Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

LAWRENCE ALEXANDER ’44

LAWRENCE ALEXANDER, who retired as the administrative attorney for the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate courts, died June 5, 2014, at age 91. After serving in the front lines at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, he received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan with honors and then received a law degree from Columbia University. He was a member of Sigma Chi. He and his first wife, Colleen Spielman Alexander, the mother of his four children, moved to the Philadelphia area, where he was an executive in a family business before returning to the law as a Pennsylvania assistant attorney general. He then moved to Connecticut, where he continued his work for political and social causes. After retiring in 1993, he continued to work for private practice attorneys, taught paralegal courses, and served a two-year term as a magistrate in small claims court. Survivors include his wife, Ruth F. Alexander; four children, including David Alexander ’74; two stepchildren; five grandchildren, including Molly B. Alexander ’09 and Jaclyn Alexander ’09; two step-grandchildren; and a nephew, Marc Levin ’73. He was the brother-in-law of the late Alan M. Levin ’46.

Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

F. EDWARD (“MUZZ’) MOLINA ’43

F. EDWARD (Muzz) MOLINA, the retired president of Edward Molina Designs, Inc., died Sept. 17, 2014. He was 93. A member of Psi Upsilon, he served in the U.S. Navy as a bi-lingual flight instructor during World War II. Later, he received an MBA from Dartmouth College and began a successful career in the textile industry. An avid athlete and traveler, he was also a loyal fan of Wesleyan football. In retirement, he became a community volunteer. His wife, Margaret Shippen Grubb Molina, predeceased him, as did a granddaughter. Among those who survive are three daughters; one son; nine grandchildren, including Dana E. Matthiessen ’09; and four great-grandchildren.

Categories Obituaries | 1940-1949Posted on

J. ALDEN NICHOLS ’41

J. ALDEN NICHOLS, 95, a retired professor of European history at the University of Illinois who had taught at Wesleyan, died June 28, 2014. A member of the John Wesley Club, he received his degree with high honors and with high distinction in history. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During World War II he served as a conscientious objector. After receiving his master’s and PhD degrees from Columbia University, he taught at Wesleyan and at Skidmore College before returning to Wesleyan where he taught and was the managing editor of Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which was then published by Wesleyan. In 1961 he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois. An authority on German history, he also created a new course at the University of Illinois that incorporated the music, art and literature of the Romantic period. An avid amateur musician, he was an active participant in local groups. His wife, Barbara Tuttle Nichols, and one son predeceased him. He is survived by a daughter-in-law with whom he lived, two daughters, five grandchildren, several step-grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Categories Obituaries | FacultyPosted on

PETER S. WHARTON, Professor of Chemistry

PETER S. WHARTON, professor of chemistry emeritus and the person who introduced the Wharton Reaction, died Apr. 28, 2014. He was 82. An alumnus of Cambridge University, he received two master’s degrees and a PhD from Yale University. After completing post-doctoral study at Columbia University, he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin in 1960. He attained the rank of full professor at the University of Wisconsin before joining the Wesleyan faculty in 1968. A gifted organic chemist, he introduced generations of Wesleyan students to the rigors of organic chemistry. He was also known for his musical ability and played the piano, in addition to continuing to bike, hike, and travel until a year ago. He was predeceased by his first wife, Ethel Hoffman Wharton. Survivors include his partner, Helen, and five children.

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ANDREA Z. DEANE, MALS ’98

ANDREA Z. DEANE, a freelance food stylist and the chef at the president’s house at Wesleyan for 10 years, died Feb. 2, 2014. She was 55. A graduate of the University of Vermont, she received an MALS in 1998. She studied cooking at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, apprenticed at The Four Seasons restaurant in New York City, and was associate food editor at Weight Watchers magazine. She went on to a successful career as a freelance food stylist with her work featured in several cookbooks as well as for Bon Appétit, Cuisine, and Parade magazines, before moving to Haddam, Conn., in 1986, to raise a family. At the Wesleyan president’s house she oversaw all official catering functions for three presidents. Since 1999 she focused on her fine art painting career and had several successful exhibitions. Among those who survive are her husband, Eric Deane, two children, her mother, four siblings, and an extended family.

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WILLIAM A. MAILLET, MALS ’71

WILLIAM A. MAILLET, a teacher at Choate Rosemary Hall for 20 years, died Oct. 21, 2012, at age 84. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and in the Korean War, and he received his bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College. A teacher at the Kent School and at Williston Academy, he joined the faculty at Choate in 1961, where he taught English, coached, and built chess sets in his spare time. He received an MALS from Wesleyan University in 1971 and did further study at the University of South Florida. He was the author of a book about Anthony Burgess, A Window in the Womb of Time. During his retirement he also hosted a classical radio program. He leaves no immediate family.

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GRANVILLE S. PRUYNE, MALS ’59

GRANVILLE S. PRUYNE, 100, a teacher in Massachusetts and an accomplished athlete, died Jan. 18, 2014. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, he received an MALS in 1959. At the University of Massachusetts he was the first person to be named All-American in the school’s history and was designated as their athlete of the decade for the 1930s. In addition to teaching, he coached hockey, soccer, and golf. His first wife, Elizabeth Pierce Pruyne, one son, and two grandsons predeceased him. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne Sheely, three children, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

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THOMAS A. DUKE, MAT ’58

THOMAS A. DUKE, a teacher in the Rocky River (Ohio) schools, died Jan. 9, 2014, at age 79. A graduate of Kenyon College, he received an MAT in 1958. He was very involved in the American Field Service and the Cleveland International Film Festival. Survivors include his brother and several cousins.

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GEORGE S. STANFORD, MA ’51

GEORGE S. STANFORD, a nuclear reactor physicist and a member of the team that developed the Integral Fast Reactor, died Oct. 7, 2013. He was 85. He received his bachelor’s degree from Acadia University, a master’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1951, and a PhD from Yale University. He retired from Argonne National Laboratory after a career of experimental work in power-reactor safety. Survivors include his wife, Janet Bowlby Stanford, and three children.

Categories Obituaries | 2000-2010Posted on

JOCELYN MOORE SWEET ’04

JOCELYN MOORE SWEET, 31, an attorney and health insurance specialist at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, died Apr. 2, 2014. She received her degree with honors. In the years since her diagnosis with bone cancer, she earned a law degree from American University and became a health insurance specialist so that she could make sure others had access to health care. Among those who survive are her parents, Laurie Kaslove and David Moore, and her husband, Brian Sweet, two sisters, and a nephew and nieces.