The section was updated March 25, 2021. Please note that deaths are reported as we receive notice of them. Therefore, alumni dates of death are not always reported chronologically.

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Honor your friends and loved ones in Alumni Horae. You may send a copy of an obituary, your own written tribute, a note listing a few facts about the deceased. We also request that you send a photo for inclusion. E-mail the information and high resolution photos to alumni@sps.edu.

1946 Harrison Koons Caner III

A man known for his steadfast spirit, intellect, and a hint of mischief, died on January 16, 2021, at Elizabethtown Community Hospital in New York, as his family members reminisced and sang hymns to him via Zoom. He was 93. Mr. Caner was born in Philadelphia on December 15, 1927, to Harrison and Sarah Uytendale Caner. He enrolled at St. Paul’s School from Episcopal Academy in Pennsylvania. At SPS, he played hockey, football, baseball, and squash, sang with the Glee Club and Choir, and was a member of the Missionary Society. He said his time at St. Paul’s instilled in him a sense of moral responsibility to the community.

Mr. Caner earned his B.A. from Harvard in 1950. Based in Dedham, Mass., he began his long career at First National Bank of Boston (now Bank of America) two years later. He said his love of games made portfolio management a good fit; the ever-changing influences of the market, government fiscal policy, and human psychology brought both constant challenge and potential peril. He retired in 1983 as vice president and manager of the endowment fund portfolio in the Old Colony Trust Division.

In 1963, Mr. Caner married Judith Martin. Every August, the couple gathered their children and a menagerie of pets into the family station wagon and spent a month exploring the Adirondacks from their cottage in Keene Valley, N.Y. Mr. Caner climbed all Adirondack peaks over 4,000 feet, becoming the 936th person to do so on August 25, 1973. Whenever road trips took the family past the highway exit to St. Paul’s, he always reminded his family he’d gone to school there. Following Mr. Caner’s retirement, he and Mrs. Caner purchased Clifford Falls Farm in Keene, N.Y., and lived at the 21-acre property full-time. The property featured a pond, pastures, and beautiful woodlands, plus trees dedicated to maple sugaring. It became a gathering place for the Caners’ large family for many years. Mr. Caner enjoyed outguessing the stock market. His investment expertise was sought after by several organizations. He also enjoyed singing bass in local choirs, tending to his vegetable gardens, and dancing with Judy to swing music. He loved football so much that he diagramed the famous “Harvard beats Yale, 29-29” game in 1968 as he listened to the play-by-play on the radio.

During his years in Dedham, Mr. Caner served as chairman of the town finance committee and treasurer of the Dedham Library and Dedham Choral Society. He delivered meals for the local Meals on Wheels for many years. Mr. Caner also served on the board of the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society and was a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club. Mr. Caner is survived by his wife of 58 years, Judy; his daughters, Janet Caner, Julie Craig, and Emily Caner; his sons, Brooks Rogers, Peter Rogers, Anthony Caner, and Nathaniel Caner; 10 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his beloved dog, Merry.

1946 Giraud Vernam Foster

A physician, archaeologist, and U.S. Marine, whose spirit was bold, humble, and kind, died on December 3, 2020. He was 92.

Dr. Foster was born on January 13, 1928, to Valerie and Giraud Foster. Having spent his formative years in New York City, he enrolled at St. Paul’s School in the fall of 1942. During his time in Concord, Dr. Foster was a valued member of both the Missionary Society and the Library Association, a Shattuck rower, Delphian athlete, and a sport shooter (rifle, trap, and skeet). After graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving from 1946 to 1948. Following his service in the Marines, Dr. Foster matriculated at Trinity College, where he earned a B.A. in 1952. He studied internal medicine at the University of Maryland Medical School, graduating in 1956. Dr. Foster went on to the University of London, where he earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry (1962) and a D.Sc. in 1964.

While in London, Dr. Foster briefly paused his studies to serve as the personal physician to Muhammed al-Badr, the last reigning monarch of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (today, North Yemen). He returned as a senior lecturer at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London, where he pursued medical and archæological research and spent time as a visiting lecturer at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. In 1972, Dr. Foster returned to the U.S. to join the faculty of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, lecturing in the Department of Physiology and Medicine. He went on to lecture in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Foster was a key contributor to the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (Jhpiego), helping patients with fertility and other hormonal issues in developing nations. He retired from medicine in 2006.

Dr. Foster lived two lives as physician and archaeologist. He spent nearly 30 years in southwestern Cyprus, assisting with archaeological investigations of the ruins of Ancient Kourion, a coastal city-state dating to 1200 bce. He later participated in significant excavations across the Mediterranean. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he traveled to the jungles of Papua New Guinea, where he recorded and preserved indigenous languages and music. Dr. Foster is survived by his wife, Carolyn (Lindquist) Foster, whom he married in 1952; his sons, Douglas and David; his daughter, Nicola Foster Sabin; and six grandchildren.

1948 Gilbert Hart Kinney

A man who first became interested in art museums at the age of eight and went on to amass a museum-quality private art collection of more than 500 objects, died peacefully at his home in New York City on November 16, 2020, at the age of 89. He was surrounded by his wife of 61 years and his two daughters.

Mr. Kinney was born in New York City on May 11, 1931, to Gilbert and Anna Hart Kinney. He arrived at St. Paul’s as a Third Former in the fall of 1944, accompanied by reproductions of works by van Gogh and other favorite artists. While at St. Paul’s, he played tennis, hockey, baseball, and soccer. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Yale in 1953 and a master’s in international relations in 1954, Mr. Kinney joined the U.S. Navy, where he served as an Air Intelligence Officer in Fukuoka, Japan, at the end of the Korean War. It wasn’t until he completed his service in 1958 that he bought his first piece of art, a painting by Maurice Utrillo. Mr. Kinney had just passed his Foreign Service exam and had traveled to Paris while waiting for an assignment. He purchased his first piece by the American artist Raimond Staprans a year later, while honeymooning in California.

Mr. Kinney’s career in the Foreign Service took him to Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia, interspersed with assignments at the State Department in Washington, D.C. His service at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo witnessed the large demonstrations against the U.S./Japan Security Treaty that followed the downing of the U-2 spy plane. His assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon covered the year leading up to Ngo Dinh Diem’s 1963 assassination and its unsettled aftermath. After an interlude in Washington, where he was assigned to the Vietnam Working Group and the Japan Desk, Mr. Kinney was sent to Indonesia as the U.S. Consul in Surabaya, Indonesia. The Surabaya consular district covered Central Java, East Java, and Bali with a total population of 60 million. His three-year assignment covered a pivotal period in Indonesian history. President Sukarno was under house arrest and General Suharto was gaining control. After Indonesia, the State Department sent Mr. Kinney to Harvard for Chinese studies. He earned a master’s in public administration at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School in 1973. It was at Harvard that he audited his first art history survey course. Mr. Kinney decided to retire the following year and devoted the rest of his life to the arts. His private collection included paintings and sculptures from all over the world.

For more than 40 years, Mr. Kinney served as a trustee and fundraiser for several major museums. In 2018, he and his wife, Ann, endowed a position at the Smithsonian Institute’s Archives of American Art, dedicated to collecting primary sources documenting the history of visual arts in New York City. He also served as a life trustee and acting director of the Corcoran Gallery of Arts in Washington, D.C.; president and chairman emeritus of the American Federation of Arts; president of the board of trustees of the American Museum of American Art; and a member of the Yale Art Gallery Board and International Council of the Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Kinney is survived by his wife, Ann; his daughters, Sarah Kinney Contomichalos and Eleanor Hart Kinney; and six grandchildren, including Alexandra Contomichalos ’17.

1950 Minoru “Ben” Makihara

The former CEO of Mitsubishi Corporation, and a pioneer who became the first student from Japan to attend St. Paul’s School, just after the end of World War II, died at home on December 13, 2020, surrounded by his family. He was 90.

Mr. Makihara overcame the loss of his father in World War II to become one of Japan’s leading international business executives, devoted to improving U.S.-Japan relations. He credited his success to the support of many friendships around the world, family, and plain good luck. He was born on January 12, 1930, in London, where his father, Satoru, was the branch manager of Mitsubishi Shoji, a major Japanese trading company. His mother, Haruko, came from a family of businessmen and artists. Minoru was christened “Bernard” and grew up speaking English and Japanese. As relations between the West and Japan worsened, the family returned to Japan. When Mr. Makihara was 12, his father died when the ship he was traveling on as part of a delegation of business leaders to the Philippines was sunk by an American submarine in the East China Sea.

Mr. Makihara enrolled at the Seikei School, which had an international outlook and continued to teach English during the war. After the war ended, he was befriended by an American bishop who arranged for him to receive a full scholarship to St. Paul’s School, which he attended for the 1949-50 academic year. During his year at the School, he formed deep friendships that continued throughout his life and sowed the seeds for his passion to improve relations between the U.S. and Japan. Despite his having arrived from Japan only a few years after the end of World War II, the warm reception he received at St. Paul’s left a deep impression on Mr. Makihara. On the eve of his arrival, Rector Henry Kittredge had gathered the students to announce the arrival of a student from Japan, asking them to welcome him even though some of the students had family members who died at the hands of Japanese soldiers. Mr. Makihara’s scholarship to St. Paul’s became the first of an annual exchange program between the Seikei School and St. Paul’s, which continues to this day.

At SPS, he competed with Delphian and Shattuck and was a member of the debate team, the Acolyte’s Guild, the Horae Board, the Cadmean Literary Society, and the Scientific Association. He graduated Magna Cum Laude. One of Mr. Makihara’s proudest achievements at St. Paul’s was winning the Hugh Camp Cup public speaking competition. Despite having just arrived from Japan, he bested the other contestants with an impassioned speech about the Declaration of Independence. His close friend and classmate, Bob Monks ’50, said that “the moment Ben opened his mouth, we realized the School was going to melt down all our award medals to build a statue of him.” Mr. Makihara went on to attend Harvard, along with a number of his friends from St. Paul’s, and his circle of American friends grew. There he also met Takashi Oka, a young graduate student and future journalist, whose daughter would one day marry his son. After graduating in 1954 with a degree in government, Mr. Makihara spent a year traveling around the world on a fellowship and then returned to Japan in 1956 to join Mitsubishi Shoji, the company for which his father had worked. The following year, on March 30, 1957, he married Kikuko Iwasaki, a childhood friend whose family had founded the Mitsubishi Group. He would later return to Harvard Business School to complete the Advanced Management Program in 1977.

In his long career, Mr. Makihara rose through the ranks of Mitsubishi, working initially in the Marine Products Department like his father. In 1971, he opened the Mitsubishi office in Washington, D.C., as then-CEO Chujiro Fujino foresaw the increasing importance of understanding American politics. He enjoyed socializing in the capital and was sometimes a guest at the famed dinner parties in the home of columnist Joseph Alsop, where he also befriended Katherine Graham, then owner of the Washington Post. Mitsubishi’s first Washington office was in the Watergate complex, leading his American friends to remark that the Nixon plumbers “broke into the wrong office” when they burgled the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Makihara returned to Japan and became the head of the Marine Products Department in 1980. His colleagues congratulated him on achieving the same status as his father, joking that it took “only 40 years.” In 1992, Mr. Makihara became president and CEO of Mitsubishi. His title changed to chairman in 1998. He was widely known as an internationalist and bridge builder, taking advantage of his fluency in English and global connections to diversify and modernize the venerable Japanese firm. His practice of picking up the phone and directly calling CEOs around the world was new to Japan. It was refreshing for his counterparts but unnerving for his staff. His desires for change were not always welcomed by his colleagues and earned him the label “alien” within Mitsubishi. He shook up old conventions, such as the once-common practice of appeasing unruly shareholders who threatened to disrupt the annual meeting. He once shocked his staff by inviting one outspoken shareholder into his office for a meeting to hear out his complaints.

Mr. Makihara was one of the earliest CEOs to take a large write-off to clear unrecognized portfolio losses from the bursting of the “bubble economy.” He also followed the advice of Bob Monks, by then a pioneer in shareholder rights, to improve the corporate governance of the company, a new concept in Japan. And he set up an international advisory board of leading CEOs and academics to keep the company abreast of what was happening in the inner circles around the world. Mr. Makihara tried and failed to have English become the common language at Mitsubishi, something which a number of Japanese companies are tentatively trying today. Apart from his work at Mitsubishi, Mr. Makihara served on the boards of the Ayala Corporation and IBM as well as numerous Mitsubishi-affiliated companies and advisory boards of Allianz, Coca-Cola, Daimler Chrysler, Hakulyt, JPMorgan, MacLarty Associates, and Temasek. He was fond of mentioning that his invitation to join the advisory board of Hakulyt was for “good wine, good conversation, and good friendship.” He also was a member of the Trilateral Commission and CULCON (U.S. Japan Conference on International Exchange) and other U.S.-Japan-bridging organizations.

After retiring from the corporate world in March 2019, Mr. Makihara became chair of the board of the Toyo Bunko, one of the five largest Asian studies libraries and research institutes in the world. The library was founded in 1924 by Hisaya Iwasaki, who was then CEO of the Mitsubishi Group, to house a vast collection of China-related publications amassed by Australian adventurer/journalist George Morrison. The post appealed to Mr. Makihara’s international and academic inclinations, as well as his sense of history. The site often played host to farewell parties for students from Seikei going to SPS. Along with Mr. Monks, Mr. Makihara sponsored an annual gathering of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program, which brought together two dozen young leaders from multiple professions for two weeks of intense programming and bonding over two successive summers, one week in Seattle and the other in Kyoto and Tokyo. As of 2016, nearly 400 young leaders had participated in the program since its inception 17 years earlier.

In 2005, Mr. Makihara received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan and, in 2014, he was particularly pleased to be awarded an honorary KBE from the UK. He also received the Harvard Medal in 2004, the Asia Society Washington Center Leadership award in 2005, and the U.S.-Japan Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award in 2013, among many other honors. Mr. Makihara remained an active alumnus of St. Paul’s School throughout his life, most notably through his unwavering support for the enduring SPS/Seikei exchange. He hosted Interim Rector Cliff Gillespie and his wife, Alina Gillespie, when they traveled to Japan in 1998. He was the recipient of the Alumni Association Award in 2000 and served as a regional representative for more than 25 years. He returned to the School many times over the years, including for reunions, for the 40th anniversary of the SPS/Seikei exchange in 1989, the 55th commemoration in 2004, and the graduation of his grandson, Takuma Makihara ’15.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Kikuko; his son, Jun; his daughter, Kumiko; his grandchildren, Kazuma, Takuma ’15, and Taro, and many other family members and friends.

1950 Frank Hood Trane

A man remembered for his love of God and family, his generosity, wisdom, and humor, who was still surfing at 85, died on January 13, 2021. He was 89.

Frank was born on October 14, 1931, in La Crosse, Wisc., to Reuben N. and Helen Hood Trane. He grew up with his older twin siblings, Jim and Betty. While at St. Paul’s, he played hockey and football, ran cross country and track, sang with the Glee Club, and was a member of the Acolyte’s Guild, Missionary Society, and Scientific Association. He set a school record in the 400-meter dash one year. Frank was set to graduate with the Form of 1950, but left St. Paul’s a year early to finish high school in California, where the climate was better for a health issue he was experiencing. He was awarded a St. Paul’s diploma 35 years later, in 1985.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, cum laude, from Stanford in 1953 and attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Frank served in the U.S. Navy from 1955 to 1958 as a Submarine Repair Officer in the Charleston Naval Shipyard. He was responsible for the alteration and repair work done on submarines. He earned the permanent rank of Lieutenant and was in the process of attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander when he finished his service. He was a life member of the Naval Submarine League. In 1951, while studying at Stanford, Frank married Allan Jean Farwell. Together the couple enjoyed 69 years of marriage. Following his military service, Frank returned to La Crosse and joined his family’s business, the Trane Company, one of the world’s largest makers of heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and building management equipment systems. Founded by Frank’s grandfather in 1885, it was acquired by American Standard in 1984. In 1963, the Tranes moved to Newport Beach, Calif., where they continued to raise their family.

He retired as manager of the company’s American plants and founded Holiday Shores. The company developed more than 5,500 lots on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. Frank was also one of the founding members of Harbor Day School, a private K-8 school in Corona del Mar, Calif. In 1990, Frank turned his attention to church work. He was an active member and served as treasurer and senior warden of St. James Anglican Church. He was one of the founders of the American Anglican Council, which helped form the Anglican Church in North America and now includes more than 1,000 parishes. In addition to surfing, which he did 80 days a year, Frank loved skiing, hiking, cruising, playing golf, and being with family. He could fix anything, be it in the house or on a boat, and his happy humming let his family know he was nearby.

Frank is survived by his wife, Allan; his three children, Marty Chapman, Cindy Christeson, and Byron Trane, and their spouses; nine grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased in 2007 by his beloved granddaughter, Amy.

1951 Conway H. Olmsted, Jr.

A professor of Spanish, a veteran of the Korean War, and a Peace Corps volunteer, died on December 11, 2020. He was 87.

Mr. Olmsted was born on May 3, 1933, to Connie Howard Olmsted and Mary Elizabeth Johnston. The oldest of four siblings, he spent his formative years in Chicago. He enrolled at St. Paul’s School in the fall of 1946. During his time at SPS, Mr. Olmsted sang in the Choir and Glee Club and began what would prove a lifelong passion for the study of, and appreciation for, language and literature. In the fall of 1951, Mr. Olmsted matriculated at Harvard. His academic career would be put on hold a year later, however, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Combat Medic. He served from 1952 to 1954, including tours of duty in the Korean War.

Following his time in the Army, Mr. Olmsted enrolled at Colorado College, where he earned a B.A. in Spanish and French in 1959. He continued his studies at Middlebury College, graduating in 1961 with an M.A. in Spanish. As part of his postgraduate studies at Middlebury, Mr. Olmsted spent time in Spain, immersing himself in the language and culture he so respected. Upon graduating, he took a teaching position at Purdue University, where he instructed the first wave of Peace Corps volunteers in Spanish. Mr. Olmsted was himself a part of the second wave of Peace Corps volunteers, helping underserved communities in Cuzco, Peru, over a three-year period.

When his Peace Corps service was up, Mr. Olmsted returned to Denver, where, from 1968 to 1975, he taught Spanish at Regis University. During this time, Mr. Olmsted also entered a Ph.D. program in Spanish at the University of Colorado Boulder, completing his studies in 1975. That same year, he left Regis to join the faculty of Metropolitan State College of Denver (now Metropolitan State University of Denver) as a professor in the Department of Modern Languages. Mr. Olmsted taught at Metropolitan State until his retirement in 2001. Throughout retirement, Mr. Olmsted continued to tutor students in the Spanish language. He spent winters in Sierra Vista, Ariz., and summers in Boulder. He was an active churchgoer in both communities, singing in the winter months for the Sierra Lutheran Church choir and in the summer months for Trinity Lutheran Church in Boulder.

Mr. Olmsted is survived by his wife, Jacqueline (Deily) Olmsted; his sisters, Phyllis Fletcher, April Vehslage, and Ethel Hansen; his son, Joshua Olmsted; his daughter, Sally O’Brien; and four grandchildren.

1951 Charles F. “Charlie” Van Doren 

A business owner, Ford Motor Co. executive, and U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, died of Parkinson’s disease on December 5, 2020. He was 87 years old. Charlie was born on May 16, 1933, to Matilda Fowler and Abraham Van Doren. Though he was born in New York City, Charlie spent his formative years in Stamford, Conn., and Geneva, Switzerland. He enrolled at St. Paul’s School as a Second Former in the fall of 1946. He was an active student, who participated in the Missionary Society, wrote for The Pelican, and played baseball, football, and hockey. 

After graduating from SPS, Charlie earned his B.A. from Yale in 1955. At Yale, he took up lacrosse and became the starting goalie for the men’s varsity team and also started in net for the North All-Stars as a senior. Soon thereafter, he joined the U.S. Air Force as a commissioned officer. He would attain the rank of Captain, flying fighter jets while stationed in Germany, before leaving active service. He returned to the U.S. and enrolled in a graduate program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, earning his M.B.A. in 1963. In 1971, he accepted a position with Ford Motor Co., working as a process engineer at the company headquarters in Detroit. Charlie spent 28 years with Ford, before retiring in 1991. He remained active in retirement, purchasing and growing a number of successful small businesses. He pursued many pastimes and activities, including traveling, hiking, golf, sailing, and gardening. An avid sailor and fisherman, he spent summers with his family in Hyannis, Mass. The rest of the year found him anchored to his home in Malvern, Pa., where he was an active volunteer at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church. 

Charlie Van Doren was predeceased in 2019 by his wife, Sandra Shaffer Van Doren. He is survived by his children, Alexandra Kirk and Jonathan Van Doren; five grandsons; and his siblings, Abraham “Peter” Van Doren, Jr. ’49, David Van Doren, and Phoebe Gould. 

1955 Yoshiaki “Yoshi” Shimizu

A scholar, artist, and professor of art history, who, in 1953, at the age of 17, came to the United States to study at St. Paul’s School as the third Seikei Scholar in an exchange that continues today, died of cancer on January 20, 2021, surrounded by his loving family. He was 84 and a resident of Portland, Ore.

Yoshi Shimizu was born in Tokyo on February 27, 1936, the son of Mamoru Shimizu, a prominent Japanese linguist specializing in Biblical and English literature, and Michicko Hayasaka, an ikebana teacher. He was raised in wartime Tokyo and rural Kyushu, Japan, where his family fled to escape American bombing during World War II. He attended Seikei Senior High School, before arriving at St. Paul’s School to complete his final two years of secondary education as an exchange student. Mr. Shimizu’s father had helped shape an early stage of the exchange program on the Seikei side by responding to the original invitation from St. Paul’s School in 1949, when Ben Makihara ’50 became the first Japanese exchange student to attend the School. At SPS, Mr. Shimizu did not feel immediately comfortable speaking English. But he quickly found a friend and mentor in arts faculty member Bill Abbé. On the weekends, Mr. Abbé often took Mr. Shimizu and his classmates to Manchester’s Currier Museum and to local buildings, farms, and bridges to paint and sketch.

“The sheer focus of sketching happened to really hook me on to what a wonderful thing art was,” Mr. Shimizu told Alumni Horae in 2010. “You really find yourself by doing art.” Once he settled in at the School, Mr. Shimizu sang with the Glee Club and participated in crew, football, soccer, and wrestling. He was a member of the Cum Laude Society and the Art Association. After graduating from SPS, Mr. Shimizu enrolled at Harvard, where he participated in studio art classes at Harvard’s Fogg Museum. During his sophomore year, he met Ben Shahn, the celebrated Lithuanian-born American artist, then in residence at Harvard. Shahn served as a “personal inspiration of what it is to be an artist,” Mr. Shimizu later explained. “His mentorship had a great deal of impact upon my studying of art history and how to see art – first from the perspective of an artist, and second from a historian’s perspective.”

Following his sophomore year, frustrated by his inability to devote himself full-time to art, Mr. Shimizu took a leave of absence from Harvard and, after briefly studying art in Boston, ventured to Hamburg, Germany, where he enrolled in art school. “I wanted to see art not as a spectator, but rather experience it as a professional artist,” he explained. In 1958, after several months in Europe, he returned to the U.S. and settled in New York City. From 1958 to 1962, he painted and gained firsthand knowledge of the latest trends in American art, including the tail end of abstract expressionism and the beginning of pop art, led by Andy Warhol. Mr. Shimizu described his time in New York as “the most creative period of my life in terms of my own work” and credited the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for introducing him to Chinese art for the first time. 

His strong interest in art history gave him a new focus, and Mr. Shimizu re-enrolled at Harvard, completing his bachelor’s degree in 1963. Following his graduation from Harvard, Mr. Shimizu pursued a career as a painter in Kyoto, Japan, before shifting his interests to the academic study of Japanese art and earning his M.A. from the University of Kansas in 1968 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1975. At Princeton, he studied under Shujiro Shimada, and his doctoral dissertation on Mokuan Rei’en is still considered an authoritative reference. He taught at Princeton before leaving for the University of California-Berkeley, where he taught for four years. At the same time Berkeley conferred his tenure, Mr. Shimizu was offered a position at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He spent five years as the curator of Japanese art at the Freer before rejoining the Princeton faculty in 1984.

Mr. Shimizu brought his method of looking at art to his teaching and realized, “I was very much interested in talking and thinking about art.” He found he could effectively reach his students through publications, so he began to write and publish innovative essays on a wide range of topics, including early Japanese seasonal paintings and poetry and Zen art. As a scholar, Mr. Shimizu’s primary research interest was Muromachi ink painting. Along with co-editing the exhibition catalogue Japanese Ink Paintings (1974) with Carolyn Wheelwright, he authored important articles on Yintuoluo, Shubun, Sesshu, and Kano Motonobu. His interests were wide-ranging, and included notable scholarly works on calligraphy, Ito Jakuchu, Yamato-e painting, and the Shigisan Engi Scrolls, among others. He also remained active as a curator throughout his career. Mr. Shimizu curated the first-ever exhibition of the Joe D. Price Collection (University of Kansas Museum of Art, 1967), Masters of Japanese Calligraphy 8th-19th Century (co-curated with John D. Rosenfield in 1984 at the Japan House Gallery, New York), and the internationally acclaimed Japan: The Shaping of Daimyo Culture 1185-1868, at the National Gallery of Art in 1988. 

Mr. Shimizu retired from Princeton in 2009 and remained the Frederick Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology, Emeritus. In more than two decades of teaching, many of his students went on to teach art history or curate at prestigious institutions. He is remembered as a remarkable and unique scholar who combined his expertise with an artist’s insight into craft and technique. Few experts could weave, as well as he did, humor and counterintuitive comparisons into their exposition of artworks. He also excelled at speaking extemporaneously in front of art objects, and group excursions to view museum and private collections were a central component of his pedagogy. Alongside his scholarly work, he pursued his own practice of painting for much of his adult life. In 2017, both his early and later paintings were featured in the exhibition Irresolution: The Paintings of Yoshiaki Shimizu at Harvard’s Reischauer Institute. The work was featured in Alumni Horae. In 2013, Mr. Shimizu was inducted into The American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the Arts, Criticisms, and Performances category. Other inductees in the same category that year included actors Robert DeNiro and Sally Field and musicians Pete Seeger, Herbie Hancock, and Bruce Springsteen.

Mr. Shimizu lived a long and full life, one full of art, travel, adventure, and a distinguished career in art history. He was a kind and thoughtful gentleman and a mentor to many. Though a lifetime had passed since his exchange at St. Paul’s, Mr. Shimizu remained engaged with the School and in celebrating the continuing program of good will between SPS and Seikei. According to his daughter, Karen Shimizu ’98, he considered his time at St. Paul’s School as a turning point. His admission to the School, via the SPS-Seikei program, she said, provided the impetus for his journey from postwar Japan to America in 1953. “When I was growing up,” said Karen Shimizu, “his sense of connection to Millville was present in our home in the form of a SPS-embossed rocking chair and a set of plates that we ate our holiday dinners on, and we would often swing by the School on summer road trips from New Jersey to Maine.”

In his final weeks, Mr. Shimizu asked to listen to a recording of generations of the choirs of St. Paul’s, one track of which (“Almighty Fortress is Our God”) included his own voice among the singers. Yoshi Shimizu is survived by his wife Mary Hirsch; his children Karen ’98, Kenny, Keto, and Kei; five grandchildren; and many family and friends, including his goddaughter, Mimi Munson ’92.

1956 G. William Bissell

A lawyer, gifted storyteller, and steadfast supporter of many philanthropic endeavors, died on December 6, 2020. He was 82 years old.

Mr. Bissell was born on January 29, 1938, to John and Margaret Bissell. He and his brother, John, spent their formative years in and around Pittsburgh. In the fall of 1952, Mr. Bissell enrolled at St. Paul’s School, where he was active in La Junta and the Missionary Society. A Shattuck rower and an Old Hundred athlete, Mr. Bissell participated in crew, ice hockey, and soccer. He also served as a Prefect in his final year at St. Paul’s. Mr. Bissell attended Williams College, where he earned a B.A. in history in 1960. He then matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he earned an LL.B. in 1964.

Upon graduation, Mr. Bissell began practicing real estate law. He spent much of his career at the Pittsburgh-based firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart (now K&L Gates). Throughout his life, Mr. Bissell actively supported many philanthropic causes, including the Maplewood Foundation, the Neighborhood Academy, the American Indian College Fund, the Central Blood Bank, the Extra Mile Foundation, the United Way of Alleghany County, and the National Hemophilia Foundation, which awarded him its inaugural Robert Lee Henry Award for outstanding service. Mr. Bissell was also a loyal member of the SPS family. As president of the St. Paul’s Alumni Association of Pittsburgh, he helped coordinate significant contributions to the School. Mr. Bissell also made generous personal donations to SPS, including gifts to the Alumni Fund, the Library Fund, the hockey program, and The SPS Fund.

Mr. Bissell was predeceased by his wife, Kay Ebbert Bissell, and his brother, John Bissell, Jr. He is survived by his stepchildren, John Childs, Jr., George Childs, and Louise Woodside; and seven grandchildren.

1958 Stewart “Stew” Samuel Richmond

A physician who helped grow the Dartmouth-Hitchcock healthcare system, a lifelong traveler and adventurer, and a U.S. Air Force Captain, who served in Vietnam, died on January 10, 2021. He was 81.

Dr. Richmond was born in Concord, N.H., on July 5, 1939, to Samuel and Hazel Richmond. He enrolled at St. Paul’s School in the fall of 1954. At SPS, he competed in hockey, baseball, and football and was a member of the Glee Club and the Missionary Society. Following graduation, he earned his B.A. in 1962, magna cum laude, from Amherst College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and played varsity hockey. Dr. Richmond then enrolled at Cornell University Medical College, earning his M.D. in 1966. He was a member of Sigma Xi, an honor society for scientists and engineers. Dr. Richmond completed his medical training in internal medicine and endocrinology with an internship at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, and a residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Dr. Richmond enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the early years of the Vietnam War, and spent 1968 in Vietnam, providing medical care to wounded soldiers in combat zones. Following his tour of service, he returned to the U.S. and spent the next few years at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Lakewood, Wash.). He retired from active duty as a Captain.

In 1972, Dr. Richmond moved to Manchester, N.H., where he began his private sector medical career. In 1984, he helped establish the first Dartmouth-Hitchcock (DH) satellite clinic. Over the next 25 years, Dr. Richmond helped lead and grow DH internal medicine services and initiatives. Though he retired from DH in 2009, he remained active as a healthcare provider for underserved communities in Merrimack County. He worked directly with patients at the Indigent Clinic at Concord Medical Center, and served as a board member for Elliot Hospital, Manchester Mental Health Center, and Easter Seals. Throughout his retirement years, Dr. Richmond remained fit and active. He ran five marathons, cycled from Maine to Georgia, and hiked Grand Teton. He also spent time cycling and hiking, including treks in the Swiss Alps, Denali, and the Rockies. He golfed most often at Concord Country Club, of which he was a longtime member, and spent many winter days in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, skiing the trails of Sugarloaf Mountain.

Dr. Richmond is survived by his wife, Carolyn; his sisters, Carol Parks and Judith Walters; his sons, Stewart and Davis; his daughter, Cynthia Umscheid; and five grandchildren.

1962 Hubertus “Hupi” Victor Sulkowski

A respected attorney and a man known for his fundamental sense of fairness, died on January 23, 2021, in Phippsburg, Maine. He was 77.

Born in Hungary on April 1,1943, to Alfred Viktor Sulkowski and Ingeborg (Brumowski) Sulkowski, Hupi came with his family to America in 1957, after the Hungarian Revolution. He and his younger brother, Viktor “Peter” Sulkowski ’63, enrolled at St. Paul’s School in the fall of that same year, allowing them to set the foundation for their own American dreams. While at St. Paul’s, Hupi played football and hockey, rowed, ran track, and was a member of the Rifle Club and the Dramatic Club. Hupi went on to receive a B.S. from Trinity College in 1966 and a J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1969.

Hupi began his career at the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York. In 1991, he founded the firm’s Budapest office, where he served as managing partner. For more than 30 years, he worked as a lawyer and, later, as managing partner in the Paris firm, advising large corporations on complex finance projects, mergers, and acquisitions. In particular, Hupi had a leading and groundbreaking role in counseling several prominent French companies in the privatization program undertaken by the French government in the 1990s. It was in 1992, while in Paris, that Hupi met his wife, Evelyne Marie-France Sylvie. In their 29 years together, the couple shared a deep commitment to one another and a great love of their family and the arts. Following his retirement in 2010, Hupi joined BioSystems International as general counsel, successfully navigating the company through multiple financings and securing its present position.

In 2016, Hupi was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and led, for the next five years, a determined confrontation with his disease under the care of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Despite the difficult diagnosis, he embraced new treatments with the hope of curing himself and also of advancing the science involved in curing leukemia for others. He was a man of wisdom and tolerance, who always stood up for what was right. Throughout his life, Hupi carried with him the values he learned from his personal, professional, and medical struggles. Known for his strong work ethic, deep passion for tradition and the arts, and unfailing commitment to his family, he knew what he owed to the United States but never forgot his Hungarian roots. While always discreet, his own sense of belonging was deeply anchored to the Sulkowski princes and dukes of Bielsko, Poland, who were an integral part of his family history. He remained grateful for his experience at St. Paul’s School as a young man. Over 25 years, through the French “Association des Amis de St. Paul’s School,” Hupi generously supported the Elizabeth R. Weicker Scholarship, through which dozens of French boys and girls have been chosen to attend St. Paul’s School as exchange students.

Hupi is survived by his wife, Evelyne; his brother Viktor “Peter” Sulkowski ’63; his children, Nikolas “Alex” Sulkowski ’89, Christopher Sulkowski, and Erica Bens; his grandchildren, Julia, Nikolas, Charles, Sophia, and Lukas; and many other family and friends, including his nephew, Peter Sulkowski ’90.

1975 Ursula E. Holloman

A screenwriter, storyteller, and champion for victims of sexual assault, died on January 12, 2021, after a decade-long battle with cancer. She was 63.

Ms. Holloman was born on February 9, 1957, to John and Regina Holloman. She and her brother, Perry, spent part of their formative years in Greece, India, and Panama, where their mother worked as an anthropologist. Later, in Chicago, Ms. Holloman studied at the Francis W. Parker School. In the fall of 1972, she enrolled as a Fourth Former at St. Paul’s School. She competed in track and field and cross country. Following her time at St. Paul’s, she matriculated to Brown University, graduating in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in semiotics. She went on to earn an M.F.A in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in 2002.

Ms. Holloman went west upon graduating from Brown. She settled in Santa Cruz, Calif., where she worked as a journalist and immersed herself in the burgeoning punk/New Wave scene. In 1986, she moved to Paris, performing and writing about French popular music. She returned to the U.S. two years later. In 1990, she moved to Los Angeles, where she ran her own writing and editing consultancy and began her career as a screenwriter. Over the next three decades, Ms. Holloman wrote award-winning independent scripts, served as an independent script supervisor and writing coach, and created digital and print marketing content for a variety of production companies, including Warner Bros. and Disney. She was a member of the Writer’s Guild of America West Independent Writers Caucus. She was known for her care and generosity toward others and for an adventurous spirit. Ms. Holloman made friends everywhere she went and loved to help others. She organized fundraising efforts to help people she had met who were struggling with poverty or homelessness. She also was a devoted and loving mother to her two girls, a cherished daughter and sister, and a loyal friend.

Said her daughter, Quinn, “She was a beautiful, bright light in any room she was in – truly magnetic radiant energy.” Ms. Holloman is survived by her daughters, Aemon and Quinn Viens; her brother, Perry Holloman; and her father, John Holloman.

1976 David Cadwallader Cates, Jr.

A concert harpsichordist and early music historian, devoted father, and cook, who entertained loved ones with gourmet feasts, died on November 30, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. He was 62 years old.

Mr. Cates was born on August 29, 1958, to Eleanor and David Cates. He grew up in New York City, attending The Buckley School before enrolling at St. Paul’s School in the fall of 1971. Mr. Cates competed with Delphian and Halcyon. Upon graduation, Mr. Cates enrolled at the University of Chicago, where he earned a B.A. in 1981. He pursued a career in finance, first with Towers Perrin and then with Kaiser Permanente. He retired from finance in 2001 to devote himself to the study and performance of early Baroque keyboard music, especially that written for the harpsichord, his favored instrument. In addition to playing concerts throughout the U.S., Mr. Cates recorded and released harpsichord music by J. S. Bach and Johann Froberger. Mr. Cates also was a wonderful chef, who mastered the arts of Thai, French, and Chinese cookery. He charmed his many dinner guests with an innovative style and ornate presentation.

Mr. Cates was predeceased by his father, David. He is survived by his mother, Eleanor; his daughters, Melanie and Sophie; his partner, Deanne, and her daughters, Ava and Hannah; and his siblings, Gwendolyn, Eli, Marjorie, and Lilian.

1981 Claudia Rhodes

Who went to California with dreams of writing screenplays, died on November 19, 2020, in Pennsylvania from complications related to lupus. She was 57.

Claudia was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on September 15, 1963, to Loretta Rhodes and Claude Paulette. She came to St. Paul’s through A Better Chance, a college preparatory program in New York City that helps academically gifted students of color choose and apply for admission to top-tier high schools. A teacher had recommended Claudia for the program. Claudia enrolled at SPS as a Fourth Former in the fall of 1978. She danced with the SPS Ballet Company, was a member of the Third World Coalition, and was involved with the school radio station, WSPS.

After graduating from St. Paul’s, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale in 1985 and a master’s in cinema studies from New York University in 1999. Claudia maintained a passion for both arts and social justice throughout her life. She wrote three screenplays, one about the struggles of African Americans that caught the attention of directors Spike Lee and Keenan Ivory Wayans. She worked as a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 15 years prior to her illness, and volunteered with cancer survivors.

Claudia is survived by her sister, Regina Rhodes; her brother, Neal Rhodes; and several nieces and a nephew.

Former Faculty/Interim Rector Clifford J. Gillespie, Jr.

A longtime SPS faculty member and coach, known for his high standards, compassion, and sense of fairness, who stepped in as Interim Rector during the 1996-97 academic year, died peacefully at home on February 21, 2021, surrounded by his loving family and caregivers after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 88.

Born in Revere, Mass., on December 7, 1932, to Clifford J. Gillespie, Sr. and Viola (Sylvester) Gillespie, Cliff was the second of five children. He graduated from Weymouth High School in 1950, where he was a star right guard in football and won Division I State Championships with his team. The first of his family to attend college, he went to Tufts University, where he served as co-captain of the freshman football team before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1951. He completed jet school in Las Vegas and was the youngest to achieve the rank of Staff Sergeant. Under the G.I. Bill, Cliff enrolled at the University of New Hampshire and majored in chemistry. He graduated cum laude in 1959, and completed his master’s in science teaching in 1964. While at UNH, he played varsity football and also two years of semi-pro football, before being introduced to the game of lacrosse by the legendary coach, A. Barr “Whoops” Snively. The coach became his greatest mentor and role model and instilled in Cliff a true love of the game. He earned honorable mention All-American honors as a senior.

In 1959, Cliff moved to Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., with his new bride, Alina, where he taught math and science, coached, and served as dormitory head. He led the varsity football and junior varsity hockey teams at the school, before starting the lacrosse program, at first scrounging for sticks, helmets, and other equipment, before the sport became officially recognized. Following his five years at Proctor, in 1964 he joined the faculty at St. Paul’s School, where he served over the years as a science teacher, chair of the Science Department, dean of students, and, ultimately, Interim Rector, before retiring from the School in 1998. During his tenure at SPS, Cliff gained a reputation as a dedicated and disciplined teacher, head of house, and mentor. He was instrumental in launching a new science curriculum at the School, helping to integrate computers into the classroom, and the renovation and redesign of the Payson Science Building. He also taught organic chemistry as part of the Advanced Studies Program for N.H. high school students for many summers and also spent summers as a teacher specialist at the UNH Math & Science Institute. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics from the National Science Foundation as well as the Certificate of Excellence from the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars for his teaching and contributions to the field of education.

In 1973, Cliff became head coach of the SPS boys lacrosse team, crafting his distinct brand of coaching, which led to five consecutive league championships. He inspired his team to three straight undefeated seasons between 1980 and 1982, including a string of 40 consecutive wins. He was known for his strict conditioning regimen, including running “The Loop,” and for his philosophy of lacrosse as a way of life, requiring character, teamwork, and loyalty. Among other honors, he was named the Independent School League’s Coach of the Year four times; voted the Independent School Lacrosse Association’s Man of the Year in 1993; and, in 1994, became the first-ever recipient of the Carroll Jr. Exemplary Coach of Year Award from the US Lacrosse Association. Later, he was inducted into the New England Hall of Fame for lacrosse, where there is a bronze statue bearing his name. Affectionately nicknamed “The Rock,” Cliff had a commanding presence but compassionate core and always led by example, never expecting more from his players than he asked of himself. According to SPS records, he was listed as the teacher who most influenced several Presidential Scholar recipients. In addition to his vocational passions, Cliff earned a second-degree black belt in karate; restored antiques; studied ceramics under renowned potter Peter Sabin; and crafted stone walls at the family’s home in Dunbarton. In retirement, Cliff and Alina joined St. John’s Episcopal Church in Dunbarton, serving in the vestry under former SPS Rector The Reverend Kelly Clark. Cliff also was a member of the Board of Trustees of The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Mass., for 10 years, served on the Board of Directors of N.H. Child and Family Services for three years, and was a Dunbarton town representative on the School Superintendent Search Committee. While on sabbatical, the Gillespies enjoyed travel to Austria, England, Greece, Poland, and Switzerland, among other places. They also toured Asia while representing St. Paul’s during Cliff’s year as Interim Rector.

Throughout his life, Cliff believed in striving for excellence; giving freely and willingly of one’s time to others; playing tough but with fairness and compassion; and remaining true to oneself. His pursuits were inextricably tied to his students. For him, working hard was its own reward. In all of his endeavors, he was supported and encouraged by Alina, who embodied similar values. Cliff’s role, put simply, was that of a catalyst in the growth and development of adolescents. He was wholly committed to the life of the School and those associated with it. His reach extends well beyond the limits of the campus to those around the globe whose lives he has touched, and by whom he was touched in return. In honor of his lifelong commitment to education, In 1997, the Board of Trustees at St. Paul’s established the Clifford J. Gillespie Medal. It is awarded each year to the student who best embodies the qualities of “honesty, integrity, and an eagerness to undertake the tasks, great and small, that make the School a better place.” In 1991, the Anderson-Gillespie Lacrosse Trophy was established at Governor’s Academy by Peter Bragdon, headmaster, and Dave Van Ness, coach, both longtime friends, to honor Cliff’s coaching success and his personal devotion to the game of lacrosse. Upon its opening in 2005, the fitness center in the SPS Athletics and Fitness Center was named in his honor, with the commemorative plaque reading: “Gillespie Strength and Fitness Center – Given by friends and former players in honor of Clifford J. Gillespie and his ability to inspire commitment, teamwork, sportsmanship, excellence, and dedication in us all.”

Cliff’s most prized possession was his iconic red Ford pickup truck, presented to him by the SPS Trustees upon his retirement. He maintained the status of faculty emeritus for the rest of his life. When reflecting on his career, he said, “I think the best thing I’ve done – to take a phrase from Kelly Clark – is to be a laborer in the vineyard.”

Cliff is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Alina; his daughters, Dede Moubayed ’79 and her husband, Peter, and Susie Gillespie ’81; his grandson, Zander; his brother, Robert Gillespie and his wife, Debbie Wheeler; his sister-in-law, Donna Gillespie; his brother-in-law, Malcolm Wiley; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his eldest brother, Wesley Gillespie; his brother, John Gillespie; his sister, Wilma Wiley; and his dear friend, Bruce Van Ness.