In Memoriam
The section was updated May 6, 2020. 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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1939 Goodwin Warner Millar
A man who was always ready to lend a helping hand to relatives, friends, and community members, died in Brookline, Mass., on March 7, 2020, at the age of 98. Born on July 2, 1921, Mr. Millar grew up in Plymouth, Mass., with his parents, James and Margaret Warner Millar, and three siblings. His father, descended from a 19th century Scottish immigrant, was founder of the Millar Coal Company. Mr. Millar came to St. Paul’s School in the fall of 1933, following in the footsteps of his two older brothers, James ’35 and Robert ’36. He was known as a cheerful friend, hard worker, and energetic hockey, baseball, and football player. Whether he was in the classroom, on the field with Old Hundred, or on the water with Halcyon, his teachers, coaches, and fellow students admired his determination.
After two years studying at Harvard, Mr. Millar served three years in the Navy aboard a destroyer stationed in the Pacific, where he helped provide fleet fire support during the invasions of the Marshall Islands, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. His ship was grounded in heavy fog off the Farallon Islands in San Francisco Bay in 1944, but there were no casualties. Once home, he graduated from the Bentley School of Accounting (now Bentley College) and, in 1965, received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Northeastern University. His 30-year career in accounting included a longtime post with Sager Electrical Supply Company of Hingham, Mass., where he served as treasurer until his retirement in 1986.
Mr. Millar was interested in genealogy and enjoyed playing tennis and bridge. He was deeply involved in the affairs of the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, and served for 25 years as treasurer, trustee, and licensed lay preacher. He was a founding member of Springhouse Assisted Living in Jamaica Plain, residing there from 1996 through 2004, until he moved to Goddard House Brookline and became a parishioner of St. Paul’s Church in Brookline. He was a regular supporter of several radio ministries, as well as a number of other charities. In 2005, Mr. Millar became one of the founding fathers of the Helping Hand Mission of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Mr. Millar also was a longtime supporter of St. Paul’s. He was “gung ho” for the 75th anniversary in 2014 and enjoyed catching up with his former classmates.
Mr. Millar was predeceased by his brothers, James ’35 and Robert ’36; his sister, Hetty; and his nephew, Barclay L. Millar ’62. He is survived by his nephews, Robert G. Millar, Jr. ’59 and James Millar ’60, and nieces Lucy Millar Brett and Joan Millar Lincoln; his grandnephew, Alexander C. Millar ’92; his grandniece, Jessica Lincoln ’93; and great-grandnephew, Alexander C. Millar, Jr. ’24.
1940 Schofield Andrews, Jr.
Died on February 24, 2020, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He was 97 years old. Born on April 28, 1922, in Philadelphia, he was the son of Schofield Andrews of the Form of 1906 and Lilian Forsyth (Brown) Andrews and the brother to Stuart B. Andrews ’42 and Stockton A. Andrews ’46. At St. Paul’s, Mr. Andrews was a member of Le Cercle Français, The Scientific Association, and Phi Beta Kappa. He rowed and played golf, hockey, and squash. Known as quiet and industrious, among his happiest St. Paul’s memories was the half-hour after Evensong, “when most of the School had filed out of the Chapel, the lights dimmed, and Mr. Thomas and his assistant gave an organ recital.”
After graduating from Harvard, Mr. Andrews enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943. He was transferred to the Office of Strategic Services, X-2 (counterespionage), and served with British Intelligence, MI6, Section 5, European Theatre of Operations from 1943 to 1946. He returned to SPS in 1946 and 1947 as a French and German teacher, head of house, and crew coach. For the next few years, he joined the CIA as an agent in Berlin, before returning in 1950 to study French at Middlebury College. That same year, he married Mary Stair Dempwolf, whom he met in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Together the couple had four children, Mary, Schofield, Lilian ’73, and Laurence ’77, before they divorced in 1963. From Middlebury, Mr. Andrews returned to Harvard for his A.M. and Ph.D. in linguistics. He taught French, German, and Latin at the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass., and acted as head of the middle school and assistant headmaster, before finding a position as assistant dean of Harvard College. He also served as secretary of the faculty of arts and sciences and lecturer in French and linguistics.
After an early retirement in 1968, Mr. Andrews married Judith “Jude” Helen Ogilvie on December 22, 1969. The couple moved to Northeast Harbor, where Mr. Andrews served as a vestryman of St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea, president of the NEH Tennis and Swim Club, vice president of the Pot and Kettle, and a member of the NEH Library corporation. The couple visited St. Paul’s often while his children were students, enjoying the grounds and visiting old haunts. In 1987, the couple moved to Jackson Hole, Wyo., and then to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in 2002 to be closer to Jude’s family. Mr. Andrews stayed in touch with St. Paul’s and attended his 60th reunion in 2000. Mr. Andrews loved languages and often traveled to a country for several months in order to learn and practice a new language. He was fluent in French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian and studied Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Medieval French. In addition to languages, he was an avid hiker, Nordic skier, naturalist, and sailor. His early love of reading and opera continued throughout his life.
Mr. Andrews is survived by his wife, Jude; his four children, Mary Stair Andrews, Schofield Andrews III, Lilian F.B. Andrews ’73, and Laurence F.B. Andrews ’77; seven grandchildren, including Katherine M. Beck ’12; and two great-grandsons. He was predeceased by his brothers, Stuart B. Andrews ’42 and Stockton A. Andrews ’46. His nephew, Alexander M. Andrews ’74 is also an SPS graduate.
1945 Amory “Amo” Houghton, Jr.
A polite and generous man of grace, who proudly served as president of the SPS Board of Trustees; two decades as chairman and CEO of Corning Glass Works; and nine terms as a member of the United States Congress, died peacefully, of natural causes, on March 4, 2020, at his home in Corning N.Y. He was 93. Mr. Houghton was born on August 7, 1926, one of five children of Laura and Amory Houghton, Sr. (Form of 1917), in a family of businessmen and public servants. His great-great-grandfather founded Corning Incorporated in Somerville, Mass., in 1851. In 1868, the company relocated to upstate New York. His grandfather, Alanson Houghton (Form of 1882), ran the business and served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being appointed in the mid-1920s as U.S. Ambassador to Germany and then later to The Court of St. James. Mr. Houghton’s father, Amory, Sr., was the U.S. Ambassador to France under President Eisenhower.
In the fall of 1941, Mr. Houghton arrived at St. Paul’s as a Third Former. He was a member of the Library Association, sang with the Choir and Glee Club, and competed with Isthmian and Halcyon. He graduated in January of 1945 and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was honorably discharged in 1946. Mr. Houghton continued his education at Harvard, where he earned his B.A. in 1950 and his M.B.A. in 1952. He joined Corning that same year, became president in 1961, and chairman and CEO in 1964. During Mr. Houghton’s tenure, sales increased more than five-fold and employment grew to more than 29,000 worldwide. Passionately committed to research and development, Mr. Houghton shepherded such innovations as Corning Ware, Corelle Dinner- ware, automotive catalytic converters, specialized flat glass now used on smart phones, and optical fiber, which revolutionized the telecommunications industry and ushered in the Internet era.
In 1986, three years after he stepped down as chairman and CEO of Corning, Mr. Houghton was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving until 2004. During his 18-year career in Washington, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Budget and Ways and Means. A natural consensus builder, he used his patient salesmanship to defuse partisan disagreements and tackle problems through cooperation. He was popular among members of both parties for his self-deprecating sense of humor and relentless work ethic. Mr. Houghton was a co-founder and chairman of The Republican Main Street Partnership, dedicated to supporting members of his party who spoke with a more moderate voice. Together with his friend and congressional classmate John L. Lewis, he served as co-chairman of the Faith and Politics Institute. He was one of a handful of Republicans who opposed the impeachment of President Clinton and the authorization of force in Iraq. Mr. Houghton was a passionate supporter of the United Nations and the principal force behind Nelson Mandela being awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1998. When he retired from politics in 2004, France bestowed on him its highest civilian honor, La Légion d’Honneur, in recognition of his efforts to improve relations with the United States.
A devoted member of the SPS alumni community, Mr. Houghton dedicated many years to ensuring the School’s strength and vitality. He made many of his closest lifelong friends at the School. Mr. Houghton served as a trustee from 1964 to 1985. His term as president of the SPS board (1966-74) included the introduction of exchange programs between then all-male St. Paul’s and all-female peer institutions Dana Hall School and Concord Academy. The exchanges led to the establishment of coeducation at St. Paul’s in the winter of 1971, an effort Mr. Houghton championed. He also brought the first female trustees onto the SPS board, ensuring more gender balance in School leadership, and was a leader during the transition between the Rectorships of Matthew Warren and William Oates in 1970. Mr. Houghton served as national chairman for the School’s first capital campaign – The Fund for SPS – in the late 1970s, which, in early 1980, exceeded its $30 million goal for increasing the endowment (equivalent to over $100 million today). During his tenure on the board, he also helped to raise the funds for Ohrstrom Library and oversaw the comple- tion of several major capital improvements, including the expansion of the hockey rinks and dining facilities, the refurbishment of the former Hargate Building into a fine arts facility, and new buildings for music, dance, and theatre. For his excellence in his professional life and his service to the School, Mr. Houghton was a 2000 recipient of the SPS Alumni Association Award, the School’s most distinguished honor for its graduates.
He also was a community leader as a member of the board of directors of BF Goodrich, Citibank, Genentech, IBM, Owens Corning, New York Telephone and The Proctor and Gamble Company. He was a member of The Business Council and co-founded the Labor/Industry Coalition for International Trade. Mr. Houghton also was president of The Episcopal Theological Seminary and was a two-time overseer of Harvard University. He served as a Trustee of the Brookings Institute and the Corning Museum of Glass. Mr. Houghton was devoted to his family, including his four children. He married the former Ruth West in 1950. In 1989, he was remarried to Priscilla Dewey. The couple enjoyed 23 years of marriage until her death on July 6, 2012. He was most at ease in the place he called home his entire life, Corning, N.Y., where he was a larger-than-life presence. Mr. Houghton was a member and past president of the Corning Rotary Club and played drums in a local swing band. He was a kind man, who always lived by the words of the St. Paul’s School Prayer.
Amo Houghton is survived by his brother, James Houghton ’54; his children, Amory Houghton III ’70, Robert Houghton ’73, Sarah Houghton, and Katherine “Quincy” Houghton ’80; nine grandchildren, including Parker Grayson ’11 and Philip Grayson ’15; and one great-grandson. In addition to his wife, Priscilla, he was predeceased by his brother, Alanson Houghton ’48, and his sisters, Elizabeth Weinberg and Meme Houghton. Several other relatives also attended SPS.
1946 Wynne James III
An author and international affairs analyst who served in the CIA, died on January 14, 2020, in Washington, D.C. He was 91. Mr. James was born on March 4, 1928, in Doylestown, Pa., to Wynne James, Jr. and Virginia Freeman. His great-grandfather, Dr. William Williams Keen (the first brain surgeon in the U.S.), was among the team of surgeons who removed a tumor from President Grover Cleveland’s mouth – on a boat, in secret – to hide Cleveland’s health scare from the public. The covert surgery is recounted in the book The President is a Sick Man.
When Mr. James turned 14, St. Paul’s followed up on a letter written by his mother 13 years earlier, expressing her desire that he attend the School. He entered in 1943, following the path of his mother’s two brothers. At SPS, Mr. James sang in the Glee Club and Choir and was a member of the Debate Team, the Scientific Association, and the Acolyte’s Guild. He played football, hockey, and basketball. He maintained a love of hockey throughout his life. Mr. James earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton in 1950 and a master of international affairs from Columbia in 1971. He believed he had received his best education at St. Paul’s, noting that his teachers had taught him to value learning more than grades, a lesson that freed him to explore his studies without fear of a less-than-perfect mark. Mr. James was an international affairs analyst, energy official, genealogist, and the author of a number of books and various articles, including a letter published in The New York Times revealing that FDR and Winston Churchill were blood cousins, knew it, and shielded this from public knowledge. His 54-year federal career began in 1950, at the start of the Korean War, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, teaching Russian to Army intelligence students. He went on to serve in the CIA and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense. In the mid-1970s, Mr. James became a charter member of the fledgling energy agency that would become the U.S. Department of Energy. He served as director of energy importing nations and deputy head of NATO’s Petroleum Planning Committee. In a com- mitment to energy conservation, Mr. James started commuting to and from work by bicycle, racking up 150,000 miles over many years of pedaling to the office.
Mr. James and his first wife, Greta Weik, had three daughters. He married twice more and had a son and daughter with his third wife, Dr. Elizabeth Boyd. She survives him, along with five children, Suan Ahalt, Nina Hochevar, Anne Harman, Benjamin James, and Caroline James; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
1946 David T. McGovern
A former trustee of St. Paul’s School and a fervent promoter of Franco-American relations, died at his home in Paris on February 7, 2020. He was 91. The son of Coleman Benedict McGovern and Doris Mangam McGovern, Mr. McGovern was born on April 3, 1928, in New York City. He attended The Buckley School in New York before enrolling at St. Paul’s as a Third Former in the fall of 1942. While at SPS, Mr. McGovern was a member of the Glee Club and the Cadmean/ Concordian Literary Society, served on the Student Council and as a prefect, and wrote for The Pelican. He rowed and played football and hockey. Mr. McGovern said he learned the importance of basic values and ethics, public speaking, and having diverse friendships during his time at St. Paul’s, according to a 50th reunion questionnaire.
“Remember that life is a combination of many things that when they come together successfully is great,” he wrote in 1996. “Don’t believe that work or leisure is enough. The most important to remember is that people still count more than money or titles. Work at personal relationships; they really pay off.” After graduating from SPS, Mr. McGovern attended Yale. His undergraduate studies were interrupted by service as a Field Artillery Lieutenant in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. He then attended Columbia Law School, where he met his beloved wife, Maggie, and graduated in 1955. Mr. McGovern enjoyed a long career as a partner at Shearman and Sterling, a global law firm based in New York. He founded a Paris office in 1967 and became senior partner. He appeared several times in the “Who’s Who” in Finance and Industry during his career. He retired in 2000. His work for Shearman and Sterling allowed Mr. McGovern to develop lifelong connections in Paris. For nearly 40 years, he was a trustee and chairman of the American University of Paris, where he oversaw the university’s development from a two-year college to a master’s university, the only foreign-accredited institution of higher learning on French soil.
Mr. McGovern split his time between New York, Prouts Neck, Maine, and Paris. He held leadership positions at the American Hospital, American Cathedral, Travelers Club, and many other organizations in France. His greatest achievement was being awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 1983. He served as a trustee at St. Paul’s from 1985 to 1989, a duty he performed with honor. Mr. McGovern also served in the American Chamber of Commerce of Paris, including a term as president from 1979 to 1982, and later on the board of directors. In 2008, he was awarded the Extraordinary Dedication Award from the American Hospital of Paris, where he was a past director. His daughters, Justine and Alexandra, said that despite his many achievements in life, they will remember their father most for his unwavering love of family, gift for friendship, wonderful sense of humor, and irresistible storytelling.
Mr. McGovern leaves behind his two daughters and loving grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Maggie McGovern, and his brother Coleman “Terry” Benedict McGovern, Jr. ’41.
1947 The Rt. Rev. G. P. Mellick Belshaw
The Ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, from 1983 to 1994, died peacefully on February 29, 2020, at home in Princeton, N.J. He was 91. Born on July 14, 1928 in Plainfield, N.J., Mellick Belshaw was the only child of Edith Mellick and The Rev. Harold Belshaw, who immigrated to America from Wigan, England. Mr. Belshaw spent his early years in Paris, where his father was on the church staff of the American cathedral, before moving to Manhattan and then New Haven, Conn. He attended The Buckley School in New York and graduated from the Foote School in New Haven before entering St. Paul’s School as a First Former in the fall of 1941. At SPS, Mr. Belshaw was a good athlete, competing with Isthmian in football, hockey, and baseball and centering a line on the varsity team of 1946-47. Scoring a goal at Madison Square Garden was a particularly fond memory. He served as an officer of the Missionary Society, a member of Der Deutsche Verein, and vice president of his class.
He took time off between SPS and college to work as a steward on the Cunard Line before entering The University of the South, where he completed his B.A. in three years, graduating with the class of 1951. He entered the General Theological Seminary in New York, graduating in June of 1954. He married Elizabeth (Betsy) Wheeler and was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston before driving across the country that summer and eventually arriving in Hawaii in late August. Mr. Belshaw was ordained to the full priesthood at St. Chris- topher’s Church in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii, that December, serving the next three years as vicar of St. Matthew’s Church in Oahu during which he helped construct a new parish church. He returned to General Seminary in 1957, earning a S.T.M degree and serving as a seminary tutor. From 1959 to 1965, Mr. Belshaw was the rector of Christ Church in Dover, Delaware, and from 1965 to 1975 served as rector of St. George’s-by-the-River in Rumson, New Jersey. He was elected Suffragen Bishop of New Jersey, consecrated in February of 1975, and served in that capacity for eight years before being elected on the first ballot to be the Diocesan bishop in 1983.
Mr. Belshaw had a lifelong, scholarly interest in mystical prayer and his educational work included serving as essayist, book reviewer, and occasional editor at The Anglican Theological Review, visiting lecturer in ascetical theology at General Seminary, fellow of the College of Preachers in Washington, D.C., member of the American Teilhard de Chardin Association, and the Coalition of Religious Leaders of New Jersey. He edited two books on Lenten meditations based on the writings of Evelyn Underhill and Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple. He wrote articles and essays for various publications. He was awarded doctor of divinity degrees from General Seminary, The University of the South, and Hamilton College. In addition, he served the national Episcopal Church on the Economic Justice Implementation Committee, the Joint Commission on Peace, and as president of the Episcopal Urban Caucus. Mr. Belshaw faithfully served General Theological Seminary as trustee from 1975 to 2006, including eight years as board chairman in the 1990s. He retired as the longest-serving trustee in the seminary’s history. He and his wife, Betsy, were active for over 40 years at Trinity Church in Princeton, where he celebrated his 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood last December and where a building on the parish grounds housing non-profit organizations was named in honor of them both. He also served as the summer chaplain at St. James Episcopal Church in Prouts Neck, Maine, for 36 years.
Mr. Belshaw served as a form director from 2002 to 2007. In 2002, he was the recipient of the SPS Alumni Association Award. He was a member of the John Hargate Society, having remembered SPS in his estate plans. He was a passionate sailor, who owned and cared for an old wooden sailboat, a Leuders-16, for 60 years. In his youth, he and friends would often sail down east Maine for days at a time. Perhaps his happiest moments were summer sails with friends and family off the coast of Maine.
Mr. Belshaw was predeceased on June 17, 2014, by his beloved wife, Betsy. He is survived by his three children, the Rev. Richard Belshaw ’75, Elizabeth Belshaw Ham, and George P.M. Belshaw, Jr., their spouses, and seven grandchildren including Emily Belshaw (now known as M Slater) ’12. At his request, the St. Paul’s School Prayer was among the readings at his graveside service in Princeton.
1949 Kenneth Burt
A lover of opera, gardening, books, and travel, and a man known for his strong principles and wit, died on January 11, 2020, at the New Pond Village Memory Care Center in Walpole, Mass. Born in London to Irene Franks and Eric Henry Burt, Mr. Burt moved to America on May 8, 1945 – V-E Day – at the age of 13. He settled in Middleburg, Va., with his mother and stepfather. Soon after moving to America, Mr. Burt enrolled at St. Paul’s, the place his daughter, Daphne Burt, said he called his first true home in the U.S. Mr. Burt managed the St. Paul’s ice hockey team, acted in many theater productions, sang in the Glee Club, wrote for The Pelican, and participated in the Acolyte’s Guild. He was a proud member of Old Hundred.
His family said Mr. Burt was most proud of originating the soccer team on campus in 1945. He convinced the School to allow the soccer team to compete interscholastically, and they played games against several other schools in the region. At the time, St. Paul’s soccer games became so popular that the School had to reschedule intramural football games to accommodate them. Mr. Burt played every minute of every soccer game from 1946 to 1948. From St. Paul’s, Mr. Burt went to Yale, graduating in 1953. An English major, cross country runner, and lightweight crew coxswain, Mr. Burt met the love of his life, Sally Riley Robinson, on a blind date at Vassar in 1952. Their first conversation was about Shakespeare and garden imagery in one of his plays. The rest was history. The couple was married in 1955 and lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where their children, Daphne and Eric, were born. Mr. and Mrs. Burt shared interests in gardening, golf, music, opera and travel. Mr. Burt was particularly fond of Gilbert and Sullivan, something he shared with his family.
The family moved to Dedham, Mass., when Mr. Burt was hired by First National Bank of Boston in 1960. After a brief sojourn in Marion, Mass., Mr. and Mrs. Burt returned to Dedham and Mr. Burt retired from the bank as senior vice president and assistant to the CEO. His family said he worked hard to provide for his children; it was especially important to him that Daphne and Eric have opportunities to pursue higher education. He was immensely proud when Daphne took a job as an associate chaplain and humanities teacher at St. Paul’s from 2007-08. In every aspect of his life, Mr. Burt demonstrated his commitment to his family, his work, community organizations, and God. He was an active member of St. Paul’s Church in Dedham, where he was a reader and lay eucharistic minister. He volunteered for the Dedham Historical Society as treasurer for almost 10 years and also volunteered as financial adviser to several seniors in the area. Mr. Burt served Yale as an alumni interviewer, member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Yale Alumni, class represen- tative for the Alumni Fund, president of the Yale Club of Boston, and a faithful presence at Yale-Harvard football games. He maintained close connections with his friends from St. Paul’s, and served as form agent and form director. He was a member of the John Hargate Society. In 2010, when he and his wife moved to Fox Hill Village, he kept a photo of the “old boys” from the Form of 1949 by his bed.
Mr. Burt enjoyed golfing at Kittansett in Marion and continued to play into his late 70s, even scoring a hole in one on the fifth hole of the Dedham Country and Polo Club. He loved traveling and, with his wife, took nearly annual trips to Italy, cruised throughout the Mediterranean, and was grateful to be able to visit the Holy Land and Egypt. Mr. Burt was a proud grandfather and thrilled to be able to watch his three grandchildren, Betsy, Brooks and Emily, grow up into young adulthood. They survive him, as do his wife, Sally; his children, Daphne and Eric; and many other family members and friends.
1949 Charles Swords Hoppin
A respected financial attorney and a gifted sailor and singer, died on December 18, 2019, in New York City. He was 88. Mr. Hoppin, who went by Charlie, was born on September 4, 1931, to Mary Willis Swords and Frederic Gallatin Hoppin. He entered St. Paul’s in the fall of 1944 and was an active member of the campus community, participating in the Choir, the Glee club, the Acolyte’s Guild, and the Dramatic Club. He rowed and played hockey and soccer. He also served as president of the Library Association and as a dorm proctor and was named the Fifth Form’s Ferguson Scholar. Several other family members also attended St. Paul’s, including his grandfather, Charles R. Swords (Form of 1890), and his brother, Frederic G. Hoppin, Jr. ’52. After graduating summa cum laude from St. Paul’s, Mr. Hoppin went to Harvard, graduating in 1953, also summa cum laude. He studied architecture for two years at Princeton, and subsequently worked for a year as a city planner while taking night courses at Yale. Mr. Hoppin eventually enrolled at Columbia Law School, a move that launched his long career as an internationally respected financial attorney, part-time law professor, and mentor to generations of young lawyers.
Mr. Hoppin graduated second in his law school class and served as notes editor of the Columbia Law Review. He clerked for California Supreme Court Justice Roger J. Traynor, one of the leading jurists of the 20th century, before focusing on bank financing and debt restructuring. He spent the bulk of his career at Davis Polk & Wardwell, an international law firm, becoming a partner in 1968. Between 1976 and 1978, Mr. Hoppin headed Davis Polk’s London office, where he was involved in the restructuring of Turkey’s sovereign debt. After returning to New York, he represented JPMorgan and other major financial institutions on their largest and most complex financial projects, including the debt restructuring of International Harvester and Chrysler. At Davis Polk, Mr. Hoppin was well known and respected for the many hours he devoted to training the firm’s newest lawyers. He also worked as a part-time professor at Fordham Law School and continued to teach for many years after retiring. His other positions included serving as a trustee of Robert College of Istanbul for more than 30 years and as a director of Nashua Corporation.
Outside of work, Mr. Hoppin enjoyed sailing, a hobby he learned as a boy on Long Island Sound and continued throughout his life, despite lingering physical challenges from the polio he contracted when he was 15. At Harvard, he was the sailing team’s captain and earned a spot in the Intercollegiate Hall of Fame. He continued to race and cruise with his family all his life, relishing the time spent outdoors. He also was a gifted musician, singing with the Harvard Glee Club when it served as the chorus for the Boston Symphony. He continued to perform with other choral groups throughout his life.
Charlie Hoppin is survived by Nancy, his wife of 39 years; his son, David; two daughters, Ashley and Margot ’00; four grandchildren; his brothers, Fred ’56 and Tom; and many nieces and nephews. They will remember him for his warm smile and kindness, his courage, and strong values.
1949 Richard “Dick” Joseph Woodward
A true gentleman with a great sense of humor, and the sponsor and promoter of the world’s first human-powered airplane, the Gossamer Albatross, died on January 3, 2020, in Hockessin, Del. He was 88. The son of Richard Henley and Genevieve MacMaster Woodward, Mr. Woodward was born in New York City in March 1931. He spent his childhood in New York and attended St. Bernard’s School before enrolling at St. Paul’s School as a Second Former. During his time at St. Paul’s, Mr. Woodward was a member of the Debate Team, wrote for The Pelican, and was an officer of one of the literary societies. He also played soccer and squash. A member of the Dramatic Club, he played lead roles in Command Decision and High Tor.
Mr. Woodward was described by teachers as an “articulate thinker” with “outstanding ability.” In a 1948 letter to Princeton’s admission office, Director of Studies Francis Lloyd wrote of Mr. Woodward’s performance of Brigadier General K.C. Dennis in Command Decision, “I had seen the play previously in New York and I must say that he stood up extraordinarily well to Paul Kelly’s performance, a very remarkable thing for a young boy to do.” Mr. Woodward’s wife, JoAnne, said he was immensely proud of being a St. Paul’s graduate. “He always said he was educated at St. Paul’s, the rest was for credentials,” Mrs. Woodward said. She added that her husband passed on his love of St. Paul’s to their son, Dick “Fritz” Woodward, Jr. ’80. Mr. Woodward attended Princeton University after leaving Concord, rooming with St. Paul’s friends Trip Weed ’49 and Tom Matthews ’49. He graduated Princeton with honors.
After Princeton, he served as a field artillery officer during the Korean War before moving to Wilmington, Del., to begin a 39-year career in corporate communications with the DuPont Company. As associate director of public affairs, he was responsible for strategy and programming of DuPont’s advertising campaigns. During his career, he worked on projects spanning the mediums of television, radio, and film, earning many prestigious honors, including two Emmy Awards. Mr. Woodward is best remembered as the sponsor and promoter of the world’s first human-powered airplane, Gossamer Albatross. The plane was a pedal-powered glider flown across the English Channel in 1979 to world acclaim, a congressional gold medal, and two dozen prizes and awards. The airplane was de- signed by Dr. Paul MacCready using DuPont products. And, incredibly, Mr. Woodward managed to have the English Channel closed to traffic to accomplish this adventure. Mr. Woodward served as president and treasurer of the Delaware Zoological Society and as a member of several other community boards, including the Wilmington Rotary Club, the Wilmington Country Club, and the Explorer’s Club of New York City.
He was highly respected within his profession, a lovely, polite man with a wonderful sense of humor, known for thoughtful one-line answers to problems and events. While his business took him all over the world, Mr. Woodward especially loved spending time in Maritime Canada. He also loved the beaches of Delaware and was a very good fisherman. Being a grandfather to his five grandchildren was one of the greatest joys of his life. Dick Woodward was predeceased by his parents and beloved sister, Mary Hopping Woodward.
He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, JoAnne Duffy Woodward; his children, Richard Phillips Woodward ’80 and his wife, Jean Williams-Woodward, and Jean Woodward Maher; and five grandchildren, whom he adored.
1951 Robert Lewis “Bobby” Easton
Who came to St. Paul’s under protest and left grateful for his education and friends, died on February 20, 2020, of melanoma. He was 86. Mr. Easton was born in San Antonio, Texas, on April 20, 1933, to Colonel Robert Lewis Easton and Elizabeth Bennett Easton. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, John Mirza Bennett and Jamie Armstrong Bennett. Before coming to St. Paul’s, Mr. Easton attended the San Antonio Military Academy, where he was valedictorian and commandant of the corps. It was Mr. Easton’s behavior outside of school that brought him to St. Paul’s. Upset that he and his friends were gaining reputations as troublemakers, Mr. Easton’s grandparents enrolled him at St. Paul’s as a Third Former in the fall of 1947 to get him out of Texas and away from bad influences. Mr. Easton was so unhappy with their decision that he looked into taking a bus from Concord back to San Antonio. He couldn’t afford the ticket and decided to give St. Paul’s a try. By Christmas, he was enjoying his new setting and, for the rest of his life, he talked of the School proudly.
At SPS, Mr. Easton played squash, football, hockey, and baseball. When asked later what he gained at St. Paul’s, Mr. Easton said “a very fine education and some of the best friends on earth.” Mr. Easton went to Yale on a V-12 U.S. Navy scholarship for engineering. His time on the squash court at St. Paul’s paid off as he won the freshmen Squash Racquets Championship at Yale. Eager to return home after many years away at school, Mr. Easton transferred to the University of Texas in 1954. He married Elisabeth “Ziggy” Szilagyi two years later and together the couple raised four children. Unable to become a military pilot as he had hoped because of an injury sustained in a car accident, Mr. Easton went to work selling pipeline for oil drilling. He declined the offer of a leadership position in the company when he learned he’d have to move to a big city outside of Texas. Instead, Mr. Easton co-founded Zephyr Enterprises Inc. and, with his partner, developed and managed shopping centers and other commercial properties in and around Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.
Mr. Easton was an outdoorsman and golfer. He loved a cold Budweiser and a cigar on a porch with a great view, wade fishing, and leading a quail hunt in South Texas, where his dogs and Model 42 Winchester .410 pump shotgun were legendary. He also loved time with family and friends, from the beach house in Galveston and the ranch in Hempstead, Texas, to hockey games and hunting trips. Mr. Easton was past chairman and lifelong fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and a member of the River Oaks Country Club and Southern Hills Country Club. He was adamant that he be remembered with a cocktail party instead of a funeral.
Bobby Easton was predeceased by his wife, Elisabeth “Ziggy” Szilagyi Easton. He is survived by his children, Rob, Ben, Liza, and Laura; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
1951 William R. Wister, Jr.
A family man with a storied family history, died on November 23, 2019, following a back surgery. He was 86. Known as Billy, Mr. Wister was born on September 20, 1933, in New York City to Frances Stotesbury Mitchell and William Rotch Wister of the Form of 1923, both descendants of old Philadelphia and Boston families dating back to the 1600s and the Revolutionary War. On Mr. Wister’s father’s side, ancestors included great-great-grandmother, Fanny Kemble, an English actress who caused a scandal when she divorced her South Carolinian husband to become an abolitionist. Mr. Wister’s grandfather, Owen Wister of the Form of 1877, was a college classmate and intimate friend of Theodore Roosevelt and the author of The Virginian, regarded as a classic description of the American West. On Mr. Wister’s mother’s side, ancestors included William White, the country’s first presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Edward T. Stotesbury, a senior partner in Drexel & Co. for 30 years.
Mr. Wister entered St. Paul’s School as a Second Former from The Buckley School in New York City in 1946. He won the Tennis Cup in 1949 and 1950 and continued playing tennis, as well as golf, into his 80s and won many trophies. He also won New Hampshire’s ping pong championship when he was at SPS. Mr. Wister sang with the Choir and Glee Club, captained his squash team, and participated in the Dramatic Club, the Cadmean Literary Society, and the Propylean Literary Society. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1955, Mr. Wister served two years in Army Intelligence. He earned a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1961. Mr. Wister volunteered with President Kennedy’s reelection campaign while at Harvard and co-chaired Students for Kennedy at law school. He followed law school with two years in the Peace Corps, serving as special assistant to Director Sargent Shriver. He practiced law for just a few years before becoming a senior vice president at Janney Montgomery Scott, an investment and wealth management firm in Philadelphia. He left the firm in 1977 to start his own management asset company and retired in the 1980s. Throughout his life, Mr. Wister stayed in touch with his St. Paul’s teachers and formmates, and hosted them at his residences in Northeast Harbor, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Palm Beach, Fla. He loved math and writing equally. He was an accomplished duplicate bridge player and a master at writing comedy speeches, his family said. Mr. Wister and his wife, Diana Dorrance Strawbridge Wister, enjoyed spending time with family and friends from St. Paul’s and Harvard. Mr. Wister served on many charitable and corporate boards, including Brandywine Conservancy, where he was president and served as a board member for 21 years, and Lankenau Hospital. He also belonged to many athletic and social clubs.
Mr. Wister is survived by his wife, Diana; four children, Effie, Sabina, Noli, and Will; and four grandchildren.
1952 Edward Myron “Pete” Bull, Jr.
A lawyer who devoted his career to juvenile justice reform, died on October 29, 2019, in San Francisco. He was 85. Mr. Bull was born in New York City on July 16, 1934, to Edward “Pete” Myron Bull and Frances Patten Bull. He was groomed from a young age to take over the family business, a shipping company called The Bull Lines. He entered St. Paul’s School in the fall of 1947 and was a member of the Glee Club. He also rowed for Shattuck and played hockey and soccer for Isthmian. During school breaks, he worked as a cadet aboard his family’s ships.
Mr. Bull went on to study at Yale, where he rowed, raced sports cars, and, in 1956, earned a B.A. Mr. Bull enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was eventually stationed in Pearl Harbor, where he served as a gunnery officer aboard destroyers. After the sudden death of his father, Mr. Bull decided to honor the family’s shipping legacy by pursuing a career in maritime law. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1961 and moved to San Francisco to work for the firm of Graham & James. Outside of the office, he began to volunteer an increasing amount of time to representing local youth caught up in the criminal justice system. In a move inspired by the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s, Mr. Bull left the corporate job that would have, as his family put it, required him to “cut his hair, shave his mustache, and stop doing pro-bono work.” He turned his focus to juvenile justice reform, working as a staff attorney for the Youth Law Center in San Francisco and ultimately becoming the director of the National Center for Youth Law. Mr. Bull spearheaded the movement to force the courts and the state and federal governments to recognize the legal rights of children, handling many precedent-setting cases before the Ninth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. He also was one of the founders of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth and served for 35 years as a leader of its board.
He was well respected by his colleagues, his clients and their parents, as well as many other members of the advocacy community. His gentle manner belied his passion and outrage about the mistreatment of young people. According to his fellow advocates, when Peter spoke, everyone listened. His first marriage to Deirdre Blomfield Brown, a Buddhist teacher and author better known as Pema Chodron, ended in divorce in the mid-1960s. In 1978, Mr. Bull married the love of his life, Elaine Miller Bull. Together they became licensed pilots and, for many years, traveled around the country in their single-engine plane, with Mr. Bull becoming instrument rated and training in aerobatics. He also remained fascinated by cars and motorcycles. In retirement, Mr. Bull enjoyed traveling, train spotting, and spending time with his children and grandchildren in his home in San Francisco.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Bull’s survivors include his children, Arlyn P. Bull and Edward M. Bull III; his stepchildren, Kenneth Sandmann and Kathrine York; his sister and brother-in-law, Frances and Robert Bunn; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
1953 John R. “Jock” McLane III
Whose teaching and kindness left a lasting impression with colleagues in Northwestern University’s History Department, died on January 24, 2020, in Evanston, Ill. He was 84. Mr. McLane was born on September 21, 1935, in Cambridge, Mass., to John R. McLane Jr. ’34 and Blanche B. Marshall. He entered St. Paul’s School as a Fourth Former in 1950, following in the footsteps of his grandfather John R. McLane (Form of 1903), father, and uncles, Malcolm McLane ’42 and Charles McLane ’37. His brother, Angus McLane ’65, also attended SPS. Mr. McLane’s great-grandfather, John McLane served as governor of New Hampshire from 1905 to 1907. His cousin, Ann McLane Kuster, of New Hampshire is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mr. McLane grew up in Manchester, N.H., and was attending public high school there when he applied to St. Paul’s. He told the School that his most significant experiences had been living in an industrial city where so few people had the money or opportunity to go to college and working with men struggling to support their families on $60 a week. While at St. Paul’s, Mr. McLane played football and basketball and was a member of the Missionary and Literary Societies. Throughout his life, Mr. McLane was grateful for the intellectual and artistic experience he received at St. Paul’s. After SPS, Mr. McLane earned a B.A. in history from Harvard in 1957. He went on to a career in academia. During one semester at Harvard, Mr. McLane went on a six-month Experiment in International Living homestay trip to India. This was a life-changing event for him and the source of his subsequent interest in India and in social justice. Mr. McLane earned a Ph.D. from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies in 1961. He married Joan Brooks four years earlier, in 1957. They had two children while living in London.
In a long career, Mr. McLane taught South and Southeastern Asian History at Northwestern University from 1961 until he retired in 2010. He served as chair of Northwestern’s History Department three times and the associate dean of Weinberg College twice. He authored two major books, Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth Century Bengal and Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress, which won the Watumull Prize from the American Historical Association. Mr. McLane created and directed the university’s Asian American Studies program and played a significant role in expanding, diversifying, and internationalizing the college curriculum. He talked often about living out the values he learned at St. Paul’s. At Northwestern, he was also considered “quite possibly the nicest guy in the building – for over half a century.” When new colleagues joined the department, Mr. McLane extended a warm welcome, inviting them to meals, making sure they were settling in, asking after their families, and introducing them to peers in other departments. Off campus, Mr. McLane was an avid tennis player and a dedicated volunteer with a group trying to restore the prairies around Chicago. His interest in preserving green spaces in urban areas led him to teach a freshman seminar at Northwestern on the subject.
Mr. McLane is survived by his wife, Joan Brooks McLane; two children, Derek and Rebecca; and five grandchildren.
1954 John Milner Reily
A father, grandfather, and good friend to many, died on October 28, 2019. He was 83 years old. Mr. Reily was born in Los Angeles on May 11, 1936, to John McClintic Reily and Winifred Milner Reily. He grew up with two sisters, Joan and Priscilla, and attended the John Burroughs Junior High School in Los Angeles County before entering St. Paul’s School as a Fourth Former in the fall of 1951. At SPS, he wrote for The Pelican and was a mem- ber of La Junta. He also rowed for Halcyon and skied and played football for Delphian.
He went on to the University of Southern California, where he joined Beta Theta Pi. He became known for his smile, his laugh and the silver gin fizzes he whipped up in his blender on Saturday mornings before home football games. In 1958, Mr. Reily graduated from USC with a B.A. in economics. He married Barbara Peterson of Ventura, Calif., with whom he had three children, John (“Pete”), Jeff, and Michael. Mr. Reily’s father had acquired property in Squaw Valley, where the family owned an iconic ski chalet called Berghoff. The elder Mr. Reily began making plans to develop some of the land into a ski resort – an effort John soon joined. Their project, called Alpine Meadows, continues to operate today as a popular destination for locals and tourists. After his first marriage ended, Mr. Reily married Anne Healy in 1972. She had close ties to the East Coast, so he left the ski industry to work for the mortgage insurance firm Verex. They were together for 30 years, living in Massachusetts and New Jersey before settling in Chester Springs, Pa. They had one daughter, Kristen.
Mr. Reily returned to his home state to live in Del Mar, Calif., after his marriage to Anne dissolved. It was there that he met and married Mary Lou Baird. They soon moved to Arizona to care for her elderly parents. Later, the couple returned to California, where he assisted Mary Lou with her real estate activities. The Reilys were involved with World Vision International, a charity through which John and Mary Lou supported an underprivileged child from Ethiopia for many years.
In addition to his children and his wife, Mr. Reily is survived by six grandchildren and many friends.
1955 Robert H. “Jake” Roak
A celebrated teacher, enthusiastic community volunteer, and devoted husband and father, died suddenly on December 30, 2019, after what one of his daughters described as a “perfect” Christmas weekend with his family. His wife of 56 years, Betsy, died of a stroke just a few hours later on January 1, 2020. They were 82 and 77, respectively, and had just celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary.
Mr. Roak was born on June 2, 1937, in Philadelphia to Marian and John Roak. He attended the Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia before entering St. Paul’s in the fall of 1950. He was well liked by his classmates and teachers and participated in a number of campus organizations, including the Choir, the Glee club, and the Acolyte’s Guild. He wrote for Horae Scholasticae, rowed with Shattuck, and was a member of Old Hundred’s boxing, football, lacrosse, and hockey teams. He also served as a dorm proctor. After high school, Mr. Roak served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a public information officer at Parris Island, where he helped produce the base’s newspaper. He later joined the Pennsylvania National Guard, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and began his long career as a high school German teacher. In 1966, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Colorado.
During his final year at the University of Pennsylvania, he became engaged to Elizabeth “Betsy” Clement, also a teacher. The Roaks married and lived outside of Philadelphia in Blue Bell. Mr. Roak taught high school German at the William Penn Charter School and later at Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. In his long career, Mr. Roak won three Fulbright teacher exchange awards, which allowed him to live and work in Germany and Switzerland. He developed a network of friends abroad that helped him run a youth exchange program that exposed his family and students to people from around the world. After retiring in the late 1990s, the Roaks continued to support quality education by volunteering to run an after-school program in their community. Mr. Roak devoted many hours to Interfaith Hospitality Network, which helps homeless families become eligible for permanent housing, and Face to Face, a social service organization in Germantown, Pa. The family spent many summers in Maine, and Mr. Roak was active in multiple social clubs there and at home in Blue Bell. The Roaks also were active and beloved members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. In the days after their deaths, Interim Rector Rev. Canon Albert J. Ogle, wrote a letter to the congregation, calling the couple “pillars in this community” and reminiscing how, the last time he saw them, they were preparing to deliver poinsettias from the altar to neighbors unable to attend Christmas services. “Right to the end,” he wrote, “they were thinking of others.” The couple, he continued, “were inseparable in life and death. They lived their lives fully… and shared their love of family, country, and church with all of us. We are better for it, and we will miss them as they step out together on their next adventure.”
Mr. Roak is survived by his children, Christopher Roak, Jennifer Edgerton, and Lisa Budd, and their spouses; and nine grandchildren.
1962 Arthur Tipling “Tip” Sempliner
A distinguished industrial designer, who held more than 35 patents, died on January 21, 2020. He was 76. Mr. Sempliner was born on October 19, 1943, and was the eldest of three sons of Arthur W. Sempliner and Elaine Wood Semp- liner of Grosse Pointe, Mich. At SPS, he played lacrosse and football and was a member of the ski team, but his true passion was the arts. He served as president of the Arts Association, art editor of Horae Scholasticae, photographic editor of the Pictorial, and created staging for the Dramatic Club. During one summer break from school in the early 1960s, the industrious Mr. Sempliner worked for the Swedish Crucible Steel Company as a draftsman and earned $1,000. He studied industrial design and later earned his M.B.A. at the University of Michigan.
During his lifetime, he served as both a designer and as vice president at Dorwin Teague Associates (now known as Teague), president of Construcciónes Sempliner in Spain, and was the founder of Chelsea Design Associates in New York. He founded the latter in the late 1970s out of a 19th-century historic barn in Douglaston, N.Y., which he fully converted to a work and living space. Mr. Sempliner’s projects throughout his career ranged from vacuum coffee dispensing systems (for which he won the RetailEXPO POPAI Award) to packaging for Clairol to furniture prototypes for Knoll to Olympic bobsleds. A 1984 profile in Popular Mechanics called him a “veritable wizard” of invention. Throughout his life, Mr. Sempliner was drawn to creative ventures that combined artistry with pure ingenuity. In between his work as an inventor, Mr. Sempliner was a political cartoonist for The Bayside Edition of the TimesLedger newspaper, for which he won several awards from the New York Press Association. His family said he was known for a keen sense of humor and using it to comment on current events, politics, and pop culture. Tip spent the later years of his life living in Douglaston and became an adjunct professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he taught production methods in the Industrial Design Department. His students called him legendary for his knowledge of materials, manufacturing, and design. In one of his Pratt projects, he designed a lightweight tandem biodiesel car for a student-faculty team to prototype. Earlier in his life, Mr. Sempliner was an avid sailor. He had trained aboard his father’s sailboat, The Great Bear, and had skippered his own boat, The Mallard, to a number of racing victories, including the Newsday Cup in the 190-nautical-mile Around Long Island Regatta in 1980. He was vice commodore of the Douglaston Yacht Club in 1984 and commodore for several years after that.
Mr. Sempliner leaves his wife, Diana A. Saunders; his brother, Claywood Sempliner ’65; his daughters, Winthur Sempliner and Courtney Sempliner; his stepdaughters, Fiona Saunders and Fenella Saunders; and seven grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother, John Alexander Sempliner.
1973 David Bayard Coggeshall
A master carpenter and public servant, died in his Morristown N.J., home, surrounded by family, on December 7, 2019, after a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 65. Born on July 19, 1954, Mr. Coggeshall was the youngest of five children of Bayard Coggeshall ’35 and Mary Achilles Coggeshall. He attended The Peck School in Morristown before arriving at St. Paul’s School as a Third Former in the fall of 1969. While at St. Paul’s, Mr. Coggeshall participated in athletics, but had to stop competing because of a back injury suffered in his Fifth Form year. After his injury, Mr. Coggeshall left St. Paul’s and finished the school year in New Jersey. That summer, he worked in Greece for six weeks building a cement road in a small village, before returning to St. Paul’s. Mr. Coggeshall was elected to the Student Council as a Sixth Former.
During Mr. Coggeshall’s last year at St. Paul’s, he traveled back to New Jersey for more than a month to work at the Neighborhood House in Morristown. His SPS adviser, Mr. Ingersoll, said the project was “one of the more significant Independent Study Projects he had either advised or known about” and that Mr. Cogge- shall had developed “deepened sensitivity” for working with children, especially those coming from challenging backgrounds. After St. Paul’s, Mr. Coggeshall attended Skidmore, where he was an English major who loved Shakespeare. Mr. Coggeshall’s brother, Chuck Coggeshall ’64, said David spent time after college volunteering in Kenya and then Alaska, where he led people from Selawik, a town north of the Arctic circle, in an experiment in Arctic farming. Mr. Coggeshall constructed his first house at the age of 17, and knew then that woodworking was his “life’s calling,” according to the biography on his company website, Coggeshall Custom Carpentry. He specialized in working on individualized renovation projects for clients. Mr. Coggeshall’s neighbor in New Jersey, Kristen, for whom he completed several projects over the course of many years, said he was “not a carpenter, he was an alchemist.” In his early 30s, Mr. Coggeshall became reacquainted with Alexandra “Rocky” Christy, whom he knew from his teen years at a fishing camp in the Laurentians, where their families had vacationed for generations. The couple married in 1986 and together raised two children, Cassie and Walker.
Mr. Coggeshall had immense pride in his carpentry business. He worked in all areas of home renovation, from demolition through additions. He specialized in custom cabinetry and fine trim work. His neighbor, Kristen, who spoke at his memorial service about the work Mr. Coggeshall did on her Victorian home, said he had a gift for truly listening to his clients. “Everything he touched turned into something more, something better, something magical,” she said. “Everything had a purpose.”
Mr. Coggeshall died shortly after starting hospice care at home, surrounded by his wife and children and Maizie, the family’s beloved dog. They survive him, as do his brother, Charles “Chuck” Coggeshall ’64, and his sisters, Joan Coggeshall Nordberg and Cynthia Coggeshall Trask. He was predeceased by his sister, Patricia Coggeshall Dominick. His three surviving siblings visited Mr. Coggeshall in the days before his death. According to his brother, David insisted on joining the family gathering at the dining room table 36 hours before he died.
1986 Stanley B. Kirsch, Jr.
A thoughtful, kind, sincere man and a respected actor and acting coach, perhaps best known for playing the Immortal Richie Ryan for five seasons on the 1990s fantasy drama Highlander, died on January 11, 2020, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 51.The cause of death was suicide, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Born in New York City on July 15, 1968, as Stanley Benjamin Kirschenbaum, Jr., Mr. Kirsch was the son of Stanley B. and Josephine Kirschenbaum. He grew up with his family in New York, including a younger sister, and attended St. David’s School. He entered St. Paul’s School as a Third Former in the fall of 1982.
At SPS, Mr. Kirsch played soccer and lacrosse, was a representative to Student Council for Con/20, and served as president of both La Junta and the Republican Forum.He was a member of the Activities Committee, the Winant Society, the Library Association, and Le Cercle Français. He also was heavily involved in the SPS Theater Program. He played Richard in The Lover, Good Deeds in Everyman, and Trip in School for Scandal. Prior to his Sixth Form year, Mr. Kirsch completed a summer internship with N.Y. Senator Alfonse D’Amato. He graduated magna cum laude, with distinction in modern languages (he was fluent in French and Spanish), and was awarded the Valpey Prize. As an undergraduate at Duke, Mr. Kirsch earned his degree in political science, graduating cum laude with the Class of 1990.
Though his plan when he entered high school was to pursue a career in law, Mr. Kirsch fell in love with acting. His first paying job came in 1972, in a commercial for Campbell’s soup when he was just four years old. After graduating from Duke, he landed his first TV role on the long-running soap opera, General Hospital. His many credits also included five seasons as Lieutenant Ferraro on the TV series JAG and appearances on Invincible, Family Law, and Friends. In more recent years, Mr. Kirsch focused on helping others hone their skills as a well- respected acting coach in Los Angeles. He was married to Kristyn Green, with whom he founded Stan Kirsch Studios in 2008. He touched the lives of so many with his kind manner and sense of humor.
Stan Kirsch is survived by his wife, Kristyn.