John English
1939–2023
Originally from Croswell, Mich., John English came to the University of Puget Sound after earning a master’s in counseling and a doctorate in education, and working in student services at several other West Coast universities. Beginning as Puget Sound’s vice president and inaugural dean of students in 1970, English later served as acting dean of the School of Education and as a faculty member in the School of Education, twice earning the Distinguished Professor Award. He’s remembered by colleagues for his keen sense of humor, strong moral compass, and deep commitment to his work.
A South Sound resident for 46 years, English was also actively engaged in his off-campus community, serving as a member of the Gig Harbor planning commission and an elected city council member. He enjoyed birding, books, and sports—especially baseball—and was a Mariners fan and a collector of memorabilia. He was also an active member of Puget Sound’s lunchtime basketball league for faculty and staff.
English’s verve, spirit, and love of the written word is perhaps best anthologized in his collection of quotations: a 172-page document titled Your Very Own Book of Apothegms, Atticisms, and Smartaleck Sayings. Divided into five sections and carefully formatted, the book displays the charisma and wit for which his colleagues remember him.
John English died in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Feb. 25, 2023. He was 83.
—Zoe Branch ’18
Zdenko F. Daneš
1920–2023
Born in Prague, Zdenko Frankenberger (Frank) Daneš lived through World War II in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, witnessing a terrifying SS raid and later joining the resistance. “I began putting buttons in my shoes and walking on them all day,” he later recalled, “to get used to bearing pain so as not to give anything away during the torture I expected.” In 1950, two years after the Communist Party took over Czechoslovakia, Daneš and his wife fled, crossing the border on bicycles and spending two years in a refugee camp in Germany before an American couple helped them emigrate to the United States. Daneš worked for Gulf Oil and Boeing, then joined the Puget Sound faculty in 1962; he taught physics at the university until his retirement in 1984.
His research focused on gravity, the interplanetary magnetic field, and the composition of the Earth, Moon, and planets, among other areas. In 1965, Daneš published a paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research suggesting that an active fault cuts across Elliot Bay and south Seattle. “Most geophysicists and geologists said, ‘So what,’” Daneš told Arches years later. “But real estate agents were quite upset when I told people they were sitting on a fault.” Geologists now consider the Seattle fault zone a significant hazard.
Daneš died March 10, 2023, in Prague. He was 102 years old.
—Tina Hay
Herman B. Kleiner ’43, P’71, P’73 died April 1, 2023. After graduating from Puget Sound, he served in the Air Force during World War II, then went into business with his father at Model Lumber Company in Tacoma. He worked to help resettle Soviet Jews in the area in the 1990s. Among his survivors are sons Gregory Kleiner ’71 and Douglas Kleiner ’73.
Patricia J. Hildebrandt Owen ’45 died May 28, 2022. She had a degree in art/design from Puget Sound and at one time owned Owen Art School and Gallery.
Mary Emma “Polly” Packard Finucane ’47 died Oct. 13, 2022, in Panama City, Fla. She was 102 years old.
Virginia Kilde Lease ’47, P’76 died March 2, 2023, in Tacoma. She was 96. She studied English and French literature at Puget Sound and sang in the Adelphian Choir and the College of Puget Sound Campus Trio. She later sang in schools and churches and played in the bell choir at Skyline Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, where she also was director of Christian education.
David Rees Sr. ’49 majored in economics and minored in math at Puget Sound, and spent 36 years in various roles with the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission: financial analyst, supervisor of finance, chief of accounting, chief economist, and executive secretary. He retired in 1986. He died March 20, 2023, in Olympia, Wash.
Hugh McMillan ’50 spent 26 years in the CIA, serving in Japan, India, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey. After he retired, he and his wife settled in Home, Wash., on the Key Peninsula. For 20 years he wrote a column, ”Kid’s Corner,” for the Peninsula Gateway. He died Feb. 10, 2023, at age 96.
John Schartow ’51 earned a degree in music education from Puget Sound; he later served in the Air Force Band, then went on to teach music for more than 50 years in Tacoma, Egypt, and the Dominican Republic. He taught in the Phoenix area into his 80s. He died Feb. 7, 2023, in Gilbert, Ariz., one month after the death of his wife, Joanne.
William E. Greco ’52, P’84 of Lakewood, Wash., died Jan. 11, 2023, at age 95. Among his survivors are his wife, the former Virginia Maruca ’59, and a daughter, Kara Greco Humphrey ’84.
Fumiko Takahashi Kimura ’52, MA’77 died March 29, 2023. She was 93. A chemistry major as an undergraduate, she earned a master’s in art and had a long career in art, using oil, acrylic, sumi-e watercolor, and mixed-media collage. She also taught art as an adjunct faculty member at Puget Sound. Her husband, Yoshikiyo Kimura ’52, died in 2009.
Frances Krilich Shensky ‘53 of Tacoma died March 17, 2023. She studied music at Puget Sound, then worked at the Mt. Rainier Ordnance Depot before raising a family.
Elaine B. Dikeos Cleland ’54, ’55 earned an occupational therapy degree from Puget Sound and worked for Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital in Oregon until her retirement. She died Jan. 10, 2023, in Oregon City, Ore.
Fred M. Utter ’54 earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Puget Sound, then went on to get a master’s and Ph.D. For 19 years he led the genetics group at National Marine Fisheries; he was one of the first to apply biochemical genetic techniques to understanding and managing fish populations. He died March 5, 2023, in Lynnwood, Wash., at age 91.
Anna Mae Morris Jennings ’55, of Des Moines, Iowa, died Sept. 3, 2022. She had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for three years, according to Jim, her husband of 65 years. An education major at Puget Sound, she later taught third grade.
Gaylord Warren ’55 was a lifelong resident of Tacoma. He interrupted his studies at Puget Sound to serve in the Navy during the Korean War, then, after graduating, he worked for St. Regis Paper Co., Coca Cola, and the City of Tacoma. He died March 6, 2023, at age 94.
Ralph Whiting ’55, a retired obstetrician and gynecologist, died Jan. 6, 2023, in Eugene, Ore. He was 89. He served patients in private practice and was a member of the medical faculty at several universities. He also directed a rural health fellowship program for OB/GYN residents at Tacoma General Hospital and in Hawai`i, and provided medical services for the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota.
Leona Betteridge ’56 had a home economics degree and taught for a time before devoting herself to raising her nine children. She died Feb. 4, 2023, in her home in University Place, where she had lived for more than 60 years. She was 92.
Terry Schick ’57 majored in journalism and worked on The Trail as an undergraduate; he also was president of Phi Delta Theta. He worked in newspapers in Washington, Idaho, and Arizona, then became an insurance agent. He was married to Jeanette “Willie” Wilson ’57 for 65 years. He died Sept. 14, 2022, in Cottonwood, Ariz. He was 88.
Sandra Lea Ehrhard ’61 of Puyallup, Wash., died at age 83 on Dec. 2, 2022, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She attended Puget Sound, then finished her accounting degree at University of Washington. She was a wife and a mother of three children.
Rudy Hansen ’61 died Oct. 27, 2022, in Gig Harbor, Wash., at age 88. He enrolled at Puget Sound after serving in the Army during the Korean War; after graduation, he spent 25 years with Carling/Heidelberg Brewing in Tacoma, and also was involved in ski areas, real estate, and soft drink businesses.
Argal D. Oberquell ’61 worked for the Public Works department of the City of Tacoma, then practiced law, serving as city attorney for Lacy, Tenino, and Bucoda, as well as maintaining a private practice. He died June 13, 2022, in Olympia, Wash., at age 85.
Ronald E. Rhodes ’61 died Feb. 8, 2023, at age 83 in Southport, N.C. He was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
Elaine Crouse ’64 of Lakewood, Wash., died March 31, 2023. She was 92. An education major, she taught first grade at Carter Lake Elementary School on McChord Air Force Base for 32 years.
Robert Mathis ’64 earned a master’s and Ph.D. after Puget Sound and was director of medical services for the Washington State prison system and head psychologist at Napa State Hospital in California. Later he launched The Mathis Group, consulting for municipalities, school districts, and police and fire departments. He died Feb 7, 2023, in Napa, Calif., at 81.
Donna Lee Larson Miley ’64 died Aug. 16, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas. She was 80. She was a pediatric occupational therapist and the wife of Edward Hansell “Jack” Miley ’62, whom she met on campus. Her husband survives her.
Deanna Dague Naslund ’64 of University Place, Wash., worked for 40 years in public education in the greater Tacoma area. She died Jan. 4, 2023, “after a quiet and brave fight with cancer,” according to her obituary. She was 80.
Barton K. Amey ’65 earned a degree in business administration and for many years ran his own business in the Seattle area. He and his wife lived on Capitol Hill for 46 years, then moved to Camano Island in 2018. Amey died Dec. 13, 2022, two-and-a-half years after being diagnosed with ALS. He was 80.
Steve Spickard ’65 went on to earn a law degree and became involved in several ventures: He was manager of Select Realty Inc.; owner of the Spokane music and arts venue, the Big Dipper; and founder of a spiritual center called the Universal Heart Center. He died Jan. 7, 2023, in Spokane, Wash., at age 80.
Robert Evans (Bob) Rector ’66 of Leavenworth, Wash., died Jan. 21, 2023, at age 79. After earning a history degree from Puget Sound, he studied at Iliff School of Theology and was a Methodist minister for many years. He retired in 1985 to take over the family business, Western Sintering, in Richland, Wash., where he worked and served as chairman of the board until his death.
Keith Weeks ’66 studied biology and played baseball at Puget Sound, where a professor told him, “You’d make a good doctor.” He went on to medical school at Oregon Health and Science University and became a cardiologist, practicing in rural Montana for most of his career. He died at age 78 on Jan. 6, 2023, in Vancouver, Wash. His late brother, Roger ’63, was also a Puget Sound graduate.
Janet McLellan-Cochran ’67 earned an education degree from Puget Sound, where she was active in Gamma Phi Beta sorority and spent a semester abroad in Vienna. She was a beloved teacher in the Aspen (Colo.) School District for more than 30 years. She died Feb. 19, 2023, in Snowmass, Colo., at age 77, after a lengthy illness.
William Nelson ’67 served as a lieutenant in the Army at Fort Sill, Okla., in the 1960s, then ran a printing company in Tacoma. An enthusiastic sailor, he was a member of the Tacoma Corinthian Yacht Club and Tacoma Yacht Club; for the latter, he helped found the Junior Sailing Program. He died in Olympia, Wash., on Jan. 4, 2023, at age 81.
Dick Peterson ’67, a lifelong resident of Tacoma, died Jan. 26, 2023, at age 78. At Puget Sound he was a member of Sigma Nu. He served as an Air Force officer in Vietnam, then started a business career at Peterson Boat Building. He later started a home remodeling business and owned Express Window Services.
Donald Argetsinger ’68 grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and, after graduating from Puget Sound and serving in the Navy, worked as a civil servant and political staffer for the Alaska state government. He also worked for Alaska Native village and regional corporations. He died March 8, 2023, in Anchorage. He was 77.
Harry “Corky” Diseth ’68 was a Logger football standout in the late 1960s; later he was a high school teacher, principal, and coach. He died Feb. 16, 2023, in Puyallup, Wash., at the age of 77.
Joyce Fry Lambert ’68 died Jan. 20, 2023. She lived in Mercer Island, Wash.
Robert Countryman ’69 earned a degree in communication and theatre arts from Puget Sound, then went on get a master’s in theatre and set design at Wayne State University. He worked as a home builder and later taught technical theatre at a high school. He died in Jasper, Ga., May 15, 2022, at age 75.
Jeffrey J. Swenson ’70 joined the Navy during the Vietnam War, doing rescue work off the coast of Vietnam in a helicopter squadron aboard the USS Bennington. After his discharge, he earned a degree from Puget Sound, then spent many years supporting his wife while she attended theology school and pursued a career as a Methodist minister. He died Aug. 22, 2021, in Hollywood, Calif. He was 78.
Kathleen Specht ’71 earned an art degree from Puget Sound, where she was a Chi Omega. She was an interior designer and painter, sold locally crafted art in Spokane, and worked as a caregiver. She died Jan. 6, 2023, in Spokane. She was 73.
Dennis E. Anderson ’72 grew up in Tacoma and earned an accounting degree from Puget Sound. He worked as an accountant for Viking Industries and for the Boy Scouts of America before retiring in 2011. He lived in Gresham, Ore. We received word of his death in March.
Georgia “Lee” Clary Fischlin ’72 was a former Army nurse and an operating room nurse who earned a degree in sociology from Puget Sound. She died Dec. 14, 2022, in Puyallup, Wash. She was 82.
Robert Scoville ’72 was an occupational therapist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Wash., from 1974 until retiring in 1998. While there, he mentored many Puget Sound students in their occupational therapy internships. He died Dec. 4, 2022, in Winnebago, Minn., at the age of 79.
Allyn Edmiston ’73 of Grapeview, Wash., died Jan. 27, 2023, at the age of 75. He had a degree in business administration from Puget Sound.
Ronald Leighton ’75 of Fairwood, Wash., died Jan. 18, 2023. He was 70 and had lived with Marfan syndrome for many years. He attended Puget Sound on a football scholarship; after graduation he worked in welding, burning, and pipefitting, and owned a ship repair company in Ballard.
William J. “Bill” Tuk ’76 died Jan. 31, 2023, in Wasilla, Alaska. He was 69.
Jim M. Vincent ’76, P’14 was a chemistry major at Puget Sound and went on to earn a medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine. He was a physician in the Seattle area at Minor and James, Swedish Hospital, and the concierge medical firm MD2. He died March 29, 2023, at age 69. Among his survivors is son Maxwell Vincent ’14.
Patrick Ebert ’79, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., earned an accounting degree from Puget Sound, where he was president of Sigma Chi fraternity. He worked as a CPA and certified financial planner. He died Jan. 30, 2023, at the age of 67.
Fred Amrhein MBA’80 died Feb. 1, 2023, in Goodyear, Ariz. He was 74.
Ernst Robert “Ernie” Peterson ’80, age 66, of Bellevue, Wash., died Feb. 12, 2023. At Puget Sound he was on the swim team and was active in Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He spent his career in industrial equipment sales and at the time of his death was regional wholesale sales manager for King Electric.
Donald Gary Wall MEd’82 worked in education for more than 30 years, as an assistant principal and assistant superintendent in Lynden, Wash.; as superintendent in Granite Falls, Wash.; as an adjunct professor at Western Washington University and Brigham Young University; and as director of human resources for Provo City (Utah) School District. He died Jan. 23, 2023, in Orem, Utah, at 73. K.
Ann A. Crinean ’83 died Sept. 26, 2021, in Port Orchard, Wash. She was an education major at Puget Sound.
Scott L. Filkins ’83 of Yakima, Wash., died March 10, 2023. He was 62. At Puget Sound he was a member of Sigma Chi and met his future wife, Margaret Scarborough ’88. He worked for JCPenney in Washington and Oregon.
Jane Keckemet ’87 lived her entire life in the Old Town neighborhood of Tacoma. At Puget Sound she majored in business administration and minored in mathematics. She died March 5, 2023, at age 57.
Jennifer Moore Loi ’89 was in the Business Leadership Program at Puget Sound, where she served as a residence hall assistant and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. She worked in finance, first in Seattle’s high-tech sector and later in senior positions at startups, established firms, NGOs, and education. She died of breast cancer March 7, 2023, at age 55. Among her survivors is daughter Mackenzie Loi ’22.
Judy Grumney Ziels ’89 died Feb. 8, 2023, in Bellingham, Wash. She was 54. At Puget Sound she participated in the PacRim program and met her future husband, Jeff Ziels ’87. After graduaton she earned a nursing degree and, with her husband, served in the Peace Corps before returning to Washington. She worked in public health, focusing on early childhood development and advocating for families who lacked opportunity.
Candy Peterson Nelson ’92 died of pancreatic cancer Jan. 11, 2023, in Gig Harbor, Wash. She was 52. She majored in physical education at Puget Sound and was active in Tri Delta sorority; she later worked many years in physical therapy.
Brad Boyl ’04 was a business administration major and biology minor at Puget Sound, where he was active in Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He stayed connected to the school after graduation and served as president of the Portland, Ore., chapter for several years. He worked in the finance industry for Merrill Lynch and TD Ameritrade. He died March 25, 2023, in Portland.