and Esther May Groff.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jane Flegal Penick of Louisville, daughter Sharon Sochinski (James) of Blacksburg, VA, son Richard (Cynthia) of Bisbee, AZ, daughter Jan (Joe) of Louisville, and granddaughter Katie Dougherty (Paul) of Colorado Springs, CO.

Rev. Penick served in the US Navy from 1943 – 45 in Officer’s Training School. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Princeton Theological Seminary. He was pastor in Trenton, NJ, District Heights, MD and Jefferson City, MO.

In 1964, he joined the Fifty Million Fund of the United Presbyterian Church as an area counselor in Rochester, NY and Pittsburgh, PA. From 1971-1980 Rev. Penick was Vice President for Development at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

In 1980 he and his wife moved to Louisville and served eight years as the Vice President for Development at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary until his retirement in 1988.

Rev. Penick was the founding president of Kentuckiana/Ohio River Valley Chapter, National Society of Fund Raising Executives. In 1993 he received the lifetime award of CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) designation from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, by the National Society’s Board of Directors.

From 1988 to 1992 he was President of Creative Associates, Fund Raising Consultants and also served as regional counselor for the Bi-Centennial Fund, Presbyterian Church (USA) during that same period.

He was a member of the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

There will be a private interment at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Memorials Gardens. A memorial service will be held at Highlands Presbyterian Church, 1101 Cherokee Road, on Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary or to Hosparus of Louisville. – See more here.

It took a celestial bolt, of course it would, to extinguish such an adventurous spirit, and that’s what happened on March 19, 2016, when Jacqui Stavis, a former resident of Rhinelander, died as the result of a lightning strike near New Orleans, La. Attending a weekend blues festival, Jacqui was doing what she loved best, living life to its fullest. She was 28 years old.

Jacqui will be missed beyond measure by her mother, Barbara Sironen, of Rhinelander, her father, George Stavis, of New York, and her life partner, Jake Gold, of New Orleans.

Barbara’s husband, David Picard; her aunt Kay, uncle Frank and cousins Nicole and Leslie Guarascio; her uncle Stuart, aunt Helen and cousin Forest Sironen; her uncle Rob, aunt Helene, and cousins Danny and Jesse Stavis, and Madeleine Klebanoff, nee Stavis; her uncle Ben Stavis, aunt Marjatta Lyyra, and cousins Sam and Kathy Stavis; and Jake’s parents, Steve and Sue Gold, will miss her deeply, as will her family in Provincetown: grandmother Barbara Rushmore, Peter Macara, aunts Katherine and Laura, and cousins Raphael, Justin, Tyler, Eric, and Elise.

Jacqui was loved dearly by close friends, incalculable in number, but especially those who celebrated her life in New Orleans and in Provincetown, Ma., where she was buried and is “growing a tree,” as she had expressly wanted to do.

Jacqui was preceded in death by her siblings, Elizabeth and Eric.