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Lester Clare Van Atta ’27
Lester Clare Van Atta ’27, March 16, 1994, in Laytonville, California. He was a distinguished physicist and engineer who spent much of his career developing aircraft electronics and defense systems. He received a master's in physics from Washington University in 1929, the same year that he married a fellow graduate student, Elvene Winkleman. In 1931, both he and his wife received doctorates from Washington University. From 1932 to 1940, he was an assistant professor of physics at MIT and was involved in research on large electrostatic generators. He became head of the Antenna Group at MIT's radiation laboratory in 1940, conducting microwave antenna research. In 1945 he joined the Naval Research Laboratory, and in 1950 he went to work for Hughes Aircraft, where he became director of Hughes Research Laboratories. He was senior scientist at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company from 1962 to 1964, and then became assistant director of NASA's Electronics Research Center, Cambridge, retiring in 1970. After retirement, he took a three-year post with the University of Massachusetts as associate dean of engineering. In the latter part of his career, he made significant contributions to the reorientation of the defense industry to the needs of nondefense government agencies, and to arms control issues. He received the IEEE Centennial Award in 1984, was a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and was the author of a number of important research papers in his field. In retirement, he and his wife settled on a 90-acre homestead in Northern California. In 1992, he received the Distinguished Service award from the Reed College Foster-Scholz Club.
Arthur Van Gelder ’38
Arthur Van Gelder ’38, in Costa Rica, where he had settled in retirement. After graduating from Reed, he worked as a news commentator in California for a year. He was conscripted by the Netherlands Indies Army to fight in World War II and was a Japanese prisoner of war from 1942 to 1944. He was honorably discharged in 1946. For most of his career, he worked as a chemical engineer, doing research and development for food processing companies in Java, India, and California. In 1976, he became executive vice president of research and development for Bio-Processes in Ojai, California. (SSDI has a date for March 24, 1992; with last benefit in Florida.)
Frederick William Voget ’35
Fred W. Voget ’35, May 8, 1997, in Portland. He attended Reed for two years and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon. He then studied anthropology at Yale University, and, after serving in the 71st Division of the U.S. Infantry during World War II, returned to Yale to earn a PhD in 1947. He was professor of anthropology at McGill University in Montreal, the University of Arkansas, the University of Toronto, and Southern Illinois University, where he remained until his retirement. In 1966, he received a Canada Council research grant to work with the Six Nations tribes of Eastern Canada, and in 1972 he was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany. After his retirement from Southern Illinois University, he returned to Portland, where he was an adjunct professor at Portland State University and guest lecturer at the University of Oregon and Linfield College. He was known as a leading authority on the Crow Indians of Montana, and he published many books and articles during his life on the subject of the Crow and their culture. His PhD dissertation, The Shoshone Crow Sun Dance, published in 1984 by University of Oklahoma Press, was the first full-length authoritative treatment of the subject. His most recent work, They Call Me Agnes, written with the assistance of his wife, Mary Kay Mee, described the life story of a Crow Indian woman and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award for the best nonfiction book of 1995. He was an adopted member of the Crow Tribe and spent part of every summer with them Montana. His other interests included gardening, cooking, classical music, and chess. He is survived by his wife of 55 years; three daughters; a sister; a brother; and three grandchildren.
Louis Paul Varga ’48
Louis Varga ’48 February 20, 2001, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He earned a master's in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1950 and a PhD in analytical chemistry from Oregon State College (now Oregon State University) in 1960. He worked as a chemist for several companies and at the time of his retirement he was an associate professor at an unknown college. He was married and had three children.
Mary Louise Vincent Back ’49
Mary Louise Vincent Back ’49, April 11, 2006, in Durham, North Carolina. Mary received a BA from Reed in literature. “I know that my life has been immensely enriched because of Reed,” she noted, for her 50th reunion year. Two professors, Lloyd Reynolds [English & art 1929–69] and Victor Chittick [English 1921–48],in particular, profoundly affected her. “Lloyd Reynolds’ classes showed me areas of interest and pleasure that had never come my way before . . . I was excited, challenged, and all my life since I’ve enjoyed things he introduced me to.” Her career included administrative work at the Dramatists Play Service in New York, and promotion management for Duke University Press. She married Kurt W. Back, a Duke professor, in 1969. Survivors include her stepson, Allan T. Back ’74, and a brother. Her husband died in 1999.
Jean Kettenbach Vollum, Friend
Jean Kettenbach Vollum, artist and philanthropist, June 5, 2007, at home in Portland, from congestive heart failure. A native of Alberta, Canada, Jean Vollum pursued an early interest in sculpture with study at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and later at the Portland Art Museum School. She was a lifelong friend to Oregon sculptor Hilda Morris, and also was a weaver. In her sixties, Jean began photographing ice. “After my first trip to Antarctica in about 1995, I became spellbound by the sculptural qualities of the ice. . . . The luminous light qualities and the incredible tones of blue were captivating,” she noted. Exhibitions of her photography included Ice Images of Svalbard: Recent Photographs, which were displayed at Reed in 2003. Jean studied literature at the University of Idaho before moving to Portland to teach at Beach Elementary School in 1949. She married C. Howard Vollum ’36, cofounder of Tektronix, Inc., in 1950; they had five sons. The Vollums’ contributions to Oregon philanthropy were unprecedented. They served as trustees for a variety of schools—including for Reed, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Portland, the Oregon School of Art & Craft, and Catlin Gabel. They were lifelong members of the Roman Catholic Church. "Jean understood how truly fortunate she was, and shared her fortune with those organizations with whom she felt passion and synergy,” says Johanna Thoeresz ’87, director of development. “She was quick to note in recent years that ‘Reed was Howard's love,’ but she always had a soft spot for the college and was pleased to be included in its future plans, most recently as an honorary chair of Reed's upcoming campaign.” Among the many monetary contributions the Vollums made were those to education, research, technology, art, music, natural resources, and social services. Among the many structures funded by or named in their honor are the Vollum College Center at Reed, the campus of Oregon College of Art & Craft, the Mt. Angel Abbey Library, the Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research (Vollum Institute) at OHSU, the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center (Ecotrust), and the Native American Student and Community Center at Portland State University. Natural resources and landscapes in Oregon that received preservation funds from Jean Vollum include Opal Creek Wilderness, Table Rock, and Sycan Marsh; she worked with the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International to establish nature reserves in Colorado and Idaho as well. Along with Howard, she received the Governor’s Arts Award in 1981; she also received the honored citizen award from the Architectural Foundation of Oregon in 2003. Survivors include her sons, two of whom, Charles and Steve, attended Reed. Howard Vollum died in 1986. Jean Vollum is described as one who readily understood the legitimate needs of others, and who achieved a remarkable balance in all that she undertook. “Everything that is beautiful is always in balance,” she was quoted as saying. “With balance, you get a sense of peace. Every time I can bring beauty into the lives around me, I’m building a little peace.”
Marion Van Haur MA ’63
Marion Van Haur MA ’63, May 1, 1985, in Minnesota. Marion received a BA from Montana State University in 1938.
Robert Vinnedge AMP ’44
Robert Vinnedge AMP ’44, April 1, 1985. Robert attended Reed in the U.S. Army Premeteorology Program.
Mary White Van Fleet ’21, MAT ’57
Mary White Van Fleet ’21, MAT ’57, October 11, 1993, in Portland, where she had lived most of her life. She earned a BA in literature, and taught school in the Portland School District for many years, primarily as a high school teacher at Jefferson High School. She married Byron Van Fleet in 1927. Later in her career, she returned to Reed to study for her master's degree, which she obtained in 1957. Mary retired from teaching in 1965. Survivors include her daughter, two sons, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1983.
Effie Melissa Vankleek Dorland ’25
Effie Melissa Vankleek Dorland ’25, September 24, 1993, in Hillsboro, at the age of 90. Dorland attended Reed from 1923 to 1925, earning a teaching degree. She taught high school in Lebanon, Oregon and also worked as a telephone operator in Tigard. She married Clay Dorland in 1931. Survivors include her husband, a son, a daughter, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Jerome A. Vines ’40
Jerome A. Vines ’40, April 29, 1997, in Phoenix, Arizona. After completing a BA in biology at Reed, Jerome attended graduate school at the University of California from 1940 to 1941 and then entered the U.S. Navy, serving as pharmacist mate first class during World War II. He married Hermene Taylor in 1945, and they had one child. From 1946 to 1960, he worked for H.H. Vines Jewelers in Portland. In 1961, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and took a position with the Arizona Department of Economic Security as a management analyst, where he remained until his retirement in 1980. He was an avid golfer in retirement. Survivors include his wife and daughter.
Nellie Veysey Taylor ’32
Nellie Veysey Taylor ’32, June 5, 2000, in Springfield, Oregon. She studied at the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Washington and was qualified as a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers. Her long career as a social worker began in 1934 when she became a family caseworker in Multnomah County, Oregon. After five years in that position, she was appointed as a social worker in the intake and certification department of the Works Progress Administration. She married Perry Taylor ’35 in 1936. She later worked as a caseworker in child welfare services for the state of Washington and as a social worker for the American Red Cross in Portland. She retired from social work in 1962. In retirement, she and Perry traveled and were involved in volunteer activities, including consulting for the gerontology department at the University of Oregon. She is survived by a son. Perry died in 1993.
William Russell Volm ’42
William Russell Volm ’42, May 9, 2002, in Oregon. William attended Reed for two years and later developed a career as a self-employed home builder. He married Josephine Harris in 1944. Survivors include his wife, daughter, two sons, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
John Paul Van Hyning ’65
John Paul Van Hyning ’65, August 9, 2004, in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. John attended Reed for a year, then graduated with honors from Portland State University, and eaned master’s degrees in history and library science from the University of Wisconsin in 1969. Having lived with his family in Puerto Rico before attending Reed, he returned to San Juan to work for the Star newspaper in the early ’70s. At the Star, he served as reporter, and business and assistant city editor. He also wrote for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Time magazine, and ABC News. John was a musician and photographer, and was adept at languages, speaking Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Within a decade, his life took an unanticipated turn: he ended up homeless, suffering from mental illness and alcoholism, and completely dependent on the kindness of the Charlotte Amalie community in St. Thomas.
Lester Everett Vaughn ’53
Lester Everett Vaughn ’53, April 2, 1995, in California. Lester attended Reed for two years with an interest in physics. He worked for Hughes Aircraft in Culver City, California.
Joyce Darlene Ewing Veazey ’51
Joyce Darlene Ewing Veazey ’51, September 26, 2004, in St. Petersburg, Florida, after a long illness. Joyce attended Reed for three years, receiving a bachelor’s degree from Pacific University in 1956. She married Don Lawler; they moved to Ketchikan, Alaska, and with their salmon trawler, joined a fishing fleet. In 1980, she moved to Costa Rica, and four years later took a job with Harcourt, Brace and Javonavitch Publishing Company in Florida. She edited travel books on Costa Rica and worked at book fairs in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami. For the last seven years of her life, she enjoyed classes and work in oil painting in her winter home in Mesa, Arizona. She was an excellent cook, and one who enjoyed introducing children the pleasures of reading. Survivors include two sons, and two sisters. One son predeceased her.
William Robert Verry ’55
William Robert Verry ’55, September 29, 2010, in Hillsboro, Oregon. Bill attended Reed for two years and received a BS in general science from Portland State University. He earned an MA in chemistry education from Fresno State University and a PhD in systems engineering from the Ohio State University. He was a member of the research staff at the Riverside Research Institute in Arlington, Virginia, a systems engineer for the MITRE Corporation, in Bedford, Massachusetts, and later an administrator for Hillcrest Gardens in Livermore, California, and an administrator at Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles, Oregon. Survivors include his wife Jean Morrison Verry, to whom he was married for nearly 28 years; two sons and a daughter; and two stepsons and three stepdaughters. His mother, Maurine Houser Braden, and father, William R. Verry ’35, also attended Reed.
Carolyn Van Vliet Wade ’52
Carolyn Van Vliet Wade ’52, December 24, 2011, in Morristown, New Jersey. Carolyn was born in Yakima, Washington, and attended Reed for two years before transferring to the University of Washington, where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She spent her adult life in New Jersey and was secretary of the board of education in Glen Ridge and a secretary in the social services department at Morristown Medical Center. She married Harland A. Wade, who predeceased her. Survivors include her son and daughter.
Run (Rony) Vzel (Wiesel) ’82
Run Vzel (Rony Wiesel) ’82, May 4, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio, from cancer. Run studied at Reed for six years with a focus on English literature. He was the arts and education administrator for the Umpqua Valley Arts Center, and he performed in Portland theatre. He served as artistic director for the Lakewood Players in Washington and was involved in the Northwest Screenwriters Guild. Run wrote short stories and plays, and won an award for creative journalism with the Tacoma News Tribune. He also served as a mentor at Seattle Kollel. He enjoyed drawing and painting. He illustrated books and medical texts, and collected golden age comic books. Survivors include his parents and sisters.
Martha Rohner van der Vlugt ’32
Martha Rohner van der Vlugt ’32, September 14, 1999, in Silver Spring, Maryland. After attending Reed for three years, she transferred to the University of Oregon to pursue premedical and medical studies. She received a master’s in bacteriology and an MD in 1937, and she interned at Women’s and Children’s Hospital in San Francisco. She married Jerry van der Vlugt shortly after graduation, and together they set up practice in Grant County, Oregon, a rural area near John Day. She practiced obstetrics and pediatrics, living on a cattle ranch and raising their four children, and often making house calls in a small airplane. When her husband died in 1964, she spent two years in Switzerland, her birthplace, and then joined the State Department in Washington, D.C., as the first woman to be appointed as a foreign service medical officer. She was posted to Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, and Senegal, for which she received a Meritorious Honor Award. After retiring in 1973, she moved to Silver Spring, Maryland and joined the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of Retirement Programs, where she reviewed disability and special retirement claims. She retired in 1992. In 1997, she visited Portland to accept the Charles Preuss Outstanding Alumni Award from the Oregon Health Sciences University. In retirement, she enjoyed taking advantage of D.C.’s many cultural opportunities and remained active in professional organizations. She is survived by two daughters and two sons.
Robert Payne Veness ’37
Robert Payne Veness ’37, November 10, 2002, in Eugene, Oregon. After attending Reed, Robert installed and served theatre equipment, working as a projectionist part time. A response to an emergency call to "temporarily manage" a theatre in Mill City, in the Cascade mountain foothills, resulted in a 20-year residency. After purchasing the theatre, he married Faith Foyer in 1940 and the couple began a "pioneer life" in a town where living conditions were primitive, including in Robert's movie theatre, where a wood stove provided heat and required stoking during show times. An avid ham radio operator, Robert was a member of the Signal Corps in World War II. As the only town member with knowledge of radio and telephone communications, he kept the local telephone company operating. In 1947, he built a new theatre and instituted a "cry room," a Roy Rogers Club, Saturday matinees, and local talent shows. He and his wife helped organize the P.T.A., named city streets, and brought fluoridation to the water system. A special event photographer in town, Robert was the primary photographer for the engineering company that constructed the Detroit Dam in the ’50s. During that decade, he also became a pioneer in cable television, developing and building the Santiam Cable Company. He served as a consultant for cable systems in many towns, including some in Idaho and Washington. Following the death of his wife, Robert married Minerva Carroll in 1980 and the couple resided in Springfield, Oregon, for over 20 years. Survivors include his wife, five daughters, two stepsons, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Frederick A. Valentine ’33
Frederick A. Valentine ’33, November 1, 2002, in Los Angeles. After graduating from Reed with a BA in mathematics, Frederick went on to earn a PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago. He was a member of the mathematics department at UCLA from 1938 until his retirement in 1967. He published numerous articles and a book, Convex Sets, which combined classical and modern theory in convexity for both finite and infinite dimensional spaces. For many decades, he spent summers fly-fishing for trout in western Montana and for Steelhead on the Rogue River in Oregon. Affectionately dubbed "Frederick the Great Grandpa," he is survived by his wife, three daughters, including Virginia Valentine Hall ’60, three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Edward Clayton Vogel ’62
Edward Clayton Vogel ’62, December 26, 2006, in East Granby, Connecticut. Edward received a BA from Reed in physics. In 1971, he earned an MBA from Northeastern University in Boston. His career in technology included work in radar instrumentation, semiconductors, lithography, advanced elevators, and flight control systems. Survivors include his brother and sister.
Claude Alain Vaucher, Faculty
Claude Alain Vaucher, professor emeritus of anthropology, January 17, 2008, following a long illness. Vaucher was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and enrolled at Seattle Pacific College (University), from which he received a BS in bacteriology and public health, with a minor in religion, in 1952. At Seattle Pacific, he met Diane; they married in 1951. From 1952 to 1958, the couple lived in Yeotmal, Maharashtra, India, where Vaucher was an instructor in biblical archaeology and biblical studies at Union Biblical Seminary. He earned a second year certificate at the Marathi Language School in Poona, India, in 1955. During his time in India, he developed his lifelong love for ancient cultures and history and determined to pursue a career in archaeology. He began advanced coursework at the University of Washington, where he was an instructor in the anthropology department, and from which he earned an MA in 1960 in prehistoric anthropology and a PhD in 1969 in anthropology. Vaucher joined the Reed faculty in 1963, and was an expert in a great range of subjects, including the ethnologies of South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. During his tenure at the college, he conducted several field archaeological studies in the Indus Valley of India, the Mideast, North Africa, Chad, Western Europe, and the West (Eastern Washington and Calgary, Alberta). Following Vaucher’s retirement from Reed in 1994, he and his wife moved to Salem to be closer to family. Lois Hobbs [1983–], administrative assistant to the faculty, relates that Vaucher interviewed her when she applied for employment at Reed. “Part of the process was that he dictate a letter of recommendation on behalf of an alum; shorthand was a requirement. I consider it an honor to have worked as his secretary and to have been entrusted with his notorious signature stamp. One of my favorite statements of his occurred when he vehemently refused to use a computer, saying, 'I never want to be my own secretary.' I mourn his passing, but I am slightly soothed by knowing the positive impact he had on his students; with his dedication to intellectual challenge, they carry his wisdom with them daily. Professor Vaucher's death brings to conclusion a richly eventful life marked with a warm heart full of vitality. He was a man of strong character, who was an intelligent gentleman with an always-happy spirit. I am thankful for the time we were able to share and forever grateful for his warm friendship.” Survivors include his wife, his daughter and two sons, five grandchildren, and his twin brother.
Patricia Vemer MALS ’89
Patricia Vemer MALS ’89, on December 31, 1997, in Portland, Oregon. A violinist, she played with the Kansas City and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras and was concertmaster at Southwest Missouri State University. She also sang with the Southwest Missouri State University Lyric Singers and performed several times in Europe. In Portland, she worked as the education director for the Oregon Symphony Association, danced with the Portland Opera Dance and Movement Company, and toured Eastern Europe with the Oregon Repertory Singers. She is survived by her husband.
Juanita Gillham Vetter ’39
Juanita Gillham Vetter ’39, May 30, 1999, in Iowa City, Iowa. She married Arthur Vetter in 1941. The couple moved to England during World War II where Arthur, a career officer with the Air Force, was a meteorologist with a bomb group and she volunteered in a local hospital. They returned to the United States for several years following the war, and then returned to England for three years. Upon returning again to the United States, she wrote a novel, taught high school, and was a counselor for the Air Force Aid Society. In 1962 they moved to Iowa City, where she completed a master’s degree in social psychology and he was a professor of chemical and materials engineering. She was active in the League of Women Voters at the local, state, and national levels, and she served for five years on the city’s planning and zoning committee and on the Riverfront Commission. Survivors include her husband and four children.
Helene Hidden Van Buren ’32
Helene Hidden Van Buren ’32, May 22, 2001, in Portland. She attended Reed for two years and then studied at the University of Washington. She worked as a social worker with the Works Progress Administration. In 1942 she married Evans Van Buren, and they lived in several different parts of the country while he was in the military. They settled in Portland in 1947, and she was a homemaker, raising three children. Her husband died in 1961. Her hobbies included gardening, cooking, and music. Survivors include three sons, including John Van Buren ’74, and four grandchildren.
Helen Marion Vandeleur Mason MAT ’65
Helen Marion Vandeleur Mason MAT ’65, May 26, 2003, in Portland. During World War II, Helen taught aviation ground school as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army Air Corps. She received a BS degree in political science from Portland State College (Portland State University) in 1961. At Reed, her MAT degree focused on sociology. Helen taught social studies and was a counselor, coordinating post high school planning, college application, and financial aid, at Cleveland High School in Portland. She married Charles S. Mason in 1946, and they had a daughter and son. Survivors include her husband, children, grandchild, and one brother.
Charmion Giovanni Balbo Vause ’44
Charmion Giovanni Balbo Vause ’44, July 6, 2008, in Sun City, Arizona. Charmion attended Reed for two years—an experience she credited with helping her to think and be independent, “something a woman in the 1940s was beginning to realize would make her a happier individual.” She took college-level classes for the remainder of her life. In 1942, she married Colonel R. Vause ’43. The couple lived in Texas and California before moving to Arizona. In the ’70s, she was assistant public relations director at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California. Survivors include her husband, a son and two daughters, 10 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Victor P. van der Sterre ’41
Victor P. van der Sterre ’41, March 10, 2009, in Millbrae, California. Dutch attended Reed for two and half years before, as he said it, his academic concentration was “done in” by football in fall 1939. (“Football at Reed? Yes!”) He resumed his studies at University of California, Berkeley, received a BA in chemistry in 1942, and was hired by DuPont to be a chemist at the company's South San Francisco finishes plant. The war draft initially enrolled him in chemical warfare training, but he switched to aviation training and became a pilot. In 1945, he married his high school sweetheart, Margaretha Schade; they had one daughter. Dutch returned to DuPont, where he worked as a developmental and technical supervisor and staff chemist until retirement in 1980. The couple built their own home, skied in the U.S. and abroad, boated, and took one-week cruises to a different location every year. Dutch's brother, Carl van der Sterre ’31, also attended Reed.
Eric J. Voorsanger ’55
Eric J. Voorsanger ’55, May 1, 2009, at his home in Larkspur, California, from pancreatic cancer. We heard about Eric's death from Donald Green ’54, who attended Lowell High School and Reed with him. “Our families have been neighbors and friends for four generations in San Francisco,” he noted. Eric received a BA from Reed in political science. Then, Don wrote, “Eric worked as an intern for Oregon senator Richard Neuberger; later had a career in city planning, contracting, and woodworking. We have a beautiful white oak banister and entry half-wall shelf that reminds us daily of his love of wood and craftsmanship.” Eric's public obituary remembers a compassionate and kind man, who valued family, appreciated culture, politics, and history, and said that his greatest thrill was to see Barack Obama become President of the United States. Survivors include his wife, Ronna, to whom he was married for 17 years; his daughter and four sons; six grandchildren; and two brothers.
David Van Campen ’61
David Van Campen ’61, December 7, 2010, from a head-on automobile collision on a freeway in Peoria, Illinois. David attended Reed for two years and lived in Kewanee, Illinois.
Ruth Volkmann ’54
Ruth Volkmann ’54, June 15, 2013, in Seattle, Washington. Ruth earned a BA and BFA from Reed and the Museum Art School (Pacific Northwest College of Art). She studied with Lloyd Reynolds [English & art 1929–69], painter Michael Russo, and sculptor Frederic Littman in 1948–56. She described her own work, done in acrylic on canvas and on hardboard, as primitive realism. Ruth sought to enlarge the viewer’s appreciation of the natural world by portraying it in a flat perspective. She avoided spatial and atmospheric depth and eliminated some scenic details in order to create a painting that was more “true,” she said, rather than realistic. Her work appeared in numerous exhibitions in the Pacific Northwest. Ruth taught art in public schools and worked in commercial art in Zurich, Switzerland. She had a great love for New England, where she spent her childhood, and the Pacific Northwest coast and mountain ranges. She lived in Vermont and in Eugene, Oregon, before moving to the Seattle area in the early ’80s. Survivors include her sisters, Ann Volkmann Dick ’50 and Elizabeth Young.
Lydge Amer Vann ’49
Lydge Amer Vann ’49, June 9, 2014, in Portland, following a short illness. Lydge studied at Reed for two years, and earned a degree in business from Lewis & Clark College. He worked for PacifiCorp for 35 years. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, gardening, and other outdoor activities, and was an adult leader in the Boy Scouts for 20 years. Lydge was born at home in Eastmoreland, and, following his marriage to Jean, he returned to the neighborhood to build a home on the same block; this was his home until his death. Survivors include Jean; their daughters Irene and Carol Sue Vann Harris ’85, who provided this memorial; a son, David; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His son Brian predeceased him.
Henry William Von Holt Jr. ’49
Henry William Von Holt Jr. ’49, October 13, 2014, in Columbia, Missouri. Henry grew up in Portland and enlisted in the army air corps and trained as a pilot during World War II. He came to Reed on the G.I. Bill and received a BA in psychology, working with Prof. Frederick Courts [psychology 1945–69] to complete the thesis “A Study of the Concept of Direction in Lewin’s Vector Psychology.” Henry went on to earn an MA at the University of Oregon and a PhD from Clark University in psychology. He taught at the University of Oregon and at Western Michigan University before joining the faculty in psychology at Stephens College in Columbia. Henry and Lael H. Powers married in 1954 and raised three sons. His family remembers his kindness, compassion, and wit; his enthusiasm as a fan of the Missouri Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals; and the remarkable friendship he had with many dogs throughout his lifetime. Survivors include his wife, sons, and three granddaughters.
Charles Howard Vollum ’36
Howard Vollum works on a Tektronix oscilloscope, circa 1950. Reed College
Electronics pioneer, philanthropist, and one of Reed's truest friends, Howard Vollum died February 3, 1986.
“Howard was as good and decent a human being as one could hope to know,” said Reed president Paul Bragdon [1971–88]. “He had an unselfconscious, spontaneous recognition of the dignity of other human beings... modest, humble, down-to-earth, independent, and original in his thinking, and curious, endlessly curious, to the end of his days.”
Clyde Wilbur Van Cleve ’55
Clyde Wilbur Van Cleve ’55, March 6, 2015, on Vashon Island, Washington.
Born in Missouri, Clyde came to Reed to learn from Prof. Lloyd Reynolds [English & art 1929–69]. “The workshop [established by Lloyd] was kind of a haven, or a hideout place to escape the toughness of the academic world. It was not that I didn’t care for the academic work, but if you have a tendency or a desire to make an object, rather than manipulate an idea, there’s no real substitute for that. It was really the making of objects—whether they are letter forms or lines of type or broadsides or printed books—that had great appeal.”
Ann Volkmann Dick ’50
Ann was born in Brussels, Belgium, on September 5, 1927, to an American couple, James and Mary Volkmann. Her father worked for American Radiator Company, with headquarters in various European cities, and the family lived in Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland. As the clouds of war gathered over Europe, the family returned to the United States. Ann was 10 years old and finished her elementary education at a private school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. As wartime gas rationing allowed, summers were spent in Castine, Maine, at her grandmother’s summerhouse.
She then went to a progressive boarding school in Putney, Vermont, where besides schoolwork her greatest interest was skiing.
Mildred Voth Schneider ’44
Mildred Schneider ’44. “Plant where you are and you’ll never be hungry.”
Born in Salt Creek, Oregon, Mildred graduated valedictorian from Dallas High School in 1938, and after earning a degree as a registered nurse from Emanuel Hospital School of Nursing in Portland, attended Linfield College. She then transferred to Reed College, where she was the school nurse living in the infirmary and taking classes. During this time the 69th Army Air Force Tech Training Detachment were taking pre-meteorology courses, and Mildred enjoyed working with the group of more than 200 men. A sociology/psychology major, she wrote her thesis on prepaid medical care in the Portland area.
In 1944, she married Gilbert Schneider, her high school sweetheart, and two years later the North American Baptist Convention commissioned the couple as missionaries to Cameroon, West Africa. Her new home with its volcanic mountains, rich soil, and crater lakes reminded her of Oregon. They built churches, clinics, schools, and a hospital inspired by one Mildred studied while at Reed, in the town of Vanport, Oregon. In 1948, the Vanport Hospital was swept away with the rest of the town in a flood while she was in Cameroon. Mel’s hospital design, realized at Mbingo, Cameroon, in 1952, has grown to be a major health care facility today. She worked for 10 years at a self-sufficient leprosy control settlement that she helped build.
Bruce Voeller ’56
Bruce and his children Photo by Bettye Lane
Biochemist and gay-rights activist Bruce Voeller ’56 was a pioneer of AIDS research. In addition to being one of the first scientists to study the disease, he also named it—and died from it.
He grew up in the backwoods community of Roseburg, Oregon. “Bruce was a youth to make any parent proud,” read a 1973 story in the National Observer. “When he graduated from high school, second in his class, he was an accomplished pianist, skier, swimmer, and horseman. His chiseled Nordic features and blond hair had turned many a girl’s head.”
Ann Marie Veninga
A history major at Reed, Ann Marie wrote her thesis, Local and Central Government: A Background to the Stamp Act Crisis, with Prof. John Tomsich [history 1962–99]. She went on to get her doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Texas–Austin and studied at Southern Methodist University. She made her career as an accomplished tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., before returning to Texas in 2003.
But Ann considered her greatest accomplishments the ones that came as wife, mother and sister. She is survived by her daughters, Skye and Shelby Kramer; her husband, John Kramer; and her siblings, Dolores Veninga, Louise Zaricor, Frederick Veninga, Frank Veninga, MD, and Karen Driscoll.
Attellia Vause Berg ’41
Attellia was born in Klickitat, Washington, to Vera Child and Francis Vause. She finished her freshman year at Reed, which both her sister, Clare Vause ’34, and brother, Colonel R. Vause ’43, also attended. That summer she met and married Gordon Berg, an Army Air Corps pilot training in Pendleton, where the Vause family lived.
After marrying in 1942, the couple moved to the East Coast, where Gordon underwent further preparation for the war. When he began flying bombing missions out of India, Attellia returned west and attended Stanford University for a year. She painted, and her love of art and literature flourished during the couple’s extensive travels afforded by Gordon’s Air Force career.
Preceded in death by her daughter, Sydney, her husband, Gordon, and her second husband, Victor Doherty, Attellia is survived by her sons, Robert Berg, Steven Berg, and Gordon Berg, and her daughter, Janet Richards.
Elaine Tanner Van Bruggen ’47
Born in Utah, Elaine moved to Portland as a child. She went to Reed, which both her sister, Wilma Kennell ’51, and brother, K. Nolen Tanner ’43, attended. While earning her bachelor’s degree in history, Elaine met Robert Van Bruggen ’43, whom she married in 1950. She went on to earn a master’s degree in economics from UC Berkeley.
Following Robert’s graduation from medical school, the couple and their three small children settled in Los Gatos, California, where he started his practice in psychiatry. In 1966, at the age of 40, Elaine was admitted to Stanford Law School, where she graduated with a juris doctorate degree. She was one of only three women in her class of 1970. Elaine worked a general practice in law, from which she retired in 1990, the same year that Bob died. She was passionate about education and the importance of contributing to a progressive and democratic society. Her three children, Nick, Kathi, and Conrad, survive her.
Noe Nicolas Villarreal ’17
Noe, known by family and friends as Nico, is survived by his father, Noe Villarreal, and three brothers, Julian Munoz Villarreal, Roman Villarreal, and Mateo Gil Villarreal. Nico’s mother passed away on December 22, 2005. This day was very dear to Nico, as family and friends knew very well. He was blessed with many little cousins who adored him because he always played games with them and tossed them up to the ceiling. Nico enjoyed traveling, which tapped into his love for meeting people. He was fascinated with his friends’ personal lives, and before they knew it, he would visit them. One thing about Nico, you were a friend for life. His elementary, middle, and high school friends knew of his whereabouts through Facebook.
Nico found out about Reed from his art teacher at North Mesquite High School, whose daughter went there. He told me after he was accepted that there would be no substitute for Reed as his continuing education destination. He struggled with his grades, but his social life, which was his first love, opened a world beyond the borders of Texas. He wished to visit all his Reedie friends, but there were financial constraints and in the end time did not allow.
Frank D Vincent ’43
Born in Portland, Frank learned to work hard and share with others during the Great Depression. After graduating from Lincoln High School, he started at Reed, where he was junior class president, competed on the varsity crew team, and graduated with a BA in psychology.
During World War II, he was a lieutenant in the naval reserve, serving as captain of an air-sea rescue vessel. After hostilities ended, he was the navy’s officer in charge of the secret and confidential mail room in the Pentagon. Frank moved to Sacramento after the war and married Marilyn McDufee, who died in 1998. They had two sons, Stephen and Roger.
Alberta Vaillancourt Ruecker ’38
When Alberta was 13, her family moved from Roanoke, Virginia, to Portland. She graduated from Grant High School, attended Saint Helen’s Hall Junior College (now Oregon Episcopal School), and then attended Reed for one year. In 1942, she married Leonard Ruecker and the couple made their home in Seattle until moving to Aberdeen in 1955. They bought the Marshall Wells store, which later became Coast to Coast–Sunset Hardware & Appliance. Alberta taught Sunday school at the Calvary Lutheran Church, where she directed many Christmas programs and served as directress of the Altar Guild. She is survived by her son, Robert Ruecker, and daughter, Beverly Wick.
Rolla Vollstedt ’40
Rolla Vollstedt, widely considered one of the most influential race car designers of the 20th century, died in Portland at the age of 99. He pioneered the concept of putting the engine in the rear of the car—now a standard design element—and helped develop aerodynamic wings used to improve traction on open-wheeled cars. He also made history by hiring the first woman racing driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Rolla later said that having Janet Guthrie drive his car was probably the high point of his career.
Rolla was born in Hutton, Alberta, Canada, and moved with his family to Portland. He graduated from Benson High School and started at Reed, intending to become a doctor. “Reed and my experiences there will always have a high spot in my life and mind,” he said. He attended Reed for three years while working for the Frank Costanzo Speed Shop, honing his skills with hot rods and performance cars. With America’s entry into World War II, he was drafted into the army. As an infantry staff sergeant and squad leader, he took part in the D-Day assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944. His division went through France to Germany, and on two separate occasions in one month he was wounded; he was awarded two Purple Hearts. After the war, he joined the coast guard and worked in the lumber industry.
Jaclyn M. Vidgoff ’62
The daughter of prominent Portland physician Dr. Benjamin Vidgoff ’29, Jaclyn graduated at the top of her class from Lincoln High School. At Reed, she wrote her thesis, “Synthesis of Dimaleimides,” with her advisor, Prof. Marshall Cronyn [chemistry 1952–89]. After graduating in 1962, she remained at the college for further study in chemotherapy, especially in the areas of cancer, malaria, and leprosy.
In 1970, she received a doctorate degree in biochemistry from the University of Washington. She did a postdoctoral fellowship in medical genetics at OHSU and then worked there as an instructor in genetics, followed by a gig as a biochemical geneticist at Portland’s Emanuel Hospital.
Martin Van Pelt ’86
September 9, 2019, in Cavtat, Croatia.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Martin spent most of his life in Boulder, Colorado. He attended Reed for two years and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Martin worked at Picosecond Pulse Labs in Boulder, where he was vice president, chief engineer, and part owner. Passionate about engineering, solving problems, and documentation, he loved his work. He enjoyed getting to know his coworkers and sharing his kind and gentle way with others. Engineering, backcountry skiing, cycling, hiking, and sailing were life passions for Martin. He knew all the best ski tours and hikes in the Colorado mountains and spent countless happy days sharing them with family and friends. He spent last winter exploring the ski slopes and villages of the European Alps. In 2015, he and his wife, Sarah, began spending summers sailing in France and the Mediterranean.
Darunee von Fleckenstein Wilson ’84
December 30, 2020, in Rowayton, Connecticut, of complications from leiomyosarcoma.
Darunee’s parents were among the first United States Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Thailand, where she was born in Chiang Mai. She grew up variously in Hawaii, while her father, Fritz von Fleckenstein ’61, completed his doctorate in agricultural economics at the University of Hawaii; in Thailand, where her parents adopted her sister from an orphanage; and in Papua New Guinea, where Darunee assisted her father with his research.
Beatrice Louise Vincent Dick ’45
December 4, 2021, in The Dalles, Oregon.
Bea grew up in Portland with her sister, Marjorie, and brother, Frank. She attended Multnomah Grade School and Lincoln High School, and, as a Camp Fire Girl, spent summers with the many friends she made at Camp Namanu on the Sandy River. She worked for Camp Fire for a year following graduation and then attended Reed for two years before transferring to the University of Oregon.
At the U of O, she joined camp friends in the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and met her future husband, Edgar Dick. They wed following Ed’s graduation from the Oregon Law School and moved to The Dalles, where he practiced law. Bea raised four children, was a homeroom mother and Camp Fire leader, and, as chairman of the Library Board, was a driving force in building the new public library. She worked hard to get money allocated for the library and with the architect to save the sycamore trees on the site. In 1969, The Dalles named her their “Woman of the Year.”
John Hidden Van Buren ’74
January 15, 2022, in Stuttgart, Germany, of stomach cancer.
An internationally recognized composer, John was the second of three sons born to Helene Hidden ’32 and Evans Van Buren. He attended Lincoln High School before starting at Reed. In his junior year, he traveled to Stuttgart, Germany, to study German language and music, and ended up living there for 50 years. He entered the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (State University of Music and Performing Arts) in Stuttgart, where he studied composition with Milko Kelemen, piano with Edgar Trauer, and electronic music with Erhard Karkoschka.
Francis Joseph Varga ’79
January 4, 2023, suddenly, in Springfield, Missouri.
Francis embraced chemistry with childlike wonder throughout his long career. He loved designing science experiments to impress and inspire his children. He bought mercury and dry ice and taught them how to handle these materials safely. He purchased Karissa her first iMac in strawberry when she was only 3. But was it for her or both of them? Watching them play together on the computer, it was hard to tell.
Francis graduated from Northwood School in Lake Placid in 1973. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., for his freshman and sophomore year, before transferring to the University of Freiberg in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. At Reed, he wrote his thesis “Use of Artificial Bilayers in Examining Rate Constants Involved in Carrier-Mediated Substrate Transport across Membranes,” advised by Prof. William Weir [chemistry 1968–83]. He graduated from Reed with a bachelor’s in chemistry and mathematics, after which he attended medical school at Syracuse University and then completed his residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, specializing in anatomical and clinical pathology. While at Dartmouth Hitchcock, he was appointed chief resident and an instructor in pathology. Following his tenure at Dartmouth, he became certified in hematopathology and received the Hitchcock Foundation Scholar’s Award. He was certified to practice medicine in 1982. Francis recently retired from Mercy Hospital in Springfield, where he served as director of hematopathology, flow cytometry, and immunoperoxidase for 14 years.