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 1950s
| 1953Donald Martinelli, D.V.M. ’55, of Sacramento, died at age 86 on December 23. He was a retired veterinarian for Ben Ali Veterinary Clinic. (appeared in the Spring 2014 issue) • George Thoukis, Ph.D. ’58, of Modesto, died at age 83 on December 11. He was a retired vice president of winemaking at E&J Gallo Winery. Survivors include his son Gerard ’97. (appeared in the Spring 2014 issue) • George West, D.V.M. ’57, M.P.V.M. ’83, Davis, age 87, died April 2. A decorated World War II Marine Corps veteran and retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, he was a retired California Department of Food and Agriculture veterinarian. (appeared in the Summer 2014 issue) |
| 1954Joe Aparicio, Cred. '55, a native plant expert, received an Award of Distinction in October from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Aparicio retired from teaching in 1988 to become a full-time grape-grower. He currently runs his family's farm in Amador County and is a visiting lecturer and adviser. (appeared in the Winter 2001 issue) • Houston Couch, a plant pathologist and faculty member at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., has received a Distinguished Service Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. He was honored as the "go to" pathologist for the industry. (appeared in the Spring 2002 issue) • Evelyn Peterson Anderson '54 died in February at age 88. Ms. Anderson, a Sonoma resident since 1980, was a past president of the Sonoma Valley Woman's Club. She was preceded in death by husbands Clifford Peterson and William Anderson. (appeared in the Spring 2003 issue) • Frederick Bettelheim, M.S., Ph.D. ’56, died in February 2004 at age 80 of a heart attack. He was a prominent biochemistry researcher, professor and co-author of an acclaimed textbook now used in more than 200 universities. He taught at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., was a Fulbright professor at the Weizman Institute in Israel and was visiting professor at several other universities. Survivors include his wife, Vera, and his son, Adriel. (appeared in the Summer 2004 issue) • Javier Vial, a Chilean banker and entrepreneur who played a pivotal role in his country’s economic boom, died in September 2004 in Santiago from a heart attack at age 70. In 1973, after Gen. Augusto Pinochet overthrew Socialist President Salvador Allende in a 1973 military coup, Mr. Vial invited economist Milton Friedman to Chile speak to Pinochet, encouraging him to privatize state-owned businesses, increase exports and end artificial price controls. Over the next decade, Vial built his mortgage bank, BHC, into a conglomerate with more than 60 companies, including the Bank of Chile. But during Chile’s economic crisis in the early 1980s, the government took control of the bank and charged Vial and other executives with fraud—charges he said were unfounded. An appellate court reversed his conviction in 2002. The case was before Chile’s Supreme Court when he died. (appeared in the Summer 2005 issue) • Russell Burton, D.V.M. ’56, M.S. ’65, Ph.D. ’70, is one of three recipients of a 2005 Alumni Achievement Award from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Burton, professor emeritus and senior scientist at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, was recognized for his aviation and space physiology research on the effects of extreme gravitational forces upon pilots. (appeared in the Fall 2005 issue) • Richard Ortega was honored with an “outstanding alumni” Award of Distinction from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Following graduation, Ortega ran dairy farms for 34 years and worked in various sectors of public service. He was a charter member of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Club, board member of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and member of the UC Davis Livestock Advisory Committee. A well-known figure in his hometown of Tulare, Ortega served as councilmember, mayor and Tulare Joint Union High School board trustee. (appeared in the Winter 2007 issue) • Mary Caragozian Thompson has written Maxen Remembers (Authorhouse Publishers), a story of her mother’s escape from the Armenian genocide in early 20th century Turkey and her subsequent experiences in California. Thompson and her husband, Gordon, live near Atlanta, Ga. (appeared in the Winter 2007 issue) • Awatif El-Domiaty Hassan, M.S., Ph.D. ’68, was named a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Hassan, the first woman in the United States to graduate with a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering, is professor emerita of forestry and biological and agricultural engineering at North Carolina State University. (appeared in the Fall 2007 issue) • Richard Willey died in July 2007 at the age of 78. Mr. Willey was a lifelong Sacramento resident and had worked as a rice farmer in the region. Additionally, he had served as a board member on Reclamation District 1000, Natomas Mutual Water Co., Farmers Rice Coooperative as well as Yolo Shortline Railroad. Survivors include his wife, Margaret, and his children, Sharon Kincaid and Steven Willey. (appeared in the Spring 2008 issue) • Neil Harold Phillips Sr. died in January 2008 at his home in Patterson, on the same farm where his grandparents once lived. He was 74. A Korean War Army veteran, he married his college sweetheart, Carolyn Goodhue, and they settled in Patterson where he worked as a USDA inspector at a Modesto cannery, a pest control adviser, farmer and an agricultural consultant and expert witness. He retired in September 2007. In addition to his wife of 51 years, survivors include daughters Cindy Georgette and Susan Foreman and sons Samuel and Neil Jr., 11 grandchildren and a sister, Ruth Boesch. (appeared in the Winter 2009 issue) • Edward Ryder, Ph.D., recently wrote the novel The Departments (Two Harbors Press), a tale of intrigue set in a plant sciences department. He retired in 2003 after 46 years of working in lettuce breeding and genetics for the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service in Salinas. (appeared in the Fall 2009 issue) • Kenneth Lee Simpson, M.S. ’60, Ph.D. ’63, a World War II veteran, died in July in Burke, Va., after a long illness. He was 78. Upon completing his post doctorate in Wales, Simpson joined the University of Rhode Island as a food scientist in 1964. His research on vitamin A helped improve public health in developing countries. He retired in 1995. Mr. Simpson enjoyed woodworking, gardening and serving his church where he taught Sunday school and was a member of the elder’s board. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Jill; children, Pamela Winchell, Valerie Criman and Andrew; sister, Marion Williams; and 10 grandchildren. (appeared in the Winter 2010 issue) • After raising four sons, BARBARA (ENGS) NAVIAUX, at age 76, raises, breeds and shows championship miniature horses at her Placerville ranch. Her sold-out book, Miniature Horses: Their Care, Breeding and Coat Colors (Raintree Publications, 1999) is still sought by miniature horse lovers, with used copies selling up to several times the book’s original price. (appeared in the Summer 2011 issue) • Eugene Cota-Robles, M.A., Ph.D. ’57, a UC Santa Cruz biology professor emeritus and administrator who oversaw affirmative action programs for the campus and the UC system, died in September in Naperville, Ill. He was 86. He was a noted microbiologist, higher education leader and advocate for minority students and faculty. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Science Board in 1978 and, after retiring, served as a special assistant to the director of the National Science Foundation. Survivors include daughter Feliciana Farran ’83 of Naperville, Ill. (appeared in the Winter 2013 issue) • Michael Treshow VI, Ph.D., a plant scientist whose research contributed to the identification of acid rain and discovery of the hole in the ozone layer, died in Salt Lake City in October. He was 86. A botany professor for 35 years at the University of Utah, he was an expert on the effects of air pollution on plants. (appeared in the Winter 2013 issue) • Robert Young ’54, ’57, a prominent water economist and an emeritus professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., died in July after suffering a stroke. He was 81. Survivors include his wife, Lynn ’56, Cred. ’57; five children; and sister Peg ’56, of Davis. (appeared in the Fall 2013 issue) |