Fall/Winter 2019: In Memoriam

Alumni

Siri Abrahamson-Hoang, ’93 Management, age 48, on March 18. A native of Calgary, Alberta, Abrahamson-Hoang worked in the insurance industry.

Douglas Aitken, ’44 Accounting, age 97, on May 28, in Danville. An Ohio native and member of the SAE fraternity at SJSU, Aitken was a World War II and U.S. Navy veteran, retiring from active duty at the rank of captain in 1974 and retiring from the military in 1984. He was a member of Danville’s Community Presbyterian Church.

Jack Albiani, ’56 Physical Education, age 88, on April 13, in Jamestown, Calif. A U.S. Army veteran, Albiani coached track and cross country at Modesto Junior College for 28 years, He is the only person inducted in the Modesto Junior College Athletics Hall of Fame twice, first as a student-athlete and later as a head coach. He began his coaching career in 1956 at San Jose State.

Terrance “Terry” Andrews, ’65 Business Administration, age 77, on Jan. 9, in Sacramento. Andrews founded and served as president of Interstate Oil Company, a company with eight branches in California and Nevada. He was past president of Pacific Oil Conference and the California Independent Oil Marketers Association.

Charles Ashton, ’76 MLS, on Jan. 23, in San Jose.

Virginia Bernstrom Beauchel, ’82 MLS, in Tucson, Ariz.

Pamela Bondelie, ’51 Education, on Nov. 13, 2018, in Los Gatos.

Jürgen Bräuninger, ’83 MA Music, age 62, on May 6. A native of Germany, Bräuninger was an innovative, award-winning composer and professor at the University of Natal, Durban in South Africa. His work was performed by, among others, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and Stockholm Saxophone Quartet. He retired from teaching in 2016.

Harry Bunting, ’72 Electrical Engineering, in Sunnyvale.

John Buthenuth, Civil Engineering, on April 18, in Watsonville. A native of Santa Cruz, Buthenuth was a veteran of both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. As a civilian, he worked as a civil engineer for Caltrans.

Tyler Carlberg, ’17 Electrical Engineering, age 27, on July 19, in Santa Clara.

Jacqueline Marie Cologna, ’55 Education, age 85, on Jan. 26.

James L. Cornell, ’76 Accounting, on March 12, in Penn Valley.

Barbara Coulston, ’65 English, on June 13.

Roger Dahl, ’80 MS Recreation, age 76, on June 21, in Montara. A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Dahl was a U.S. Army veteran who worked in military counter intelligence in South Korea. As a civilian, he worked in marine sales and was a competitive diver.

Richard Dahlgren Jr., Art, age 81, on July 9, in Boise, Idaho. A Los Angeles native and resident of Mammoth Lakes for 30 years, Dahlgren was one of the first professional ski patrollers at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. A conservationist, realtor and artist, he painted in a studio on the banks of the Big Lost River for 25 years.

Jennifer Dileo, ’81 Advertising, on March 31, in San Jose.

William Dowd, ’76 Accounting, on March 26, in Santa Clara.

David Dunton, ’58 Music, age 89, on June 22, in San Jose. A native of Woodland, Dunton taught music in elementary and middle schools for 40 years. During his career, he served as principal clarinet of the San Jose Symphony, San Jose Civic Light Orchestra, Santa Clara Philharmonic, Carmel Festival Orchestra and Monterey County Symphony Orchestra. He received his doctorate in music from USC.

Howard Fish, ’67 MBA, on June 7, in Napa.

Kathy Ann Frazier, ’87 Political Science, age 55, on Feb. 14, in Sonora. A native of Oakland, Frazier worked in retail management and appraisals.

Karen Garcia, ’75 Spanish, on April 6, in Redding.

Sal James Haro, ’58 Physical Education, age 82, in Clovis. A Lodi native and U.S. Army veteran, Haro was the football and tennis coach at Clovis High School from 1970 until his 1992 retirement. In 1982, he became a marathon runner and twice ran the Boston Marathon.

Clara Harsough, ’52 Education, age 88, on May 24, in Pasadena. A native of Inglewood, Harsough taught in both public and private schools in Pasadena for many years. She was a member of Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Ted Inamasu, ’79 Management, on Oct. 17, 2018, in San Jose.

Amy June Currier Jorgensen, ’41 English, age 98, on Dec. 1, 2018, in Saratoga. A Saratoga native and member of Ero Sophian sorority, Jorgensen was a former board member of the Saratoga Historical Foundation, Friends of Saratoga Libraries and the Saratoga Federated Church Women’s Auxiliary. She was also a member of the Montalvo Foundation, the Moffett Field Historical Association and the Hakone Garden Foundation.

Phyllis Marie Keesey, ’82 MA Education, on Jan. 29, in San Jose.

Michael Keogh, ’69 Civil Engineering, age 76, on Nov. 30, 2018, in Scotts Valley. A Honolulu, Hawaii, native, Keogh worked as a civil engineer for the counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara and for the city of San Jose. He was honored as 2001 Man of the Year by the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and served on the board of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and the Santa Cruz Metro Transit District.

Peter Kuehl, ’62 Journalism, on May 20.

Bambi Larson, ’83 Biochemistry, on Feb. 27, in San Jose. A San Jose native, Larson worked for several Silicon Valley companies, including IBM, Domain, HMT, Affymetrix and Roche.

Thomas Lopes, ’49 Business, age 95, on Nov. 5, 2018, in Monte Sereno. A San Jose native, Lopes was a U.S. Air Force and World War II veteran. He founded Western States Oil Company in 1956 and in 1979 served as president of the California Independent Oil Marketers Association. He was a member of the San Jose Rotary Club and served on the boards of the Salvation Army and the United Way.

Scott Lower, ’70 Art, age 72, on June 26, in Los Banos. A native of Oakland, Lower worked for the Grassland Water District in Los Banos for 30 years and retired in 2011.

Jerry Ludy, ’65 Education, age 77, on June 23, in Rohnert Park. A Kansas native, Ludy received a full football scholarship to SJSU in 1961. His teaching and coaching career spanned almost 40 years, first at Richmond High School and later at Alameda’s Encinal High School.

Richard Lumactod, ’72 Mechanical Engineering, age 82, on Jan. 23, in Cupertino. A native of San Francisco, Lumactod served in the U.S. Air Force. As a civilian, he worked at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and at Stanford University.

David Mandujano, ’17 Criminal Justice Administration, on May 5, in San Jose.

Cecil Mansfield, ’57, on April 11, in Los Gatos.

John Mathrusse, ’51 Accounting, age 96, on May 28. A native of Fresno, Mathrusse was a U.S. Navy and World War II veteran and served as president of the San Jose chapter of Pearl Harbor Survivors. He retired after 30 years in the Naval Reserves at the rank of commander. As a civilian, he worked as an industrial engineer at Lockheed.

Eric Mikel, ’98 Radio/TV/Film, age 48, on June 24, in Richmond, Calif. A Redwood City native, Mikel was a member of the Iota chapter of Sigma Pi fraternity at SJSU. He joined the Alameda County Fire Department in 2005 and most recently was assigned to Station 34 in Emeryville.

David Nauer, ’76 Education Credential, age 81, on June 21, in Manchester, Conn. A native of Peoria, Ill., and U.S. Navy veteran, Nauer taught earth science at San Jose’s Bret Harte Middle School until his 2002 retirement.

Robert Norris, ’55 Journalism, age 88, on June 1, in Los Gatos. A Minnesota native, Norris was a U.S. Navy and Korean War veteran. He joined the San Jose Mercury News as a reporter and research manager and retired in 1993 as the newspaper’s database manager.

Yvonne Katherine DePuy O’Brien, ’50 Education, age 91, on April 6, in San Jose. A native of San Francisco, O’Brien taught for more than 20 years at Ross Elementary School and Leitz Elementary School in San Jose’s Union School District. She worked as a volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the San Jose Historical Museum.

Howard O’Neill, ’51 Industrial Arts, on June 17, in Overland Park, Kan.

Ricky Rasnick, ’82 Kinesiology, age 59, on Feb. 13, in Torrance. A native of Las Vegas, Nev., Rasnick received a football scholarship to SJSU and after graduation joined the Spartan coaching staff as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He later served as assistant head coach at Eastern Michigan University.

Alan Rehbock, ’76 MA, age 91, on March 25, in Los Gatos. A San Francisco native, Rehbock was a U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, retiring from the military at the rank of major. As a civilian, he was a pilot at TWA.

Nancy Reutlinger, ’92 MPA, on July 6.

Marie Rider, ’47 Spanish, in Tempe, Ariz.

Charlotte Fair Rieger, ’77 MS Nursing, age 91, on Feb. 22, in Berkeley. A native of Piedmont, Calif., Rieger served as a visiting nurse at UC San Francisco hospital early in her career. She was instrumental in establishing Planned Parenthood of Santa Clara and worked as a Lamaze childbirth instructor in the 1970s. She volunteered at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and for the Sierra Club’s Berkeley chapter.

Carlton Rockey, ’77 Marketing, in Soquel.

Joseph Ruocchio, ’76 Criminal Justice Administration, age 69, on June 26, in Ravenna, Ohio. Ruocchio was a U.S. Air Force and Vietnam War veteran.

Robert Russell, ’69 MA Music, age 90, on Feb. 28. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, and graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Russell taught music for more than 47 years in the Bay Area.

Marvin Shoopman, ’72 Electrical Engineering, in San Jose.

Eugene Snow, ’76 Accounting, age 80, on May 9. A native of Manchester, Conn., and U.S. Navy veteran, Snow worked as a commercial pilot and captain of the Civil Air Patrol after retiring from military service.

Ariss Jarrett Thomas, ’81 MA Home Economics/Clothing and Textiles, age 84, on July 22, in San Jose. A native of Great Falls, Mont., Thomas taught tailoring and fashion design for more than 40 years at San Jose City College, West Valley College and Evergreen Valley College.

Edwin Thomas, ’73 Physical Education, on July 1, in Danville.

Lorraine Thomas, ’46 Education, age 94, on June 26. Thomas taught for more than 28 years in schools in Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. She retired from Proctor Terrace School in Santa Rosa.

Carol Thompson, ’60 Social Work, on June 24, in Pleasant Hill.

Mary Thygeson, ’60 Geography, age 80, on Feb. 28, in Saratoga. A native of the Philippines, Thygeson worked for many years as a United Airlines flight attendant. She was a member of the Stewardess Emeritus Association, the Saratoga Foothill Club, the American Association of University Women and the Philanthropic Education Organization.

Arthur Timmons, ’57 Business Administration, age 83, on Jan. 1, in Friday Harbor, Wash. An Idaho native and U.S. Army veteran, Timmons was a member of SAE fraternity at San Jose State. As a civilian, he worked in mortgage banking and later real estate development in the San Jose area.

Cliff Tucker, ’51 Physical Education, on Feb. 25, in Paso Robles. A native of Ventura, Tucker began his teaching career at Fairfax Elementary School in Bakersfield and was a Lions Club member for 60 years. He also served as a docent at Paso Robles Pioneer Museum. 

David Van Noy, ’64 Industrial Systems Management, age 78, on April 7, in Moraga. An Oakland native and U.S. Air Force Reserve veteran, Van Noy worked at Kaiser Foundation hospitals for four decades, overseeing land acquisition, construction and the leasing of hospital facilities.

Gerald Voerge, ’69 MS Electrical Engineering, on Feb. 22, in San Jose.

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Faculty

Robertta Barba, age 71, on June 19, in Warrenton, Ore. A native of Wilmington, Del., Barba received a master’s degree in marine studies from the University of Delaware in 1976 and a doctorate from Penn State University in 1990. Before becoming a professor at SJSU and, later, chair of the Department of Instructional Technology, Barba taught at the University of New Mexico. She authored multiple textbooks, including Science in the Multicultural Classroom (Pearson, 1997).

Darla Belshe, ’61 Journalism, age 79, on May 9, in Angels Camp. During her 27-year career as a member of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications faculty, Belshe taught television news reporting and supervised the production of SJSU’s “Update News” program, training her students to become ethical and responsible television journalists who valued and upheld First Amendment rights.

Mario Federici, age 100, on Sept. 5, 2018, in Sabbioneta, Italy. A native of Italy, Federici obtained his first doctorate in international law from the Universita Cattolica in Milan and his second doctorate in Spanish literature from the Universidad Interamericana in Mexico. He joined San Jose State’s faculty in 1963 and taught Spanish and Italian for 26 years. He was a member of the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), the Cervantes Society of America and Sigma Delta Pi.

Hans Guth, age 93, on June 12, in Saratoga. After completing studies at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, Guth received his doctorate in English from the University of Michigan. A prolific author and member of SJSU’s English faculty for 34 years, his first book, Words and Ideas: A Handbook for College Writing, originally published in 1959, was one of the most widely adopted classroom textbooks of its era.

Judith Monahan, ’93 MS Nursing, age 78, on May 28, in San Jose. A native of Scranton, Pa., Monahan served for more than 55 years as an RN and 25 years as a member of SJSU’s nursing faculty. She received an undergraduate degree in communication from the University of San Francisco. She retired from SJSU in 2017.

Richard D. Parks, ’62 Theatre, age 80, on Feb. 1, in Lakeside. A Nebraska native, Parks received his master’s in theatre from the University of Washington and his doctorate in theatre from Stanford. He joined SJSU’s full-time theatre faculty in 1965. In recognition of his 33-year teaching career, the Department of Theatre created the Richard D. Parks Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior in 1998. In addition to teaching, he was a playwright, director and producer.

Richard Post, age 88, on Jan. 14, in Carmel. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Post received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Syracuse University and his doctorate in mathematics from Columbia University, specializing in statistics and probability. He joined San Jose State’s faculty in 1957. In addition to teaching, he worked as a consultant for Lockheed, General Electric, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Stanford Research Institute.

John Ralston, age 92, on Sept. 14, in Sunnyvale. A native of Oakland, Ralston was a U.S. Marine Corps and World War II veteran. He finished his longtime coaching career at SJSU, serving as the Spartans’ head football coach from 1993 to 1996. In 1991, he was named Stanford’s “Coach of the Century.” His many other accolades include induction into the College Football Hall of Fame (1992), the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (1996), the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (1997) and the sports halls of fame at SJSU, Stanford and Utah State.

Les Rowntree, on Aug. 30, in Berkeley. Rowntree received his doctorate in environmental geography from the University of Oregon. An SJSU faculty member from 1970 to 2005, he began his career at the university in the Department of Geography. In 1975, he joined the Department of Environmental Studies, serving several terms as the department’s chair. Past President of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, he authored the popular textbook Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World (Pearson).

David Schwarz, age 82, on June 14, in Gilroy. A professor emeritus of geography and former associate dean of SJSU’s College of Social Sciences, Schwarz was a native of Mattoon, Ill.

Richard “Dick” Tomey, age 80, on May 10, in Tucson, Ariz. A native of Bloomington, Ind., Tomey was a 1960 graduate of DePaul University. He began his college football coaching career as a freshman coach at Miami University in 1962. Head football coach at SJSU from 2005 to 2009, he also served as head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Arizona during his career. After retiring from SJSU, he served as a color commentator for the WAC Sports Network.