Obituaries
Obituaries are listed chronologically by order of notification.
Jason Mueller '00 ADV died on August 10, 2008. To honor his memory, his family held a memorial benefit for him on October 25, 2009. A resident of Chicago, Muller was active in his community and had opened Nonna's Italian Pizza in 2007. The benefit supported a scholarship program for Mueller's alma mater, Marist High School. It will also fund after-school programs in Chicago neighborhoods that face gang-related violence.
Bruce R. Kelso '49 JOURN passed away on May 30, 2007.
Stuart Kaminsky '57 JOURN, a native Chicagoan, died October 9, 2009. Kaminsky was a best-selling and award-winning mystery writer known best for his three long-running series featuring the protagonists Toby Peters, a private detective in 1940s Hollywood; Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, a Moscow police inspector; and veteran Chicago police officer Abe Lieberman. He wrote more than 50 novels, as well as story collections and nonfiction works and biographies of significant film directors, including Clint Eastwood, John Huston, and Don Siegel. Kaminsky's Inspector Rostnikov novel “A Cold Red Sunrise” received the 1989 Edgar Award for Best Novel, and he later earned six other Edgar nominations, most recently for the 2005 non-fiction book “Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed,” which was also nominated for an Anthony Award, a Macavity Award, and an Agatha Award. In 2006 Kaminsky received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Stuart Kaminsky is survived by his loving wife, children and grandchildren.
Scott Hobber '65 JOURN of Prairie Village, Kansas, died Thursday, October 1, 2009 after a long battle with lung cancer. Hobber worked as a Media Liaison the Kansas City, Missouri, police department.
Robert "Bob" Evans '67 MS JOURN died on September 27, 2009. Evans was a vital member of the Champaign community for five decades, serving in many clubs and activities. He was especially a proud member of his work in Kiwanis and served as governor of the Illinois Eastern Iowa district from 1988-89. Also, he served as a recurring president of the Illini Rebounder's Club from 1981-89. Bob was an avid Fighting Illini fan and loved to travel, dance, and read. He is survived by his three children, several grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Richard A. "Al" Atwood '57 JOURN died at the age of 75. Atwood worked at World Book Encyclopedia in Chicago where he became managing editor of Childcraft, served as a director of International editorial operation in Stuttgart and Milan, and established Atwood's Quick Print, which ran for 25 years.
Ruth Prather '46 JOURN, resident of Chelsea, Michigan, died at the age of 89, on October 1, 2009. She is survived by 5 children, 11 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Josie Rich Dunnett '01 ADV of Chicago died on August 22, 2009, after a long battle with breast cancer. An employee of the American Heart Association, she is survived by her husband and many family members.
Dr. Richard Chapin ‘55 PhD COMM died on July 30, 2009. Chapin lived in East Lansing, Michigan where he was the co-founder and president of the Michigan Library Consortium. He is survived by his wife, three children, and six grandchildren.
Richard Bailey Childs ‘36 JOURN of Flint Michigan, died at the age of 95. Childs wrote for The Daily Illini and later was a reporter for the Flint Journal. He is survived by his wife, son , grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Doris Naomi Welch ‘51 JOURN died on October 21, 2008, in Morgantown, W.Va.
George E. Morton ‘51 JOURN died at the age of 85 in Sonoma, California on October 29, 2009. After serving in War World II in the South Pacific at Tulagi and Guadalcanal, he was a reporter in Denver.
Norman W. Barnett '51 JOURN died in October 2008, in Urbana, Ill.
Elmer Adam Blasco '43 JOURN died in July 2009. A resident ofMt. Pleasant, Ill., Blasco spent most of his career in the sporting goods world, earning a coveted Gold Glove Award and a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Richard Bailey Childs '36 JOURN died July 2, 2009 in his home in Flint, Mich. Childs worked in various capacities over many years at The Flint Journal, including reporter, photographer, assistant regional editor, and editorial page editor.
Harry Gray '41/'47 MS JOURN died on July 8, 2009. Gray graduated with a journalism degree in 1941, and immediately joined the U.S. Army. He resumed his studies at U of I, completing a master's degree, with high honors, in 1947. He worked in advertising and sales until joining Consolidated Electro Dynamics in 1954. He left Litton to become president, chief administrative officer, and a member of the board of directors of United Aircraft. He was named chief executive officer the next year, then also served as chairman of UA and its successor United Technologies Corporation, from 1974 until retiring in 1986. Since that retirement, he has served as chairman and CEO of Harry Gray Associates.
Howard Grosky '58 JOURN died in June 2009, in Arlington Heights, Ill.
Marian Ingersoll '66 MS COMM died in July 2009. While at the U of I, Ingersoll was home editor and wrote a column, "What's Ticking," for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.
John "Kip" McLaughlin '56 JOURN died in July 2009, in Urbana, Ill. A well respected police officer, McLaughlin was a professor at the U of I Police Training Institute for 28 years.
Charles Long '53 JOURN died July 14 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Chairman and chief executive officer at the First National Bank of Litchfield, Long played an active role in the city of Litchfield and in the formation of the Lincoln Land Community College District.
Richard Western '68 ADV died July 9, 2009. Western served in the United States Army National Guard, and was employed in the insurance business before becoming a computer consultant. He served as house adviser for the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity at the U of I for more than 40 years.
Timothy Wheeler '83 MS ADV died at his home in San Diego, Calif., on May 22, 2009. After a career in advertising as a writer, Wheeler taught at the University of California at Fullerton.
Paul J. Larson '34 LAS/'38 MS JOURN died January 10, 2009, in Chicago. An avid conservationalist, Larson and his wife established a protected woodland, 'The Paul and Gladys Larson Woodlands,' in central Illinois through The Nature Conservancy.
Wayne Painter '59 JOURN died January 6, 2009, in Union Grove, Wisc. Painter was active in his Wisconsin community, and a 40-year member of the James M. Hays Lodge #331.
Joseph "Spike" Hutchins '82 ADV died December 12, 2008, in Charlotte, N.C. He was employed by International Marketing of Imports and Exports, Co., of Charlotte.
Bruce Solberg '85 MS JOURN died in his Portland home November 13. For more than a decade, he worked as an award-winning business reporter and freelance writer before becoming the Clark County Home Builders Association's community affairs director. Solberg served as public information officer for TriMet. He loved time outdoors hiking, gardening, boating, and cycling.
Gerard "Jerry" Cook '63 JOURN died November 22, 2008. Cook worked briefly for the Chicago Sun-Times, and later as editor of the Labor Temple News in Peoria. He served in World War II, and returned to work as an editor in Caterpillar Tractor Company's advertising/sales department for 35 years. Among his many memberships, he was a member of the Professional Society of Journailsts.
Constance Hay Haake '36 JOURN died August 2, 2008, Sun City, Ariz. Haake graduated cum laude from the U of I and worked as a copywriter at Sears Roebuck in Chicago before her marriage. She taught French for 17 years at high schools in West Virginia.
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