Obituaries

ROBERT G. VOTAW, a microbiologist and medical school administrator, died Jan. 26, 2016. He was 77. A member of Eclectic, he received his degree with distinction in biology and was elected to Sigma Xi. He received a PhD in microbiology from Case Western Reserve University in 1964 and taught there until 1966 when he was appointed associate professor of biochemistry and director of multidiscipline laboratories at the soon-to-be built University of Connecticut Health Center. During his tenure with the UConn Health Center, he was instrumental in the design of the multidisciplinary labs and the medical school’s first microbiology curriculum. Later, he also served as an assistant dean of medicine and led the development of the school’s first computer-based education program. After retiring from UConn he was an alternate energy project developer. He was married to the former Joye Lynn Dickens in 1961 and the couple divorced in 1988. Among those who survive are three children, a grandson, and his close friend, Norma Hartley.

GORDON A. BIDDLE, an insurance executive, died Sept. 29, 2015, at age 78. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. After graduation he joined the Traveler’s Insurance Company, and worked in their San Francisco office. In 1984 he became president of Frank B. Hall and later AON Corp. He came out of retirement to work three more years at Lockton Insurance Company. Survivors include his wife, Leona Hansen Biddle, a daughter, two sisters, his brother, and three “adopted” sons.

WILLIAM J. HUNT, 79, an attorney, died Oct. 11, 2015. He was a member of Sigma Nu and received his law degree from Seton Hall University. Formerly a federal magistrate, he had been a principal of the Hackensack, N.J., law firm William J. Hunt & Associates. He leaves behind a loving family and many friends.

ARTHUR M. LARGEY JR., a business owner, died May 18, 2015. He was 83. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserves. He spent 30 years as the co-owner of three small business companies in Brockton, Mass. After retiring in 1990, he became an active community volunteer, primarily with disadvantaged people, and in 1998 he founded the Greater Taunton (Mass.) Community Services. His wife, Marjorie Land Largey, survives, as do four children and five grandchildren.

MALCOLM GORIN, M.D., an ophthalmologist, died Nov. 28, 2015, at age 80. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and received his medical degree from the University of Rochester. After a year of internship at the University of Virginia, he spent two years with the United States Public Health Service and then completed a residency at the University of Maryland. In 1966 he opened a solo practice in ophthalmology in Middletown (Conn.), which then grew to be the largest in the area. An enthusiastic traveler and a musician, he was also involved in community government. Among those who survive are his wife, Linda Thorburn Gorin; three children, including Stephen Gorin MA’89; six grandchildren; his mother; his sister; and a niece, Sheryl L. Knapp ’86.

COCHRANE CHASE, an advertising executive, died Feb. 5, 2016. He was 85. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree with honors and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1966 he established his own advertising agency, Cochrane Chase. He started as a one-person agency and rose to be in the top 100 agencies in the country. Predeceased by a son, survivors include his wife, Janis Kueber Chase, two daughters, and five grandsons.

CHARLES H. ROGOVIN, 84, emeritus professor of law and a longtime law enforcement official at the state and federal level, died Jan. 10, 2016. He was a member of Chi Psi and received his law degree from Columbia University. A specialist in criminal law, as well as in organized and white-collar crime, he joined the Temple University School of Law faculty in 1977 and upon his retirement in 2009 was named professor of law emeritus. He held numerous high-profile jobs in public service, including serving as vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, assistant attorney general and chief of the criminal division in Massachusetts, and several positions with the Philadelphia district attorney’s office. A former director of the federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, he was a member of the President’s Commission on Organized Crime during the Reagan administration and was also an active civic volunteer. Among those who survive are his wife, Marcy Rogovin, two children, two stepchildren, two grandchildren, his brother, and his former wife, Amy Levy Rogovin.

FREDERICK R. PITTS JR., M.D., a neurosurgeon, died Mar. 6, 2015. He was 87. A member of Chi Psi, he received his degree with high distinction in creative art. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Rochester, he established a private practice in Madison, Wisc., and served as chief of staff at Madison General Hospital. He retired from medicine and relocated to Costa Rica, where he ran his sheep ranch for 35 years. Survivors include his wife, Tracy Yiu Shin Fu Liu, four daughters, one son, seven grandchildren, six-great-grandchildren, and his brother.

ROBERT R. METZ, the former president and C.E.O. of United Media, died Dec. 13, 2015, at age 86. He was a member of Sigma Nu. After beginning his career as a copy boy at The New York Times, he was promoted to the foreign news desk and then worked for five years as a reporter and editor with the International News Service until it merged with United Press in 1958, at which time he became an assistant news editor at the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He went on to become its president in 1972 and then vice president in 1976 of United Feature Syndicate, which merged to form United Media, a licensing and newspaper syndication company that launched and syndicated the Garfield and Dilbert comic strips under his leadership. United Media also syndicated such popular comic strips as Peanuts and distributed hundreds of features, columns, and editorial cartoons. The company’s Pharos Books division also published The World Almanac, among other nonfiction titles, and a subsidiary, TV Data, sold TV listings to newspapers. He led the company into a major international expansion and also established a joint venture that produced children’s animated television programs. In 1992, United Media donated the Robert Roy Metz Collection of more than 83,000 original cartoons by more than 100 cartoonists to Ohio State University’s Cartoon Library and Museum. He retired in 1994. His first marriage, to Beth Blossom, ended in divorce. His wife, Susan Blair Metz survives, as do two sons, a stepson, and three grandchildren.

CHARLES E. FIERO JR., an international banker and former Wesleyan trustee, died Jan. 24, 2015, at age 88. A member of Beta Theta Pi, he received his degree with high honors and distinction in economics, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy. After graduation he joined Chase Bank’s training program. During his 25 years at Chase he was made vice president and was put in charge of the credit department. Later, he joined the international department and opened Chase’s first branch in Geneva; he also helped to restructure and improve Chase’s European network. In 1965 he moved to London, where he became a Board member of what was then the Standard Bank, with branches in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1968 he was asked to become Under Secretary of Commerce to check and control the U.S. funds being moved to Europe. He spent a year in Washington and then returned to Chase as directly of long range planning and corporate development. He traveled extensively in the Middle East to assess the impact of OPEC’s wealth on the world’s monetary system, and he later became an executive vice president. In 1976 he left Chase to join the Hay Group, an international consulting group, as partner and chief financial officer. He also ran sessions at Northwestern University’s business school about mergers and acquisitions. When Hay was sold, he and two others formed MLR Holdings, a venture capital firm, from which he retired at age 78. He was a trustee of Wesleyan from 1974 to 1977, the chairman of the Mount Holyoke College Parent Fund, and a member of the Board of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Among those who survive are his wife. Dorothy Hagenbuckle Fiero; three children; six grandchildren, including Christopher A. Brown ’04 and Brian C. Morgan ’09; one great-grandson; two sisters; and his brother.