INDICATES UOAA MEMBER
1930s
Karl S. Landstrom ’30, M.A. ’32, reports his disappointment with the lack of Class Notes sent in by fellow members of the 1930s decade. Landstrom, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, urges his classmates to speak up!
Yoo-hoo, 1940s grads. Anybody out there?
Harry M. Short ’55 organized the “Vets and Pets Clothing Donations Drive” to benefit the veterans home in Yountville, California, and the Vacaville chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Short, who is semiretired, volunteers at the Leisure Town Homeowners Association in Vacaville.
Sally H. Cohn ’56, a member of Delta Zeta, has started a memoir blog, which can be viewed at whistlingsal.blogspot.com.
An acrylic painting entitled “Blue Windows,” created by artist Joe M. Fischer ’60, M.F.A. ’63, is now on display in the permanent collection of the Longview Public Library in Longview, Washington.
Patricia Treece ’60 won third place in the biography category of the 2009 Catholic Press Awards for her book Meet John XXIII: Joyful Pope and Father to All (Servant Books, 2008).
Since retiring as chairperson of the Environmental Horticulture and Forestry Department at City College of San Francisco six years ago, landscape architect Sidney M. Lewin ’61 continues to run his landscape architecture and property management business in San Rafael, California. Lewin and wife Barbara are celebrating fifty years of marriage with a trip to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
Larry L. Lynch ’61, a retired writer in Paso Robles, California, maintains a blog dedicated to the Ontario Argus Observer, which his parents operated in the 1950s. Check out the website at www.rememberingtheargus.blogspot.com.
Janice (Nakata) Modin ’62 has retired after forty-five years as a flight attendant and instructor for Northwest (now Delta) Airlines. Modin lives in Berkeley, California.
Alaby Blivet ’63 traveled to Hangzhou in eastern China to view the July 22 total eclipse of the sun. While sitting at a bar just after the “mind-blowing” celestial event, he encountered two high-ranking North Korean diplomats, with whom he shared innumerable bottles of “a devilishly potent local brew that tasted faintly of goat.” Blivet turned the discussion to Pyongyang’s recent A-bomb detonations, ballistic missile tests, bellicose rhetoric, “and the resulting international political poostorm” in an ad hoc effort to secure peace on the tension-laden peninsula. “No progress on the nukes,” reports Blivet, “but I came away with Kim Jong Il’s personal recipe for kim chee.”
The UO Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management and its advisory council have honored Hardy Myers ’64, former Oregon attorney general, for outstanding service to Oregon. As attorney general, Myers presided over significant growth in the Oregon Department of Justice, placing special emphasis on consumer protection and crime victim services and rights.
Gary B. Rhodes ’64, senior fellow emeritus with the Center for Creative Leadership and senior partner of Leading Edge Solutions, coauthored Transforming Your Leadership Culture (Jossey-Bass, 2009) with John McGuire.
Jacqueline Taylor Basker, M.A. ’66, a professor of art at the New York Institute of Technology’s Middle East campus in Amman, Jordan, has been named department chair of the fine arts and computer graphics department.
Psychologist Arthur L. Mattocks, Ph.D. ’68, has published How to Create and Maintain an Alien: An Insider’s Look at Criminals and Their Culture (Vantage Press, 2008), about his career working with inmates in the California correctional system.
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands bestowed Jan ten Sythoff ’69, M.B.A ’70, the title of knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau for his contribution to Dutch society in the fields of business, arts, and landscaping. The mayor of the municipality of Aa en Hunze awarded the honor on behalf of the Queen at a ceremony in Sythoff’s home in Anloo, The Netherlands. Sythoff says UO “professors Stuart Rich, Gerry Albaum, Norman Smith, and James Reinmuth contributed greatly to my career and I am very thankful for their wise lessons in business administration.”
Judy Nedry ’70 has published An Unholy Alliance (iUniverse 2009), a mystery novel set in Oregon’s Newberg-Dundee area about an accidental sleuth who finds herself involved in a wine country murder.
DUCKS AFIELD
Oregon green in the Irish Sea Motivational speaker Tyson Wooters ’03 (left) and travel videographer Justin Weiler ’06—former members of the Duck mascot squad—at Peel Castle on St. Patrick’s Isle off the Isle of Man.In Ducks Afield OQ publishes photos of graduates with UO regalia (hats, T-shirts, flags, and such) in the most distant or unlikely or exotic or lovely places imaginable. We can’t use blurry shots and only high-resolution digital files, prints, or slides will reproduce well in our pages. Send your photo along with details and your class year and degree to quarterly@uoregon.edu.
Gary W. Studebaker, D.Ed. ’74, has published a new book of poetry titled Piercing Truths (PublishAmerica, 2009), a series of confrontations with morality and personal challenges. Studebaker’s previous book, Choice Words (PublishAmerica, 2008), addresses relationships and values.
Accomplished jazz pianist, composer, and producer Dan Siegel ’76 has released a new album, Sphere. After the album, which is Siegel’s nineteenth recording, was released in Japan earlier this year, it remained in the top ten for ten weeks. Siegel says he is planning both a European and an African release of Sphere, as well as a worldwide tour, before the end of the year.
Mike Ryan ’77, a member of Theta Chi and a principal with commercial real estate consulting company Colliers Tingey International in Fresno, California, cowrote two songs on singer-guitarist Trey Tosh’s latest album, Aiming for the Sun.
Luckiamut Cathedral, a river painting by artist Dale Draeger ’78, was selected for the twelfth annual International Society of Acrylic Painters exhibition in Santa Cruz, California.
Vanessa Kokesh Gallant ’82 received the Georgina MacDougall Davis Founders Award from the Seattle chapter of the Association for Women in Communications. The award is given annually to recipients consistently exhibiting the highest ethics, professional excellence, and personal commitment.
The UO Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management and its advisory council have honored Rachel Bristol ’82 as a distinguished alumna. Bristol has worked to counter both statewide and national hunger for more than twenty-five years. As acting executive director in 1988, Bristol played a key role in the formation of the Oregon Food Bank, which, under her leadership, was named the most admired Oregon nonprofit organization in a statewide survey.
Fire ecologist Michael Medler ’85, M.S. ’90, associate professor at Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University, was awarded a faculty outstanding achievement award.
Cheryl (Bayne) Landes ’86 was nominated and selected as an associate fellow with the Society for Technical Communication, an honor celebrating her more than fifteen years of experience in technical communication. Landes is the owner of Seattle-based Tabby Cat Communications.
Jeff Dow ’88, M.S. ’91, head women’s basketball coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, coached his team to their third consecutive conference championship. Dow’s team was ranked nineteenth in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s top twenty-five poll.
Rachel Wallins Guberman ’91 was promoted to director of global human resources at Ketchum Public Relations in Manhattan, New York. Guberman lives with her husband and daughter outside of New York City.
Professor Laurence Musgrove, M.A. ’89, Ph.D. ’92, is head of the English department at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.
The UO Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management and its advisory council have honored former UO student body vice president Karmen Fore ’93 as this year’s distinguished young alumna. As district director for Congressman Peter DeFazio, Fore has extensive campaign experience.
Lane DeNicola ’94 completed a Ph.D. in science and technology studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2007 and has accepted a permanent lectureship in digital anthropology at University College in London.
Photographer and philanthropist Heath Korvola ’96 created Project Help 2009, which he hopes will be a yearly endeavor on behalf of his staff at Heath Korvola Photographic. The project supports a selected nonprofit organization with powerful visual media. This year’s recipient, the Network of Young People Affected by War (NYPAW), works to help children whose lives have been derailed by the horrors of warfare. Korvola and a producer, assistant, and cinematographer will spend a week working with NYPAW to put a new face on the image of child-soldiers and the young people affected by war.
Molly (Winter) Ringle ’96, a member of Delta Delta Delta, has written The Ghost Downstairs (The Wild Rose Press, 2009), a novel that takes place in a haunted former sorority house, which Ringle says was inspired by her experiences living in the former Tri Delta house while at the UO.
“Regatta,” a song by composer and pianist Rebecca Oswald, M.Mus. ’01, was nominated for a 2009 Just Plain Folks Song Award in the solo piano category. The ceremony will be held on August 29 in Nashville, Tennessee. Good luck!
Jon Carras ’02 won a 2009 James Beard Award for producing a story called “In a Pinch: The History of Salt” with correspondent Martha Teichner for CBS Sunday Morning. Carras and his wife, Lauren, live in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Michael D’Ambrosia ’03, an architect in San Diego, California, received the Calvin Family Traveling Fellowship, which enables him to spend the summer traveling to Japan and Scandinavia, studying the architectural expression of each culture.
Travis Smith ’03 was named director of development for the College of Education at the Oregon State University Foundation.
Monica Wells, J.D. ’03, associate attorney with Bullivant Houser Bailey, has joined the resource development board of CARES Northwest, a child-abuse assessment program in Portland.
Tyler Mack ’05 has accepted the post of online sales manager at the Las Vegas Review-Journal following his four-year tenure as director of online sales and marketing at The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington.
Sarah Biedak ’06 has been hired as a public relations and social media coordinator at CMD, one of Portland’s largest multidisciplinary marketing agencies. Previously, Biedak served as part of CMD’s administrative team.
Jessica Steiert ’07 is working as a reinsurance analyst in New York City.
The Society of Professional Journalists named former Oregon Quarterly intern Whitney Malkin ’08 a Rookie of the Year. Malkin is a general assignments and rural communities reporter for the Eugene Register-Guard.
George Corey ’38, a Pendleton attorney, died at age ninety-three. Corey was Umatilla County district attorney, chairman of the Pendleton school board, president of the Pendleton Rotary Club board, and a past Pendleton first citizen.
Famed UO halfback Gerald “Jay” Graybeal ’41 died in October 2008 at age ninety-one. A member of Alpha Tau Omega, Graybeal served as a marine in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, Graybeal settled in his hometown of Pendleton. He remained active all his life, playing golf several days a week until age eighty-eight.
Petroleum geologist Gerald W. Fuller ’51 died at age eighty-two. A World War II veteran, Fuller and his wife lived in West Sussex, England. He was a founding member of the European Association of Petroleum Geologists and a member of both the American and Turkish sister organizations. He was also an avid golfer.
Allen William Kraxberger ’51 died at age seventy-nine. Kraxberger attended the UO on a track and basketball scholarship, and went on to teach and coach at several Oregon high schools. He established Happy Hollow Nursery in Mulino where he specialized in grafted ornamental trees. He is survived by his second wife, Gwen (Bloom) Kraxberger ’63, daughters Mary Lynn Yoder, Jane Vaughn, and RoseAnne Vojtek, M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’93, and sons Allen Jr. and Verlyn.
Marvin J. Simons ’52, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha, died at age seventy-nine. An elementary school teacher, Simons and her husband, Les, lived in Myrtle Point, where she served on the local library board.
Navy veteran and Virginia Polytechnic Institute professor emeritus of mathematics Charles Edward Aull, M.S. ’53, died at age eighty-one. In his lifetime, Aull published more than fifty papers on topology, or spatial mathematics, and edited two large works, including Rings of Continuous Functions.
Gordon Edward Diebel ’55, a member of Phi Gamma Delta, died in November 2008 at the age of seventy-nine. While serving in Japan during the Korean War, Diebel became enamored with the country and later returned to Tokyo to teach English. He loved the outdoors and gave generously to nature conservation organizations.
Edwin J. Gwaltney ’55 died in May.
Jeanne Havercroft ’58, a beloved “Daisy Duck,” died at the age of seventy-two. Havercroft and her husband Bob met in 1966, married, and became avid Duck fans—buying season tickets when Autzen opened in 1967 and enjoying many games thereafter. After Bob died in 1994, Havercroft survived breast cancer and continued to support the Ducks. An active member of the booster club and cofounder of the Eugene-Springfield Relay for Life, Havercroft is remembered for her generosity, easy sense of humor, and love for others.
Susan (Jenkins) Neustadter ’66, a member of Delta Gamma, died at the age of sixty-five. Neustadter worked as a buyer for Meier and Frank stores in Portland and part owner of Kaufman’s department store in Eugene until 2000, at which point she began a career as a professional beagle trainer. She enjoyed gardening, photography, and travel.
Edward L. Phillips Jr. ’66, a member of Delta Tau Delta, died in April 2008 at age sixty-five. Phillips had a long career in banking, public finance, and investments, and is survived by his wife, Sandra Allen Phillips ’64, and their two children.
Artist Keith Lebenzon ’72, M.S. ’78, died of a stroke at age sixty-two. Lebenzon, in addition to showing work at the Smithsonian and at the Chicago Art Institute, owned and operated Magic Paper Online, an e-store based in Beaverton. Under the name “Brushman,” Lebenzon created brushes for some of the world’s most renowned calligraphers.
Ralph Douglas Zenor ’72 died at age sixty-five. After serving in the U.S. Army, Zenor worked as a city manager in cities throughout the Northwest, eventually settling in Roseburg with his wife, Martha. Until the time of his death, Zenor served as general manager of Roseburg Urban Sanitary Authority. Zenor, an avid fisherman, is survived by his wife, daughter Tia Simmelroth ’94, son-in-law Miley Simmelroth, Ph.D. ’03, and son Andy Zenor ’00.
Brian Sanborn ’73 died in November 2008 at age fifty-seven due to prostate cancer. Sanborn is remembered as one of the “rocks” of the state library of Queensland, Australia. He helped to establish a statewide electronic database service and worked to lay the foundations for the library’s notable music collection, which is now one of the strongest in Australia.
Anthony Allingham, D.A. ’74, Ph.D. ’76, died in May 2008.
Joel B. Knowles, Ph.D. ’76, died in July 2008.
George Donald “Don” Miller ’76, M.L.S ’77, who suffered a massive stroke two years ago from which he was unable to recover, died in February. A veteran of the Army Security Agency, Miller worked as a coordinator for Neighborhood Library Services in Seattle, Washington, until he retired in 2005. He enjoyed cooking for friends and family, telling stories, and traveling.
Glen B. Spottswood ’78 died in June 2008 in Boise, Idaho.
Paul Alessie, M.B.A. ’78, died unexpectedly in June 2008 while traveling in Spain. Alessie attended the UO as an exchange student from Nijenrode University. In recent years he was the owner of Alessie and Company, a coffee-trading firm in Amsterdam, which his grandfather founded around the turn of the twentieth century.
Youth counselor John Crumbley, M.S. ’82, Ph.D. ’89, suffered a fatal heart attack in January at age fifty-seven. Crumbley worked at Lane County’s John Serbu Juvenile Justice Center for twenty-eight years, where he developed a program to help juveniles cope with anger problems. Crumbley was known for his unshakable optimism when it came to troubled teens.
Mark H. Nikkel ’92 died in a scuba-diving accident near Bora Bora in November 2006.
Strawberry K. Gatts, Ph.D. ’05, died of cancer in December at age sixty-three. Gatts, a tai chi master in the lineage of Huang Wen Shan and Marshall Ho’o, dedicated much of her life to the scientific study of the impact of classic tai chi in rehabilitating balance and movement dysfunction. An early pioneer in holographic imagery, Gatts is listed in Who’s Who in Holography 1978–79, published by the Museum of Holography.
Musician Patrick Daniel Williams ’07 died in late June of accidental drowning as the result of a seizure at the age of thirty. A free-spirited individual who loved his family, friends, community, and most of all, music, Williams enjoyed working at House of Records in Eugene. Surviving family members include his parents, longtime UO administrator Dan ’62 and Maureen Williams of Eugene.
Pauline Austin, UO director of media relations, died in late May at age sixty-seven. After working for twelve years as an assignment editor for KVAL television in Eugene, Austin developed a finely honed sense of what makes a good news story. For more than a decade, she helped share the University’s news with the outside world. Austin had retired in January.
Longtime UO professor of history Edwin R. “Bing” Bingham, who retired in 1982, died in July at age eighty-nine. His main areas of research were American cultural history and the history of the Northwest.
Web Exclusive!
Click here to read a profile of Bingham from the Winter 2006 issue of Oregon Quarterly.
Decades
Reports from previous Autumn issues of Old Oregon and Oregon Quarterly
1919 Upon his fortieth class reunion, Joel Pearcy ’79 recalls fondly his professors, saluting them with these words: “Dear old professors—you have long gone from Earth, but your memory lingers in the hearts of your graduates; your scholarship has borne fruit in many communities; you laid broad and deep the foundations of the splendid institution of which we are proud to be alumni.”
1929 This year’s hot fashion trend for women on campus: shoes made of lizard or other reptile skins.
1939 Forty-five hundred alumni, students, prospective students, and parents gather at Jantzen Beach for a “Webfoot Rally”—picnic dinner, student performances, and a speech by UO President Donald Erb. Portland radio station KEX broadcasts the event live.
1949 New buildings are springing up like mushrooms: five-story Carson dormitory will house women this fall, an addition to Villard Hall will feature a 400-seat theater, and the Erb Memorial Union is nearing completion in the heart of campus.
1959 More than 100 UO couples participate in a survey about their recent marriages. Some results: the average wedding cost $423.22, 84 percent of couples honeymooned, the honeymoons ranged in duration from one to fourteen days. Three wives responded that their honeymoons had lasted between twelve and eighteen months—but researchers suspect they may have misunderstood the question.
1969 Old Oregon profiles Lee Trippett ’57, the inventor and manufacturer (in Eugene) of Swinging Wonders, a wildly popular toy consisting of five free-swinging steel balls suspended from a simple frame illustrating Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Trippett uses his windfall earnings to finance his passion: searching for Bigfoot. service.
1979 After catching on slowly in the mid-’70s, weightlifting is now a regular part of football coach Rich Brooks’ player training regimen.
1989 Construction work nears completion on the $45 million science complex. The 250,000-square-foot facility is the largest single building project in Eugene’s history.
1999 The Institute of International Education releases a report ranking the UO number one among public research institutions for international student enrollment and for the number of its students studying abroad.
