ALUMNI
Robert J. Sund ’52 of Shelton, Wash., died Sept. 27, 2024. At Puget Sound, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. Survivors include his spouse, Donna J. Sund ’53.
Janet Lea Convery ’54 of La Jolla, Calif., died Aug. 3, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and was a member of Chi Omega.
Gloria Durkee ’54 of Tacoma died Jan. 3, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in education degree and was a member of Alpha Phi. Survivors include her spouse, Bill Durkee ’57, and a cousin, Barbara K. Parker ’60.
Richard L. Hansen ’57 of Eugene, Ore., died Aug. 27, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration, played football, and was a member of Kappa Sigma. Survivors include his spouse, Patricia Browne Hansen ’58.
Michael Matern ’57 of West Linn, Ore., died Aug. 13, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, was a member of Sigma Nu, and was involved in student government.
Dolores A. Colbo ’58 of Tigard, Ore., died July 22, 2024. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi.
Tongsun Park ’59 died Sept. 19, 2024, in Seoul, South Korea. During his year at Puget Sound, he was the Tolo King, Todd Hall Spring Officer, and a member of the International Relations Club.
Hal Eastman ’60 of Boise, Idaho, died Dec. 22, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and was involved in the Intercollegiate Knights and student government, including serving as ASUPS vice president. In addition, he served as a trustee of the university and endowed the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Survivors include his spouse, Jacque Eastman ’61, sister Nancy Eastman Tuininga ’59, and niece Emily Lynn Nygard ’19.
C. Mark Smith ’61 of Richland, Wash., died Nov. 9, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and was a member of Sigma Chi, the International Relations Club, and the Veterans Club. In addition, he served two terms as a trustee and received a Lifetime Professional Achievement Alumni Award in 2012. The university’s Smith Hall is named in his honor. Survivors include his spouse, Elsa. L. Smith ’65.
Penny S. Weller ’61 of Auburn, Wash., died Sept. 13, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and was married to a fellow Logger (now deceased), Don H. Weller ’62.
David W. Birkland ’62 of Seattle died Oct. 7, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration.
We learned in October of the death of Barb Rasmussen ’69 of Tacoma. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. Survivors include her spouse, Chris Rasmussen ’69 MEd ’74.
James B. Rudolph ’69 of Liberty Lake, Wash., died Nov. 18, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and was a member of Kappa Sigma.
Dave A. Kinkela ’70 of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, died July 23, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, was a member of Phi Delta Theta, and competed on the university’s track and football teams, where he earned many accolades.
R. Michael McCloskey ’71 of Great Falls, Mont., died Sept. 28, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration, was a member of Sigma Chi, and competed on the skiing team.
David N. Whitford ’71 of Russellville, Ark., died Aug. 21, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration, was a member of Phi Gamma Delta, was on the staff of The Trail, and competed on the university’s baseball team.
Guy L. McCormack ’72 of San Francisco died July 22, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy.
Reid S. Ozaki ’73 of Tacoma died July 25, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and was a member of Phi Sigma honor society. He took a pottery class at Puget Sound and launched a 50-year career in the art form, returning to teach at Puget Sound. Survivors include his spouse, Emma A. Ozaki ’75.
James F. Lonsbery ’76 of Auburn, Wash., died Sept. 10, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and played football and baseball for the university.
Nancy Gregory McElheran ’76 of Kent, Wash., died May 31, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and was a member of Pi Beta Phi and Adelphians. She was a daughter of William R. Gregory ’45.
Glenn A. Welsh ’78 of Gig Harbor, Wash., died July 31, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration.
Judith S. Rehfeld ’79 of Ventura, Calif., died Aug. 10, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and was a member of Pi Beta Phi and Agape Christian Fellowship.
Christine L. Springer ’80 of San Francisco died July 14, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and was a member of Tri Delta, Adelphians, Madrigals, and the Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Alpha Iota honor societies.
Carl T. Duerson MBA’81 of Anna, Texas, died Oct. 23, 2024.
Jonathan Paul Blitz ’83 of Crown Point, Ind., died Sept. 29, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and in biology and was a member of the Phi Sigma honor society. Survivors include his spouse, Erin Williams Blitz ’83.
Kawehi P. Marshall ’83 of Tacoma died Sept. 27, 2024. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and participated in Phi Chi Theta Honor Society, ASUPS, Ka ‘Ohana Me Ke Aloha (formerly Hui O Hawaii), and intramural sports; she also worked in The Cellar.
In October, we learned of the death of Doreen E. Morgan MBA’83 of Bainbridge Island, Wash. She earned her master’s degree at the university’s Seattle campus while working full time.
Michael Kalani Voeller ’84 of Kaneohe, Hawaii, died July 16, 2024. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and played football for the university, where he received conference honors.
We learned in November of the death of Victoria P. Walker ’98 in Omaha, Neb. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in comparative sociology and was a member of Gamma Phi Beta and a Passages leader.
Brandon A. Perkins ’02 of Concord, N.H., died May 9, 2024. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. During his time at Puget Sound, he studied abroad and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Natalie Frances Duncan ’20 of Concord, N.H., died Aug. 2, 2024.
FACULTY, STAFF AND FRIENDS OF PUGET SOUND
Former instructor J. Walter Dragelevich of Liberty Township, Ohio, died Aug. 15, 2024. Survivors include his spouse, Martha T. Dragelevich ’65, the daughter of former Puget Sound President R. Franklin Thompson.
Chuck Lillis P’05 of Castle Rock, Colo., died Sept. 10, 2024. Survivors include his spouse, Gwen Lillis P’05, who is a current trustee, and daughter Jessica Baker Isaacs ’05. In 2007, Chuck and Gwen established the Lillis Scholarship, the university’s first full-ride scholarship, which is awarded to students who enjoy pursuing intellectual endeavors to discover how they can improve the world.
Professor Emeritus of Economics Bruce Mann, who taught at Puget Sound for more than 50 years, including the first two classes of the fall 2024 semester, died Oct. 1, 2024. In addition to being recognized as an outstanding teacher, he and his colleague Professor Doug Goodman were known for creating the annual Pierce County Forecast with dry humor and wit for 25 years.
Peggy Perno, the director of Student Accessibility and Accommodation, died Aug. 29, 2024. She started working at Puget Sound in 2012 and was a passionate advocate for students with disabilities. Following news of her passing, students and alumni reached out to share stories of how Peggy’s efforts and expertise were an essential part of their Puget Sound journey.
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Larry Stern, who taught at Puget Sound for more than two decades, died June 26, 2024. He was renowned among students, colleagues and family for his photographic memory, the breadth of his knowledge on a wide range of subjects, and his unique sense of humor and turns of phrase.
Donald L. Sturm P’14, of Denver died Aug. 18, 2024. The banker and philanthropist was the father of current trustee Emily Sturm ’14.
FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Logger community,
You may notice some changes to our In Memoriam section in this issue. Thanks to feedback we received in our alumni survey in 2024, we will now devote even more pages to the Class Notes and Scrapbook sections of Arches. To make that possible, we have moved to a more streamlined listing of alumni who have passed away.
We will continue to include news of the passing of alumni (as well as current and emeriti employees and trustees, honorary degree recipients, and other friends of the university) whose deaths we have heard of from family members or from obituaries that mention Puget Sound. These notices will include the person’s name, class year, college major, any alumni survivors, and campus involvement, if known.
We believe it is important to share the news of fellow Loggers we have lost, and we hope this new approach will continue to keep you informed while providing more space for additional alumni news.
We invite you to submit all of your updates—a Class Note, a photo for the Scrapbook, or news of the passing of a Logger—by emailing arches@pugetsound.edu. As always, thanks for reading.
—Lisa Kozleski ’94, Editor
CORRECTION
David A. Anderson ’92 is alive and well and in good health, living in Seattle’s University District. He was inadvertently included in the In Memoriam section in the Autumn 2024 issue of Arches. We apologize to Dave for this error, as well as to any members of the Logger community who were unnecessarily saddened by our mistake.