Obituaries

Richard D. Colburn ’34, a generous donor to Antioch College and father of Richard W. Colburn ’66, died June 3, 2004, at the age of 92.

An amateur viola player for most of his life, Colburn was the major financer of the Colburn School of Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles, a $26-million facility on Grand Avenue designed to educate youngsters in music and dance. The school, which offers after-school and weekend programs, has 1,300 students from 2 1/2 to 18 years old. It also provides community outreach programs to elementary schools. Recently, it began offering postsecondary degrees in music and plans an $80-million building addition to help support the degree program and provide expanded academic, rehearsal and library space. Colburn once said he hoped that the Colburn school and conservatory "could become L.A.'s Juilliard," a reference to the famed arts school in New York City.

He also was a lifetime director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and benefactor of the annual Colburn Celebrity Recitals, a co-founder of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and a generous supporter of LACO, the Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Opera as well as numerous other musical organizations in Los Angeles and around the world. In addition, he lent to budding musicians many fine instruments he had collected over half a century.

Despite his largess, Colburn for most of his life maintained a low profile in Los Angeles and elsewhere. He would quote his father telling him as a boy: "Fools' names and fools' faces often appear in public places." It was only after Toby Mayman, longtime president of the Colburn school, prevailed upon him to come out from behind his curtain of anonymity that his name surfaced in any but the most exclusive music circles

According to those who knew him, the person who was a major influence on Colburn to use his wealth for music education was Herbert Zipper, a Viennese conductor who had survived Nazi concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald and, after World War II, moved to the United States. Colburn met Zipper when both were living in the Chicago area and Zipper was conducting in-school concerts and teaching music to young people. Zipper moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s and joined the faculty of USC's School of the Performing Arts, which was housed in a World War II-era barracks on a campus parking lot. When the school was threatened with extinction, Colburn began providing funding. The facility, which now is independent of USC, includes a concert hall named after Zipper and a home studio once used by the late violinist Jascha Heifetz that was rebuilt on the site and is used for classes.

Colburn was born June 24, 1911, in Carpentersville, Ill., but grew up on a San Diego farm. In his 20s, he worked as an accountant and then became an investment banker. He later moved into wholesaling and distributing construction equipment. After returning to California in 1965, Colburn helped rescue the Denver-based Susquehanna Corp., a conglomerate dealing in building materials and uranium mining. At age 65, he started U.S. Rentals, a construction equipment rental firm. Little else is known about Colburn's business life. On how he acquired his vast fortune, Colburn would say only this to the New York Times in 1980: "I never created anything. I identified dogs and I got people to run them." He once expanded that to say he bought cheap and sold dear. Whatever the case, he made a lot of money and committed a good portion of it to music.

Philip S. Holmes’36 passed away September 21, 2000.

Kenneth W. Greenlee ’38 passed away in December 2003.

Jack D. Ellison ’42 died March 28, 2004. He was 84. He worked in management training for Chrysler Corporation and Great Lakes Steel after graduating from Antioch, and served in the U.S. Air Force in World War II and the Korean War.

John C. Kepler ’42 passed away.

Keery McAmbley ’42 died December 15, 2003.

Roger Seccombe ’42, 84 years old, died on January 28, 2004. Cause of death was pneumonia with heart failure complications. He met and married Jean Bennett ’46 at Antioch. After graduating, Roger joined the U.S. Coast Guard to serve in the World War II Solomon Islands arena. After the war he attended Columbia University and then began his long teaching career, beginning at Goddard College. He served in the Coast Guard again during the Korean War, then taught high school in California until his retirement in 1982.

Aubrey “Ole” Larsen ’43 and Helen Louise Larsen ’43 both passed away in February, 2004. Ole was killed instantly in a car crash on February 17, and Helen followed him ten days later. Ole and Helen met at Antioch and were married immediately after graduating.

While working for Sterling Drugs in 1946, Ole was the inventor of the most widely used water-soluble X-ray contrast agent. In 1959, Ole and his family moved to Evansville when he joined the Research and Development staff at Mead Johnson. In 1962, he received the Mead Johnson President's Award, and in 1964, Ole was honored to be named "Boss of the Year" by the Indiana Diamond Chapter of the American Business Women's Association. In 1967, he received the Technical Achievement Award from the Tri-State Council for Science and Engineering. 1969 saw Ole moving from his position as Vice President Physical Science at Mead Johnson, now a division of Bristol Myers, to the International Division of Bristol Myers, headquartered in New York, NY, where he served as Scientific Director and Vice President Research and Development. Ole returned to Mead Johnson in 1975 as Vice President Research and Development. From that time until his retirement in 1982, the department was responsible for the development of a number of new drugs, including the antibiotic Duricef, and anti-anxiety drug Buspaar, and anti-depressant Desyrel, the cardiovascular drugs Encanide and Sotolol, and the anti-cancer drug Ilex.

Helen's activities included fund-raising for the American Cancer Society and the American Polio Society. She was active with the Evansville Philharmonic for many years, assisting with Tri-State Youth concerts, developing program notes, working with the Musician's Club and serving as Ticket Chairman in 1965-66. In addition, she devoted time to work with the Auxiliary at Deaconess Hospital, was a Girl Scout troop leader, and conducted a crafts class at the Neighborhood House.

James M. Jagger ’44 died June 27, 2002, at the age of 81. Mr. Jagger was a US Air Force Reserves veteran, assigned as an aeronautical research scientist to the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Cleveland, Ohio. At NASA in the 1940s he became a project engineer engaged in research on jet propulsion and supersonic flight. In 1951 he joined the staff of Arthur D. Little Inc. in Cambridge, serving as personnel director, then as vice president in charge of personnel. In the early 1960s he was on the Massachusetts Governor’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. After his retirement, he lived with his wife aboard a boat for two years, sailing on the intracoastal waterway and in the Bahamas.

David B. Jones ’44 passed away.

Donna Corrington ’45 died September 1, 2003, at the age of 82. She died from complications due to throat cancer.

Leonard Sheppard ’45 died of lymphatic leukemia on October 13, 2003, at the age of 81. His wife, Alva Sheppard, writes: “He always remembered Antioch with great fondness, and took me to the college in 1944, after we were married, to meet Professor Barbalescu. It was a long train ride from NYC, but worth it.”

Betty Bloodgood Flumerfelt ’46 died December 13, 2003.

Mary Gelep Hutchison ’49 died January 15, 2004.

Wayne W. Krows ’50 died June 25, 2003, at the age of 75. He worked for the Millikin University Development Office in Decatur, Illinois, from 1958 until 1990. He received an honorary Doctorate from Millikin upon retirement for his outstanding service to the University. In 1991 he was Millikin’s Alumni of the Year, and in 2001 was inducted into Millikin’s Medallion Society.

Sara Joanna Epstein Dobberteen ’53, 71, died peacefully at home with her three children. She was a beautiful, courageous woman who started and finished her life in Minnesota. With lifetime interest in books, art and travel, she thrived professionally as a librarian and editor after years at home raising her children. She was an extraordinary person, and her independent spirit will be missed by many near and far. Her daughter asks that any classmates who wish to memorialize Sara make a donation in her name to the Anne Poindexter Fisher Memorial Scholarship fund at Antioch College.

William L. Finefrock ’53 died January 25, 2004, of injuries sustained in a garage fire on January 22. He was 73. Finefrock was well-known as an auto journalist from the 1960s to the 1980s. He devoted most of his time since to his car collector activities. An avid historian, he was frequently called upon by today’s auto writers as a prime resource. Highly respected by many throughout the automotive world, Bill will be missed for his cheerful, easy-going manner, joie de vivre, professionally-produced productions, and willingness to share his knowledge and love of the automobile.

Kenneth B. Burroughs ’54, 74, died on May 17, 2004. After graduating from Antioch, Burroughs spent a three-year term in the U. S. Army. He joined the New York State Department of Civil Service in December 1957 as an administrative trainee and served in a variety of administrative positions in that agency. He retired after 33 years, in March 1991, as a chief classification and pay analyst.

Robert Clinton Claus ’54 died March 30, 2004, at the age of 72.

Known as “Sandy” for his hair color, Robert graduated from Antioch College with a B.A. in Business Administration and Economics. During his freshman year, he worked as manager of the Coffee Shop. He became a Maples Volunteer Fire Fighter and participated in intramural football games throughout his five years at Antioch.

He married Marcia Smith in 1953. He received a National Honor Scholarship and attended the University of Chicago Law School, receiving a Juris Doctor Degree in 1957. He became the first summer student employed by the Chicago law firm of Vedder, Price, Kaufman and Kammholz in 1956, and spent all his years as an attorney with them. He was made a partner in 1964.

His career focus was Labor Law (Public & Private) and School Law. This involved contract negotiations, representation and unfair labor practice proceedings before the NLRB and state agencies, arbitrations, discrimination litigation and constitutional law. Among his clients were the Chicago School Board and the Boards of Education for New Trier, Barrington, and Springfield, IL; Lake Michigan and Lansing, MI; Community Colleges; and Cook County Hospital.

He and Marcia lived 40 years in Des Plaines, IL, where Sandy served on numerous Boards at the First Congregational Church and on the Church Foundation. He was a President of the Des Plaines Lions Club and received a Melvin Jones Fellowship for Community Service, the highest award of the Lions International Foundation. He served on the Des Plaines Elementary School Board and the Maine Township High School Board.

He was a life-long stamp collector and avid baseball fan. Sandy grew up in South Orange, NJ, and spent boyhood summers on Fire Island. Parkinson’s Disease brought about his early retirement in 1995.

Roberta Gruskin “Bobbie” Smith ’57 died January 10, 2004, of complications from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was 68. In 1955 she married J. B. Smith ’55 and they moved to College Station, Texas. Bobbie worked in a variety of career fields including raising horses and cattle, owning and operating the Image Boutique and co-owning and managing J B Smith Real Estate. She sold real estate from 1980 until her death.

Margrid Thompson ’61 passed away February 11, 2004 at the age of 66. She had been battling cancer for some time. Margrid was best-known as the mother of eight-time Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson, whose career Margrid supported and assisted greatly.

Susan L. Nickerson ’67 died of lung cancer June 13, 2004, at the age of 60. Susan was Roseville, Calif. Library Director for 35 years, retiring in 2003. “She kept the doors of this library open more often than any other library in the area, whether we had enough funds coming in or not,” Roseville librarian Dianne Bish said. “Free access to the library and its collections was very, very important to her.”

Bob Lacey ’69, a comedy writer and entertainment producer in the San Francisco Bay area, died April 30, 2004, a week after suffering a heart attack. He was 57. A Yellow Springs native, he was the son of John and the late Beatrice Lacey.

“Known for his lighting-quick, topical wit and for an uncommon generosity with his talent, Mr. Lacey wrote for such national figures as Jay Leno and David Letterman,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “But it was his performance as Bob Lacey—with his distinctive white beard and hair, a delightfully raspy laugh, an innate and noisy optimism and an unrelenting joy in humor—that won him a wide circle of friends in the tough comedy business,” the paper reported.

Lacey arrived in San Francisco, where he booked acts for local venues, in the mid-1970s. In the late ‘70s he met aspiring performers Rick & Ruby (Brian Seff and Monica Ganas) and took over as their writer and manager, creating “Rick & Ruby’s Last Prom,” an “ahead-of-its-time piece of performance art,” according to the Chronicle. Robin Williams, Dana Carvey and Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reubens appeared in the show in various parts.

It was also during that time Lacey began a lifetime association with San Francisco Chronicle columnists. According to the Chronicle, “he was a frequent contributor of topical one-liners to virtually every columnist at the paper in the past 30 years.”

As the San Francisco comedy scene declined, Lacey moved to Half Moon Bay, Calif., where he wrote cartoons and humorous commentary for the Half Moon Bay Review and also became one of the community’s leading charitable benefactors.

Gary Jones ’74 died in June 2004. Gary received his Masters in Education from Harvard University and studied jazz and classical flute at the New England Conservatory. He played with numerous jazz groups throughout the New England area.

Dorcas Malott ’76 passed away in March 2003.

Marjorie Silvernail ’92, who changed her name to Marjorie Silverwand in 2000, died of breast cancer on January 2, 2003, at the age of 33.

Sam Gray ’07 died in May 2004 of unexpected complications of medication. His family would appreciate support. His mother, Jenny Frank, can be written at 2174 McClellan St, Niskayuna, NY 12309, and his father, Mark Gray, at 2475 Brookshire Dr, Bldg 10, Apt 108, Niskayuna, NY 12309.

Daniel Luthy ’07 was killed in a car crash near Meridian, MS, on July 5, 2004. He was 19. He and four friends had taken a trip to New Orleans for the 4 th of July and were on their way back to Antioch at the time of the crash.

Kelsey Wilshusen Pfotenhauer ’07 committed suicide near her family’s home in California on May 3, 2004. She had recently been diagnosed with a mental illness known as schizophreniform disorder. Her family believes that the effects of the disease and the social stigma attached to mental illness are what drove her to kill herself.

Stella Lavinder, former dorm housekeeper at Antioch, passed away May 18, 2004, at the age of 94.

Frances Oliver Loud died peacefully after a three-week illness on Monday, March 8, 2004, in Seattle, in the company of family.

Born Goldie Frances Dworken on Sept. 16, 1913, in Cleveland, OH, she was the only child of Morris Dworken and Dena Pearlstein, who came to America to escape the dangers and anti-Semitism of the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires.

Artistically gifted, she focused her talents in drama. She earned a BS in education in teaching French through theater in 1935 at Ohio State University. At OSU, Frances met the love of her life, Oliver Schule Loud, through the theater, and their marriage lasted nearly 65 years, until his death in 1999.

Believing the people could and must make this a better world, she was a political activist all her adult life, starting with her opposition to the Japanese occupation of China after 1931. She influenced Oliver into activism, and they were partners in many causes, including the defense of the Spanish Republic and the antifascist struggle through 1945, trade unionism, the defense of civil liberties during the McCarthy period, and the movements for civil rights, nuclear disarmament, an end to the Vietnam war, support for a just Israeli-Palestinian peace and a sustainable environment.

Under her professional name Frances Oliver, she pursued a notable career in theater in New York and then in Yellow Springs, where her husband came to teach at Antioch College in the 1940s. Frances was a mainstay of the professional Shakespeare Under the Stars here, which over consecutive summers in the 1950s became the first American company to perform all of Shakespeare’s plays. She played many varied roles in Antioch’s drama program, in the village theater scene and in other professional summer companies.

Frances taught French at Bryan High School and Urbana College and was active in Community Chorus. In 1997, she and Oliver left Yellow Springs for Seattle to be closer to family. It was difficult for them to leave the village, which they viewed as rich in community, culture, education and progressive politics, and considered a wonderful place to have raised a family and to have called home for 54 years.

Frances now lives on through the lives she started and through all those she touched with her creative gifts and her devotion to justice and peace.