Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

ROBERT C. ACKART ’43

ROBERT C. ACKART, 93, an editor, author, and theater director, died Dec. 14, 2014. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree with honors and with high distinction in English and French. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he also received a master’s degree from Harvard University and an MFA from Yale University. He was the son of Everett G. Ackart of the class of 1902 and the brother of Richard J. Ackart of the class of 1937. A longtime volunteer with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, he was the stage manager of Central City’s premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe, and the stage director in its initial seasons at the Santa Fe Opera. Author of numerous cookbooks, he was also a critic of operatic recordings for Stereo Review and was active with the Metropolitan Opera’s auditions programs. His sister and several nieces and nephews survive.

Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

JOHN SAROKHAN ’42

JOHN SAROKHAN, M.D., a pioneering surgeon, died Nov. 23, 2014. He was 93. After attending Wesleyan, he graduated from Harvard College and then from Boston University Medical School. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army. He was a specialist in cancer surgery and treatment. His wife, Dr. Armine Papazian, survives, as do two sons, a granddaughter, and a large extended family.

Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

CYRUS J. QUINN ’42

CYRUS J. QUINN, 94, an investment executive, died June 29, 2014. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and was a U.S. Army veteran. A star soccer player during his undergraduate years, he became a securities analyst and money manager. During his long career in the industry, he promoted and supported Wesleyan tirelessly. His son, Cyrus Quinn Jr. ’72, predeceased him. Survivors include his wife, Margaret Quinn, five children, and three grandchildren, including Colin O’Connor ’15.

Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

JOHN E. BURNS JR. ’40

JOHN E. BURNS JR., the retired chairman of the Crescent Oil Company, died Feb. 28, 2015, at age 96. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and received a master’s degree from Wesleyan in 1942, where he worked in the biology laboratories. After serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, where he worked on the development of high altitude flights suits, he joined his father as president of Crescent Oil Company and Burns Laboratories. His wife, Martha Morgan Burns, predeceased him. Survivors include four children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Categories Obituaries | 1930-1939Posted on

HAROLD C. DUNN ’39

HAROLD C. DUNN, 98, a partner in the Hatfield & Dunn insurance agency, died Apr. 25, 2015. A member of Psi Upsilon, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He was the son of Harold A. Dunn of the class of 1902 and the brother of Gordon C. Dunn of the class of 1936. His first wife, Edith Warner Dunn, and his two daughters predeceased him. Among those who survive are his wife, Natalie Schnare Dunn, one son, five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, his sister, and his brother, Donald G. Dunn ’48.

Categories Obituaries | 1930-1939Posted on

CHARLES H. LINDNER SR. ’35

CHARLES H. LINDNER SR., a former insurance executive, died Jan. 7, 2015. He was 101. A member of Alpha Chi Rho, he received his CLU designation from the University of Connecticut. He worked for the Prudential Insurance Company for 36 years. His wife, Jeannette Lanning Lindner, predeceased him. Three children, seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren survive.

Categories Obituaries | 1990-1999Posted on

JENNIFER ENTINE MATZ ’91

JENNIFER ENTINE MATZ, the director of waterfront development for the city of San Francisco, died Dec. 5, 2014, at age 45. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and worked at several firms before becoming the legislative aide to a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. As part of her waterfront development responsibilities, she oversaw $4 billion of waterfront development including the Warriors’ arena, the Giants’ Mission Rock development, and the rehabilitation of the historic shipyard. Survivors include her parents, Jean Marks Entine and Alan Entine, two children, her sister, and her grandmother.

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

JASON WOLFE

JASON WOLFE, 73, professor of biology emeritus, died Dec. 23, 2014. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1969 after receiving his BA from Rutgers and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and completing two post-doctoral fellowships at Kings College, University of London, and Johns Hopkins. He taught cell biology, human biology, biology of aging and the elderly, and structural biology at Wesleyan for 39 years.

In his research, Wolfe asked big questions about how reproduction and aging are regulated. With funding from NIH and NSF, he produced an enviable body of work published in the major cell biology journals—always mentoring undergraduates and graduate students with compassion and insight. He led the effort that resulted in Wesleyan’s first Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant for Undergraduate Life Science Education, establishing a program that has provided decades of support for hundreds of undergraduates. In retirement, he twice offered his popular general education course in human biology and published his last Biology Open research paper in 2014 with four former Wesleyan undergraduate co-authors.

He is survived by his wife, Vera Schwarcz, the Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies, professor of history, as well as three children and five grandchildren.

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

GEORGE R. CREEGER

GEORGE R. CREEGER, 89, professor of English, emeritus, died Nov. 1, 2014. He joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1951 after receiving his B.A. at DePauw University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Yale. He taught American literature in the English Department for nearly 50 years. An expert on romantic poetry—particularly Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, and Byron—and on the works of Herman Melville, he was also a generalist who brought some of his other passions into the classroom through courses on Early Connecticut Houses and Opera as Myth and Literature. He served as Dean of the College from 1971–1973 as well as chair of the faculty from 1991–1992. He was a brilliant teacher whose deep resonant voice was instantly recognizable, and he was much beloved by a devoted following of students. He was the first recipient of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching when it was inaugurated in 1993.

He is survived by a son, Christopher (Kit); his daughter, Katie; and two grandsons. He is predeceased by his wife, Elva, and by a son, Carl.

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FRANKLIN A SEVERANCE MALS’73

FRANKLIN A SEVERANCE MALS’73, an educator and administrator, died Dec. 31, 2014. He was 75. A graduate of Harvard University, he earned master’s degrees at Wesleyan and at the Muskie School of Public Service. He served with the U.S. Army National Guard. His long teaching and administrative career included positions at schools in Nigeria, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine. In addition to his career in education, he served as a chief deputy sheriff of Fairfield County (Conn.), assistant commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Insurance, and regulatory board coordinator for the State of Maine. He also volunteered with a variety of non-profit organizations. His wife, Irene Severance, survives, as do his son; two brothers, including John B Severance MALS’69; several nieces; and four stepchildren.