Tag: 1972

JAN M. WOUTERS, a nuclear physicist who was associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory for much of his career, died Apr. 2, 2010. He was 56. After receiving his degree cum laude and with high honors, he received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. An accomplished musician, he played a Bach organ fugue at his Wesleyan Commencement. His specialty at Los Alamos was computer data analysis in physics. Survivors include his wife, Laura Moltz Wouters, two children, his mother, his brother, and his sister, Dr. Annemarie V. Wouters ’79.

DOUGLAS B. THOMPSON, 60, a philanthropist and the founder of Jupiter Management Company, a private equity firm that invests in the energy sector, died June 9, 2010. He was a member of Psi Upsilon and received an MBA from Harvard University. While at Wesleyan he attended the Economic Institute in Santiago, Chile, where he developed a lifelong interest in South America and the start of his career in the energy business. He was predeceased by a brother. Among those who survive are his wife, Leslie Bacon Thompson, four children, his parents, three sisters, and a brother.

CATHERINE P. ROYCE, 60, a former deputy arts commissioner for the City of Boston, died Mar. 30, 2009, of complications from ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. After receiving her degree in humanities and theater, she was associated with several arts organizations and in 1994 received an MBA from Simmons College. In addition to consulting for various groups, she continued to perform with dance companies until her diagnosis. The author of Wherever I Am, I’m Fine, which was published in the final months of her life, and which is a collection of extraordinary letters about how to live deeply while dying gradually, she also shared her insights on National Public Radio. Her husband, A. Scott Nagel, two children, two sisters, and a brother survive.

Becket Royce McGough, sister of Catherine Royce, wrote to inform Wesleyan of Catherine’s passing. Ms. McGough added: “She had an obit published in the Boston Globe:

www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2009/04/02/catherine_royce_60_documented_travails_triumphs_in_als_battle/
. I do know that in lieu of flowers, she would like contributions made to The Boston Home, 2049 Dorchester Avenue, Boston, MA 02124.”

David L. Nicholl, 56, a lawyer who specialized in communications regulations, died of brain cancer Oct. 25, 2006. A College of Social Studies major at Wesleyan, he received his master’s degree in communications from the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Catholic University. Early in his career, he worked for the Justice Department, on the team that prosecuted AT&T for antitrust violations, which resulted in the divestiture of the Bell System. He then joined the Federal Communications Commission in its cable TV and common carrier bureaus. For the past 22 years he was an attorney for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association on policy issues, serving as general counsel. Among those who survive is his cousin, Dr. Andrew R. Ganz ’62.

JEFFREY A. MARSH, 59, who had suffered severe degenerative neurological damage in an accident during his college years, and who spent most of his adult life in nursing homes, died Aug. 1, 2010. He was an advocate for the rights and interests of nursing home patients. Predeceased by his mother, he is survived by his father, stepmother, three sisters, and two stepsisters.

MARK R. KRAVITZ, 62, a prominent New Haven, Conn., attorney and specialist in First Amendment and appellate law, who was appointed as a U.S. District Judge in 2003, and who received a Distinguished Alumnus award in 2012, died Sept. 30, 2012. A member of Psi Upsilon, he received his degree magna cum laude and with high honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, he clerked for the Honorable James Hunter III in the Third Circuit and later for the Honorable Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court. He then joined the firm of Wiggin & Dana, where he worked for 27 years, eventually building and serving as Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. In 2003 he was nominated as a U.S. District Judge and was sworn in by Chief Justice Rehnquist. During the course of a nine-year career he wrote more than 700 opinions, an extraordinary achievement. He was extremely proud of his work on the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure in the United States Court, and he chaired the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. Involved in numerous community activities and boards, he was a founding director of the Friends of Yale Children’s Hospital and the Connecticut Food Bank. The Connecticut Bar Foundation recently created a symposium series in his honor. He taught at the University of Connecticut Law School, Yale Law School, and the University of Melbourne (Australia) Graduate School of Law, and also enjoyed mentoring aspiring lawyers and law clerks. Survivors include his wife, Wendy Evans Kravitz; three children, including Jennifer E. Kravitz ’00; and three grandchildren.

HENRY G. HOLBROOK, the owner of Seaside Painting in Blue Hill, Maine, died Jan. 27, 2007. He was 57. An avid sailor and outdoorsman, survivors include his mother, two daughters, three sisters, and a niece, Cassandra H. Reid ’88.

PERCY H. HARVEY, an attorney and education advocate, died of lung cancer Oct. 3, 2005, at age 55. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he was an attorney with Stokes Bartholomew Evans and Petree in Memphis, Tenn., where he specialized in health care law, real estate financing, corporate law, and government relations. Predeceased by his first wife, Peggy Prater, he is survived by his wife, Toni Blount Harvey, a daughter from his first marriage, his mother, a brother, and eight sisters.

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.