OBITUARIES

1922

Herbert C. Pentz, retired attorney, Pelham, N.Y., on February 13, 2001. Pentz, who was born in Brooklyn, received his law degree from Columbia in 1924. He worked as an associate at Compton and Delaney from 1927 to 1940 when he became a partner at the firm of Dillon and O'Brien, where he remained until retirement. Pentz had lived in Pelham for the last 56 years.

1926

George Marshall, political activist and conservationist, Nyack, N.Y., on May 21, 2000. The son of the former Florence Lowenstein and Louis Marshall, a noted lawyer who was co-founder and long-time president of the American Jewish Committee, George Marshall attended the Ethical Culture (now Fieldston) School in the Bronx. After graduation from the College, he earned a master's from Columbia and a doctorate in economics from the Brookings Institution in 1930, writing a dissertation, "The Machinists' Union: A Study in Institutional Development." He became an assistant editor for the 1930 edition of the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, contributing several articles to the publication. From 1934 to 1937, he worked as an economist for the consumer's division of the New Deal National Recovery Administration. It was during the 1930s that Marshall, along with his wife Elisabeth Dublin, shifted his focus from academic to left-wing politics in New York City. He served as chairman of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and the Civil Rights Congress, its successor organization, which was a leading leftist group in the early civil rights movement. Marshall, who made the keynote address at the Congress's 1946 founding meeting in Detroit, provided leadership and funding for the new group, and worked closely in the late 1940s and early 1950s with Paul Robeson, Dashiell Hammett and William L. Patterson on litigation protecting the rights of African-Americans and leading American Communists. Called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Marshall was cited for Contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over records from the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties. Convicted of the contempt citation, he served three months in a federal prison in 1950 after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal. Marshall also had a career as a leading conservationist. As a youth, he had spent his summers along Saranac Lake and, with his brother Robert Marshall, climbed all 46 Adirondack peaks taller than 4,000 feet, an accomplishment that earned him a charter membership in the "46ers," a New York State group that honors that accomplishment. After his brother's early death, Marshall became a trustee of the Robert Marshall Wilderness Fund, which supported conservation activities. He was a member of the Wilderness Society for more than 50 years, including a stint (1957-61) as editor of the organization's magazine, The Living Wilderness, and a term as the society's president (1971-72). In the late 1950s, Marshall moved to Los Angeles, where he became involved in the Sierra Club, serving on the board of directors from 1959 to 1968 and terms as the club's director, president and vice chairman. Marshall moved to London in 1979, but returned to the United States shortly after the death of his wife in 1993.

1927

John W. McLoughlin, retired physician, Brick, N.J., on February 16, 2001. McLoughlin, who earned his medical degree from P&S in 1931, set up a private practice in his hometown of Bayonne, N.J. before serving as a captain in the Army Medical Corps in World War II. In a February 1944 battle near Campo di Carne, Italy, McLoughlin drove an ambulance through enemy artillery fire in order to evacuate a wounded soldier to a hospital. For his valor, he was awarded the Bronze Star from Lt. General Mark Clark, who said McLouglin's actions "under continuous artillery fire were an inspiration to the gun crews and are deserving of the highest praise." At war's end, he returned to Bayonne, where he was chief of staff at Bayonne Hospital and practiced until his retirement in 1970.

1928

Hilliard M. Shair, retired physician, Quincey, Ill., on October 10, 2000. A native of Brooklyn, Shair earned a master's in chemistry from GSAS in 1930 and his medical degree from P&S in 1932. Shair maintained a private practice in Brooklyn during the 1930s. He joined the Army Medical Corps in 1941, serving in the Pacific Theater, earning two Battle Stars and retiring with the rank of major. In 1948, he moved to Quincy, Ill., where he became a respected doctor and leading citizen. He set up a private practice specializing in dermatology and didn't retire until 1985. He served as president of the St. Mary Hospital Medical Staff and of the Blessing Hospital Board. Shair was a diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology, a past president of the St. Louis Dermatologic Society, the Adams County (Ill.) Medical Society, the Chicago Medical Society, and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of CARE (USA). He served three tours of duty with CARE Medico on the island of Java in Indonesia as well as in Afghanistan. In Quincy, Shair was a member of the Rotary Club since 1949, served as the club's president and was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He was a campaign chairman for local chapters of the United Way and the American Red Cross, for whom he also served as a director. The second violinist for the Quincy Symphony Orchestra, he also served a term as the orchestra's president. For over 40 years, Shair was a patron of the Quincy Little Theatre, where he appeared in over 30 productions, including The Man Who Came To Dinner and On Golden Pond, for which he received Quilta Awards. Shair, who was affiliated with the B'Nai Sholom Temple, was well known as a bible scholar who could translate Hebrew and Greek. Survivors include his wife, the former Jane Morrill Martin, Barnard '34, and son, Harry '75.

1931

Frederick R. Williams, retired teacher, Sykesville, Md., on June 21, 2000. Williams, who was born in New York, earned a master's from the Graduate School in 1933. He worked as an assistant to Columbia's director of admissions from 1931 to 1940, when he left New York to teach biology at the Gilman School in Baltimore. Williams returned to the Gilman School in 1946 and taught there for the rest of his career, including many years as chairman of the biology department.

1933

Burr H. Curtis '33

Burr H. Curtis, retired orthopedic surgeon, Bloomfield, Conn., on January 9, 2001. Born in Union, N.J., Curtis received his medical degree from P&S in 1936. He maintained a practice specializing in orthopedic surgery in Connecticut for 40 years and became widely known for advancing the medical and surgical treatment of children with disabilities. Curtis moved to Connecticut in the 1930s, conducting a rotating internship at Hartford Hospital; he completed his residency in orthopedics at the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled in New York. During World War II, he served as chief of the Orthopedic Service with the U.S. Coast Guard at the USPHS Hospital in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Curtis became chief of orthopedic surgery at Hartford Hospital and maintained a private practice in the city. In 1941 he also joined the staff of Newington Children's Hospital in Connecticut, where he was named surgeon in chief in 1956 and became medical director in 1963. The hospital (which is now called the Connecticut Children's Medical Center) named him executive director in 1966, and he kept both positions until his retirement in 1977. Under his leadership, the hospital completed a new west wing in 1970, which was renamed the Dr. Burr H. Curtis Building in 1975. Curtis was a consulting physician at many area medical centers, including St. Francis Hospital, the Institute of Living, the U.S. Veterans Administration Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital, Middlesex Hospital, New Britain General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital and John Dempsey Hospital. He served as an associate clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at the Yale School of Medicine and clinical professor of surgery (orthopedics) at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Curtis was the author of numerous scholarly articles on pediatric orthopedics, including a 1962 paper, "A Survey of 48 Children's Hospitals: Factors Shaping a Broader Concept of Children's Orthopedics," which is credited with helping shape the direction of children's orthopedic care. Elected vice president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in 1969, Curtis was also a member of the American Orthopaedic Association and the Société Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopaedique et de Traumatologie. He was a founding member of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society and the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation. In 1977, upon his retirement from Newington Children's Hospital, the Connecticut General Assembly enacted a joint resolution honoring Curtis. In 1980, he received the General David Wooster Award for "service to humanity in the field of medicine and community service" from the Grand Lodge of the State of Connecticut Ancient Free & Accepted Masons. In 1988, he received the First Pioneer Award from the Pediatric Orthopedic Society for the best scientific paper. Curtis was a member of the board of directors of the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center in Connecticut, worked with the State Planning and Advisory Council for Connecticut's White House Council on Handicapped Individuals, as well as numerous professional, charitable and civic organizations, including several local Masonic lodges and the Elks.

1935

William N. Berech, retired printer and advertising executive, Rye Brook, N.Y., on December 2, 2000. A native of Rudka, Ukraine, Berech emigrated with his family to the United States and attended Rye High School. At the College, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, manager of the varsity fencing team and a member of the rifle team. After graduating with a degree in economics, he took graduate courses at Columbia and NYU in marketing, public speaking and investment. In the late 1930s, Berech worked as a supervisor of market research for J. Walter Thompson in New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941, and rose through the ranks from private to captain, eventually serving as a personal aide to General Mark Clark. After the war, Berech entered the advertising industry, first as a director for Piels Bros. Brewery, then as vice president of the Kenyon & Eckhardt advertising agency in Philadelphia. In 1958, Berech set up his own agency, Wilber Enterprises, which produced NBC sports programming, television commercials and documentaries. In 1962, he became a senior vice president at Henderson & Roll, where he supervised the agency's package goods accounts and headed the Plans Board. In 1969, Berech founded a printing company, Rollins Rapid Repro, which he ran until his retirement in 1978.

Thomas G. Moore, retired chemical executive, Atlanta, in September 2000. A native of Lakewood, Ohio, Moore went on to earn a bachelor's in 1936 and master's in 1937 from the Engineering School, from which he received the Darling Prize in Mechanical Engineering. Moore then went to work as a project engineer for American Cyanamid in Stamford, Conn., development engineer at Manning, Maxwell & Moore in Bridgeport, Conn., and head of superpressure engineering at the American Instrument Co. in Silver Spring, Md. In 1951, Moore joined Monsanto and served in a variety of roles in Dayton, Ohio, Springfield, Mass. and St. Louis. Moore, who was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, held patents in high pressure chemical processing equipment. Since his retirement in the late 1970s, Moore had lived in St. Louis, Holly Ridge, N.C. and Atlanta. Survivors include a son, Thomas G. Moore, Jr. '64.

1936

Roger Enos Chase, Jr., Gig Harbor, Wash., on October 24, 1999. A native of Tacoma, Wash., Chase attended Stadium High School and edited Spectator while at the College. In 1938, Chase returned to Washington State, where he worked briefly as a manufacturer's representative in Tacoma and Portland. In 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, was sent to Officers Candidate School, and served in the Army Air Transport Command, leaving service with the rank of major. In 1946, Chase joined Trans World Airways where he served in a variety of sales positions in the company's offices in New York, Cairo, Paris and Chicago. In 1960, he moved to Addis Ababa to become general sales manager for Ethiopian Airlines, but rejoined TWA in New York in 1964 to become vice president in charge of agency and travel industry marketing. After retiring from TWA, he worked in the 1980s as a travel industry consultant, was active with the American Society of Travel Agents and published a newsletter on the industry. He moved to Gig Harbor in the early 1990s.

Robert J. Ollry, retired professor, Tallahassee, Fla, on December 10, 1996. Ollry had been a professor in the department of urban and regional planning at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

1937

George J. Ames, financier, Rye, N.Y., on February 2, 2001. See related story.

Ferdinand V. Marsik, retired engineer, Frederick, Md., on January 7, 2001. Marsik, who also earned a B.S. and a Ch.E. from the Engineering School, worked for many years for Celanese in New York. He later worked at the Department of Energy as a chemical engineer until his retirement in 1986.

1938

Clement W. Kohlman, retired advertising executive, Alpharetta, Ga., on November 18, 2000. "Clem" Kohlman was born in New York City, grew up in Ridgefield, N.J., and earned a bachelor's from the Business School along with his College degree. From 1938 to 1940, he worked at Grey Advertising Agency. During World War II, he joined the Navy and served in the Pacific Theater, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. In 1946 Kohlman rejoined Grey Advertising but moved in 1948 to Roy S. Durstine Inc. He joined American Cyanamid in Rye Brook, N.J., as an advertising executive in 1951 and stayed with the company until his retirement in 1980, after which he continued to work with the firm as a consultant. An avid golfer, he officiated at golf tournaments and rated golf courses for the Metropolitan Golf Association. He had recently moved to Alpharetta.

1942

William T. Edge '42

William T. Edge, Jr., retired printing company executive, Memphis, Tenn., on December 31, 2000. Edge was born in Tupelo, Miss., and graduated from Memphis Central H.S. At the College, he wrote for Jester and Spectator (including a stint on the managing board), won a Silver and Gold Crown, and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the Sachems, and the Van Am and Philolexian societies. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Army in Scotland. At war's end, he returned to Memphis, where he briefly took a position as a continuity editor at WMC, a local radio station, before entering the printing industry. He joined Stan-o-type Printing in Memphis, becoming vice president in 1964. While still with Stan-o-type, Edge founded Rotary Business Forms, which eventually became his main business. After retiring from his company, Edge volunteered with International Executive Services in Morocco and focused on his hobbies of woodworking and birdwatching. Edge had been Eagle Scout, and he maintained a relationship with the Boy Scouts of America for 43 years. He was scoutmaster for Troop 42 for over 20 years, served on the Chickasaw Council Eagle Scout Board of Review and received the BSA's Silver Beaver Award. He was an active member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Memphis and a member of the local Rotary Club. Edge was a singularly devoted College alumnus. His services to his alma mater included serving as editor of the Class of 1942 newsletter. His class honored him with the Loyal Lion Award at his 55th reunion.

Leonard J. Will '42

Leonard J. Will, retired high school teacher and coach, Evansville, Ind., on June 6, 2000. Will, who was an All-American fullback at Columbia, entered with the Class of 1942 though he did not complete his degree until 1946. He served with the Army Air Corps during World War II and was discharged as a major. Will, who also studied at the University of Evansville in Indiana, was the head football coach at Mater Dei High School in Evansville from the school's founding in 1949 through 1968, compiling a 88-86-14 record. He also served as the school's head baseball coach for 14 years as well as stints as head track coach and reserve basketball coach. He was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1979. After his retirement from Mater Dei in 1974, Will and his wife, Dolores, moved to Florida for six months until Will took a position with the Alaska Pipeline, staying for five years. After his second retirement, he returned to Evansville, where he helped coach the freshman football team at his high school alma mater, Memorial.

1943

Robert M. Glinane, retired aviation insurance specialist, Jamesburg, N.J., on January 15, 2001. Before his retirement in the early 1980s, Glinane had been a vice president at Richard J. Berlow & Co. in Teterboro, N.J., and later vice president and director of Southeastern Aviation Underwriters in Clifton, N.J. A longtime resident of West Milford, N.J., Glinane had moved to Jamesburg in the early 1990s.

Robert J. Hennessy, retired financial consultant, New York, on December 1, 1999. Hennessy, who earned a bachelor's degree from the Business School along with his College diploma, had worked as controller at Kelly, Nason Inc, vice president for finance at Hansen, Nigro & Wulfhurst, and president of Broadcast CATV Development in New York.

Francis Laxar, metallurgical engineer, Allentown, Pa., on November 29, 2000. Born in Corona, N.Y., Laxar also earned a bachelor's from the Engineering School in 1943. He later studied at Lehigh, where he earned a master's in 1954 and a Ph.D. in 1956. Laxar began his career at White Metal Rolling and Stamping in Brooklyn in 1945 and then joined the faculty of the West Virginia Institute of Technology in Montgomery in 1946. He worked at Lehigh from 1949 to 1957, when he joined Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Homer Research labs, where he remained until his retirement.

1947

Roy O. Lange, retired attorney, Mountainview, Calif., on April 20, 1999. Lange, who earned his law degree from Columbia in 1949, had practiced law for many years in metropolitan Los Angeles.

1949

George F. Kiser, retired mortgage coordinator, Mendham, N.J., on June 18, 2000. Kiser had worked for Richard L. Schlott Realtors in Basking Ridge, N.J.

1958

Walter J. Green, editor, New York, on February 24, 2000. A native New Yorker, Green attended Erasmus High School, earned his bachelor's degree at the College in economics and English literature, and took graduate courses at the Business School and the Graduate School. In 1962, he joined Appleton-Century-Crofts, a college textbook publisher, as a salesman. Demonstrating skill at editing, Green soon became the company's history and political science editor. In 1972, he became a founding member and managing editor of The Civil Liberties Review. He left the journal in 1975 to become a consultant and writer for the Rockefeller Foundation, where he contributed articles on the humanities and social sciences. He also wrote for The New York Times, the Ford Foundation, Random House and McGraw-Hill. In 1981, he became director of editorial services for the New York City Partnership. In 1983, Green was hired as manager of information services in the public affairs department of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Green was promoted to chief of editorial, marketing & graphic services in 1985, and chief of corporate editorial services in 1990. In this role, he was responsible for establishing and maintaining the MTA's editorial content, from flyers to annual reports. An avid Shakespearean, Green made regular trips to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. His travels also included a year-long backpacking trip throughout Europe and the Middle East with his wife, Rona, as well as trips to Costa Rica, Brittany and Tuscany. Green worked at the MTA until a month before his death.

1969

William Blackton '69

William Blackton, radio writer and editor, Fairfax, Va., on November 13, 2000. The son of Jay Blackton, an Oscar-winning musical conductor, Bill Blackton grew up in Florida and New York. He attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, where he graduated as valedictorian. In 1964, he matriculated at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, but had to leave after just a month because of illness. He was diagnosed with the kidney disease Alport's Syndrome, a hereditary illness, and was not expected to survive. The invention of hemodialysis in the early 1960s, however, gave him a new lease on life, even though dialysis, which he initially had to undergo three times a week, could take as long as 20 hours at a stretch. Obliged to stay in New York, where he could get treatment, Blankton entered Columbia College, making him the first person to enter college while undergoing regular dialysis treatments. (While at the College, he had to make his way twice each week to Kings County Hospital for dialysis.) He graduated with a degree in psychology. Blackton began his radio career at KPFK in Los Angeles, then spent several years free-lancing, including a stint writing documentaries for National Public Radio. A longtime resident of Herndon and then Fairfax, Va., he joined the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. in 1984. Blackton prospered at VOA, eventually becoming senior editor/writer, a position created especially for him. Blackton, who had received an unsuccessful kidney transplant in 1970, also became an advocate for those suffering from kidney disease and undergoing dialysis. He founded the American Association of Kidney Patients, a national association of dialysis and transplant patients, and edited the AAKP's newsletter. He was a forceful proponent of Medicare funding of dialysis, which was enacted by Congress in 1972. According to his sister, Jennie Blackton, at the time of his death Blackton was one of the longest living dialysis patients in the world. In his memory, Blackton's family has established a summer internship at the Voice of America for students who are on dialysis or otherwise disabled. Donations should be sent to the William Blackton Memorial Fund for Journalists, c/o Bernstein Investment Research and Management, 800 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006.