Class Notes Archive 1931-2014
Class Notes are searchable back to our spring 2000 issue. You can browse the notes by decade (click on a decade to view its class notes):
Class notes from the 1940s
| 1948John Fiddyment of Granite Bay, retired owner of Fiddyment Ranches, was honored with a 2003 Award of Distinction by the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. (appeared in the Spring 2004 issue) • Dan Irving, M.S. ’62, is proud to announce that his grandson, David Brackett, graduated from UC Davis this year with a doctorate in biochemistry. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue) • Richard Bailey died at his home in Davis in July 2006 at age 80. A veteran of World War II, Mr. Bailey established an Atlantic Richfield service station in Davis, which he managed for 17 years, before becoming a full-time farmer and sheep rancher. He was an avid traveler, outdoorsman and active member of the First Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife, Irma; his children, Steven, Susan and Richard Bailey and Eleanora Kolster, and their spouses; and seven grandchildren. (appeared in the Fall 2006 issue) • Ghery Pettit, D.V.M. ’53, received the Alumnus of the Year Award from Phi Kappa Sigma. He is a former international president of the fraternity, has been adviser of the chapter at Washington State University since 1981 and is currently on the fraternity’s foundation board of directors. Pettit taught small-animal surgery at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and Washington State University until his retirement in 1991. Pettit and his wife, Frances, have been married for 58 years. They have two sons and two grandchildren. (appeared in the Winter 2007 issue) • Robert “Bob” Harris, M.S. ’49, D.V.M. ’53, died at Vacaville home in February at age 85. He served in the Navy as an officer for two Pacific campaigns in World War II. While attending UC Davis, he was a competitive diver, a member of Beta Phi fraternity and a drummer with his own band. After graduating with the veterinary school’s second class, he established a veterinary practice in Torrance. Dr. Harris and his wife, Mary, raised three sons in Palos Verdes, where he was also an avid surfer and scuba diver. After his retirement in 1993, he and his wife moved to Vacaville where they owned a cattle ranch and Blue Ridge Vineyard. In addition to his wife of 43 years, he is survived by sons Clark, Robby and Nolan and their wives, Theresa, Jessica and Elly; daughter, Cynthia Totays; grandchildren Jack, Cole, Amelia, Daniel and Jeremy; and sister Lois Blizard of Dumphries, Va. (appeared in the Spring 2007 issue) • Joe and Jean (Mytron) Antognini, who met in a UC Davis botany class, celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary in January. After earning his doctorate in vegetable crops from Cornell University in 1951, Joe spent 37 years developing pesticides with Geigy, Stauffer, Zoecon and BASF chemical companies, and another six years after retirement working as the nation program leader for weed science with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The Antogninis live in North Charleston, S.C. (appeared in the Summer 2010 issue) • Hyman Gurman of San Francisco died in May at 93. Born in Manchuria, he moved with his family to San Francisco in 1927. He was a World War II veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart. He worked as a chemist for the city and county of San Francisco for 31 years, eventually retiring in 1981 as superintendant of the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant. He was preceded in death by his parents, Rabbi Berek and Sarah Gurman; his siblings, Beatrice, Nathan and Tzierel; and his wife of 53 years, Anna. He is survived by his children, Bess and Barry; and grandchildren, Sarah and Emily Miller and Russell and Rosie Gurman. (appeared in the Fall 2010 issue) • Lawrence Kempker, Cred., died of natural causes in Carmichael at age 90. A World War II Army Air Corps veteran, he worked in the food industry and later as a driver’s license examiner for the Department of Motor Vehicles in San Francisco and Sacramento. He retired as a California driver improvement analyst. Survivors include his wife, Theresa; son, David of El Dorado Hills; and a sister, Ruth Provenza. (appeared in the Spring 2012 issue) • Lawrence Kempker, Cred., died of natural causes in Carmichael at age 90. A World War II Army Air Corps veteran, he worked in the food industry and later as a driver’s license examiner for the Department of Motor Vehicles in San Francisco and Sacramento. He retired as a California driver improvement analyst. Survivors include his wife, Theresa; son, David, of El Dorado Hills; and a sister, Ruth Provenza. (appeared in the Summer 2012 issue) • James “Jim” Bishop, M.S., a retired vegetable crop specialist for UC Cooperative Extension in Kern County, died in May. He was 95. He spent most of his 37-year research career at the USDA Research Station in Shafter. He authored or coauthored more than 75 scientific papers, many of them about potato cultivation. (appeared in the Fall 2012 issue) • Donald Pinkham, a retired stockbroker and a World War II U.S. Army Air Corps veteran, died in his Exeter home in October 2012. He was 88. He also ran a business selling wines from around the world. (appeared in the Spring 2013 issue) • Sidney de Kadt, of the Netherlands, who attended UC Davis during 1947–48 died in January. He was 92. (appeared in the Summer 2013 issue) • Henry Yip, of Sacramento, died in July at age 90. A World War II U.S. Army veteran, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service for nearly 30 years. (appeared in the Fall 2013 issue) • John Alexander, Cred., of Woodland, died at age 91 on November 23. He was a World War II Army veteran and retired farmer. (appeared in the Spring 2014 issue) • Stanley Corda, Cred., of Salinas, died at age 92 on September 27. He was a retired farmer. (appeared in the Spring 2014 issue) |
| 1949Richard Rominger, former U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture, is heading a four-campus partnership to serve California's agriculture industry. Working as a consultant, Rominger will share information with the industry about the agricultural programs conducted by UC Davis; UC Riverside; Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; and California State University, Fresno; and make recommendations to the universities to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers. (appeared in the Summer 2002 issue) • Richard C. Clark '49 died in January at age 78. A Stockton resident, Mr. Clark was an appraiser and assistant manager for Bank of America for 25 years and a member of the Rotary, Masonic Lodge, Elks, Cal Aggie Alumni Association and Coast Guard Auxiliary. Suvivors include his wife, Louise Clark, and his daughter, Cathryn Patino. (appeared in the Spring 2003 issue) • Bill Seyman, M.Ed. '62, died in July 2003 of complications from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases at age 80. He worked for more than 30 years at the UC Extension Service in Santa Clara County where he specialized in row crops. Survivors include wife Aloha, daughters Elaine '80 and Sharon '82, and his granddaughter, Selena. (appeared in the Winter 2004 issue) • Arthur Greathead, M.S. ’60, works as a private consultant to the Central Coast agricultural industry. He was previously a plant pathologist for UC Cooperative Extension in Monterey County—a position he held for almost 40 years. He lives in Salinas and is still married after 55 years. (appeared in the Fall 2004 issue) • Samuel Shannon is head of Shannon Farms in Yuba City, growing rice on 12,000 acres with his son and daughter-in-law. In addition to his son, he also has two daughters and three grandchildren. (appeared in the Winter 2005 issue) |