Rensselaer Magazine, June 2003: In Memoriam

Raymond B. Thomas ’27, a retired industrial advertising executive, active in Boy Scouts, YMCA, and church choir; Jan. 7. Ernest Notar ’31, a founder and the first president of Niagara County Community College, which in 1990 renamed the administration building in his honor, and WWII Navy veteran; Feb. 6. Milton M. Slawsky ’33, retired director of physics and engineering sciences, Air Force office of scientific research, and co-founder with his brother Zaka of the Slawsky Physics Clinic at the University of Maryland, AIAA fellow and NAS member; Jan. 13. Albert V. Willett ’33, Ph.D., retired from DuPont, active musician, weaver, and furniture maker; Jan. 21.

John J. Baron ’35, M.A. ’37, former architect, retired computer software engineer for Lincoln Laboratories, college mathematics instructor, and WWII Army Air Force veteran; Jan. 19. Fletcher A. Chase ’35, retired chemical engineer and sales professional, Jel-Sert Corp. in Chicago, holder of seven patents in the food industry, fire department member and town councilman; Feb. 15. Robert Whitehill ’37, retired owner, Whitehill Industrial Sales, and former national sales manager, Clark Controller Co.; Nov. 1, 2002. Walter E. Flook ’38, retired owner-partner, Hoffmann Sausage Co., and WWII Army Air Force veteran; Jan. 24. William P. Stevens ’38, retired director of engineering and quality control, Bendix Corp., patent holder, active in Boy Scouts, church, and alumni activities, including class correspondent for the Class of 1938; May 11. Howard A. Tooker ’38, retired department head for test equipment design and project engineering for Western Electric and AT&T, ham radio operator, and designer of electrical devices to aid the disabled; Jan. 31. William W. Shuster ’39, MCH ’48, DCH ’54, professor emeritus of chemical and environmental engineering at Rensselaer, where during his 40-year career he served as chair of bio-environmental engineering, director of the Environmental Engineering Program, chair of the N.Y.S. Hazardous Waste Disposal Advisory Committee, a recipient of many awards, active in civic organizations and alumni activities at Rensselaer; March 20.

Robert A. Menten ’40, consultant with Thomas Steel Strip, retired industrial engineer with Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp., and WWII Army Signal Corps veteran; March 5. Raymond S. Silver ’43, who worked in engineering, telecommunications, and marketing, pioneered the development of the magnetic stripe credit card, founded several companies in communications technologies, and Marine Corps veteran; Dec. 13, 2002. James C. Vosburgh Jr. ’43, retired assistant director of international operations, Burns and Roe Inc., and U.S. Army veteran; Dec. 29, 2002. George M. Gorra ’44, a pioneer in the car washing industry, he founded Syndet Products, which continues today as Simoniz USA; Dec. 22, 2002.

Charles W. Schneible ’46, consultant and founder of Schneible Machinery, designer of custom machinery for the copper tubing industry, and WWII Navy veteran; Feb. 2. Elliott L. Kamen ’47, retired metallurgical engineer, Westinghouse Corp. and Bell Labs, physics instructor at CUNY, poet, and Korean War Navy veteran; Jan. 22. Martin T. Kehoe ’47, retired managing partner, Charlotte, N.C., office, KPMG, and U.S. Navy veteran; Jan. 27. John P. Buckley ’49, former commissioner of public utilities and former city manager, Troy, N.Y., lauded for his leadership in modernizing Troy’s water system, longtime volunteer director of the RAA’s alumni travel program, and WWII and Korean War Navy veteran; April 11. Edward W. Presbie ’49, nuclear engineer who worked on design of F-14 control systems and Apollo LEM guidance system, retired from ABB Combustion Engineering, patent holder, and WWII Army veteran; Jan 21.

John J. DiFrancesco ’50, retired plant manager of several locations for IBM Corp., independent consultant, active in civic affairs in Bristol, Conn., and WWII Army veteran; Jan. 5. John H. Miller ’50, of Aloha, Ore., retired sales engineer for Westinghouse Electric Corp.; March 29. Peter F. Widmer ’50, retired chemical engineer, Hoffman LaRoche, and WWII Army Air Corps veteran; Jan. 22. William E. Davis ’51, retired business development manager, Black & Veatch Engineers-Architects; Sept. 5, 2002. Lt. Col. Walter A. Fred ’51, former senior construction engineer, Deleuw Cather Parsons; July 22, 2002. Joseph C. Landwehr ’51, retired director of engineering, Pitman Moore Inc., founder of the Amite (La.) City Museum, and Korean War Navy veteran; Feb. 9. Craig R. Sibley ’51, M.S. ’55, retired teacher of mathematics, drafting, and engineering at Union County College, and WWII Navy veteran; Jan. 13. Thomas J. Andrews ’52, of New York, N.Y.; Jan. 4. Charles H. Stattel ’52, retired metallurgical engineer for Bethlehem Steel Corp. and Signode Steel Corp.; Dec. 23, 2002. Thomas M. Sullivan ’53, retired manager of international manufacturing operations, IBM in Lexington, Ky., and Korean War veteran; Feb. 7.

Walter F. Denham ’56, former director of mathematics for the California Department of Education, known for his passionate advocacy of mathematics education reform; Dec. 3, 2002. John J. Dower ’57, co-founder and former president of Cortland (N.Y.) Cable, and former Navy officer working in Naval Air Intelligence and with Anti-Sub Warfare; Feb. 4. James R. Getten ’57, retired from IBM, formerly with Union Carbide and TRW, and U.S. Air Force veteran; Feb. 21. Eugene Margolis ’57, retired deputy assistant general counsel for energy efficiency in the office of the general counsel, federal government, and former senior vice president, B’nai B’rith International, named an outstanding volunteer by the governor of Virginia; Jan. 9. Henry Clay Osborn III, M.S. ’58, retired from Pratt & Whitney, where he worked in experimental engineering and engineering management, longtime chair of the Hebron (Conn.) Republican Town Committee, avid horticulturist, and Army veteran; Jan. 22. John T. Rossello, M.S. ’58, retired president, Edwards Co., and group vice president, General Signal Corp., active on civic boards, and WWII Army Air Corps veteran; Dec. 30, 2002. James A. Weatherly ’58, retired from TRW Space & Technologies Group, former project manager for the Gamma Ray Observatory, world traveler and catamaran racer; Dec. 23, 2002. Robert Z. Hollenbach, M.M.E. ’59, professor of mechanical engineering and professor emeritus, Lowell Technical Institute, the University of Lowell, and UMass Lowell; Dec. 13, 2002.

Eugene J. McPartland ’60, vice president emeritus, facilities operations, Princeton University, and retired U.S. Navy commander; Jan. 6. Fred M. Stern, M.M.E. ’60, retired vice president, Combustion Engineering, and Korean War Army veteran; Feb. 4. Anthony J. DeCasperis, M.S. ’61, retired from United Technologies, having worked on the Apollo Lunar Program and the International Fuel Cells Program, and Korean War Air Force veteran; Dec. 28, 2002. Henry Spaderna, M.S. ’74, whose career in the aerospace industry included almost 30 years at Pratt & Whitney; Feb. 12. John A. Gotschall ’78, M.E. ’79, manager of design and construction, Westvaco Corp., subject of an NIH study since his diagnosis with brain cancer in 1996; Feb. 7.

Myron C. Lynch Jr., M.S. ’82, M.S. ’83, team leader, telecommunications, U.S. Treasury Department, and retired decorated Army lieutenant colonel; Jan. 27. Christopher Campbell, M.S. ’88, software engineer for Synopsys in Aloha, Ore.; Jan. 19. Mary P. Davis, M.S. ’98, formerly with Eaton Inc., Hamilton Standard, and Honeywell; Jan. 18. Julie K. Frezon ’98, semiconductor process engineer with Infineon Technologies in Sandston, Va.; Jan. 11.

Roland M. Lichtenstein, former member of the physics faculty at Rensselaer; Jan. 21.

Rensselaer Magazine: June 2003
President's View	Your Mail	From the Archives	Hawk Talk	Class Notes Features

Front Page	At Rensselaer	Milestones
In Memoriam	Making a Difference	Staying Connected

Rensselaer Home Page | RPInfo | AlumServ Home Page

Rensselaer (ISSN 0898-1442) is published in March, June, September, and December by the Office of Communications.	Opinions expressed in these pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the policies of the Institute.
© 2003 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. All rights reserved worldwide.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 110 8th St., Troy, NY 12180. (518) 276-6000 Web site design by the Rensselaer Office of Communications. Contact Jane Van Ryan, Assistant Vice President, Office of Communications. Questions? Comments? Please contact us.