IN MEMORIAM

1948

Constance Papastrat Fotieo, 97, died July 26, 2022. She was predeceased by her brother, George, and her husband, Dr. Constantine J. Papastrat ’48. Connie is survived by her daughters, Demetra and Georgia.

1950

Janet (Zimmerman) Segal, 92, died May 2, 2022. Janet followed her sister, Irene (Zimmerman) Schultz ’48, to Bard, where she studied piano performance and met her future husband, John B. Segal ’50, who died in 2005. Janet raised her family in Larchmont, New York, taught piano part-time, and was active in the local Democratic party. Interested in mental health issues, she studied pastoral counseling at Iona College and received an MS in education. After working at a mental health clinic, she completed an MS in social work at Fordham University. In 1979, she joined the staff of Four Winds Hospital, in Katonah, New York, climbing the ladder for the next three decades as director of social work, director of clinical services, chief operating officer overseeing all clinical and marketing services, and eventually executive vice president emerita. Janet was a loyal Bardian who was involved in planning reunions and often returned to campus. She is survived by her children, John B. Segal Jr., Jeanne Segal, and Joanne Segal Frye.

1952

Norman L. Alling, 92, died March 22, 2022. After graduating from Bard, Norman received his PhD from Columbia University. He devoted his career to mathematical research, publishing four books and more than 40 papers, and taught at universities around the world. Norman was passionate about nature, skiing, surfing, mountain climbing, astronomy, and history, and had a lifelong interest in science, art, and music. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Kina, and his daughters, Eliza and Maggie.

Hannah “Kit” (Kauders) Ellenbogen, 91, died August 4, 2022. Kit was born in Vienna, Austria, but fled with her family during the Holocaust. They spent three harrowing years traveling from country to country before finally settling in Forest Hills, Queens. By the time she was 10, Kit had learned to speak three languages and had developed a fierce sense of justice and a steely determination that would last a lifetime. In college she adopted the name Kit to celebrate this new beginning. At Bard, Kit met her future husband, Saul Ellenbogen ’49, with whom she had two sons, David and Anthony ’82. After studying psychology at Bard, Kit went on to receive her master’s degree in social work from Hunter College, and in 1973 she became a guidance counselor at Glen Ridge High School, where she worked for 17 years. Her nononsense approach to college and career counseling influenced a generation of young adults in profound ways. At 54, Kit entered Rutgers School of Law and went on to put her background in education and knowledge of the law to good use. She began her second career as an attorney, first for the Education Law Center of New Jersey and then with Advocates for the Children of New Jersey. She continued to work as a child advocate lawyer until the age of 80. Kit was also involved with Bard High School Early College Newark, where she funded a lecture series focusing on the issues and circumstances that led to the Holocaust. She received Bard’s John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service in 2008. Kit is survived by her sons, and grandchildren, Zach, Monroe ’08, and Max ’16.

Joan K. Novick, 91, died September 25, 2022. As a teenager, Joan wrote regularly for the local paper, and at Bard, where she studied languages and literature, she was ideas editor on the student newspaper. She also danced and sang in student productions. Joan began her career at Women’s Wear Daily and then applied her extraordinary writing talent to advertising copywriting at Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn (BBDO). When her husband, historian Peter Novick, took a job at University of Chicago, Joan transferred to BBDO’s Chicago office. She later cofounded the advertising agency Jerry&Joan Creative, which served national and local corporations for 30 years. Joan was predeceased by her husband and her son, Michael. She is survived by her sister, Sue Morris.

Dr. Paul F. Vietz, 91, died October 23, 2022. He was inspired to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology after his mother passed away at an early age from endometriosis complications. After his father died in World War II, Paul found himself an orphan in war-torn Germany. However, he was an excellent student, and was awarded the opportunity to spend a year at Bard as an exchange student in the early 1950s. He returned to Germany to complete medical school in Berlin and married his high school sweetheart, Sigrid. He helped develop minimally invasive surgery techniques still used today. He is survived by his wife and his children, Michael and Martina.

1953

Roger Phillips, 93, died September 15, 2022. Roger grew up in Woodmere, Long Island, and lived in Larchmont, New York City, and the Hudson Valley much of his life. He was an accomplished artist who made large metal kinetic sculpture and spent his business career as an insurance broker, partnered with his brother Harry. At Bard, he met his wife, Lorelle Marcus ’57, to whom he was married for 57 years, until her death in 2014. A devoted member of the Century Association, Roger was also an avid reader, a lover of Baroque music, and a lifelong Democrat who enjoyed pickleball and riding his bicycle into his 90s. He was a loyal Bardian who will be remembered at the College for many things—including the donation of his iconic sculpture Three Red Discs in a Rectangle, which is located outside the Bertelsmann Campus Center. Roger is survived by his companion, Charlene Rosen; siblings Mary and Harry; sisterin-law, Bonnie Marcus ’71; and four children, John, Sarah, David ’87, and Matthew ’08.

Robert A. Ronder, 90, died October 6, 2022. Bob practiced law in Kingston, New York, for many years as part of St. John, Ronder, and Bell, and later opened his own practice. Bob was the bank attorney for Ulster Savings Bank, serving on its board for 30 years and eventually becoming its president. He also proudly served as president of the Real Property Section of the New York State Bar Association. Bob was involved in Temple Emanuel, Israel Bonds, B’nai Brith, Kingston Kiwanis, and served on the Terravita Homeowners Association board. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie L. Ronder; daughters Ilene Schabot and Deborah Pugliese; and stepchildren Tim Kobelt, Tami Terwilliger, and Tracy Kobelt.

1957

Robert Bassler, 86, died August 29, 2022. Originally from California, Bob drove across the country with his family to Bard in 1953 and immediately fell in love with the campus and landscape of the Hudson Valley. Bob became immersed in the sculpture program and studied under professor Harvey Fite ’30, who invited Bob to spend a winter field period as an artist in residence in a small cabin on his Opus 40 property. Fite later became a mentor and friend. Bob was known for his skilled two- and three-dimensional work. Throughout his life he continued to paint Hudson Valley landscapes in the plein air style. For his Senior Project, Bob created a figurative fountain sculpture, Seclusion, for the garden pool at Blithewood Mansion. Referred to on campus as “the Bard Nymph,” the sculpture was cast in bronze and can still be seen in the Anna Jones Memorial Garden beside the Bard Chapel. After receiving an MFA in sculpture from the University of Southern California, Bob began teaching at Occidental College, where he met his future wife, Lynn Allen. In 1964, Bob became an assistant professor of sculpture at California State University at Northridge, retiring as professor emeritus in 1997. Bob and Lynn made annual trips to Bard and he remained proud and involved with the College. Lynn survives him. His work can be seen at robertbasslerart.net.

Janet Marian Van Sickle died November 8, 2022. She was 86. Born in the Bronx, Janet studied art and ceramics at Bard, moved to Paris in the 1950s and then to Greenwich Village where she was immersed in the art scene and worked at Café Figaro from 1958 to 1964. In 1971 she moved to Boulder Creek, California, where she learned to split her own wood, grow her own food and flowers, roof a house, pour cement, design the irrigation for a garden, and gained “an appreciation of the wisdom of natural systems design,” as her son, Krae Van Sickle, writes. After time in El Salvador exploring gardening in the tropics, she taught on a farm at a boarding school in Vermont, conducted a food and water selfsufficiency study for the Heartwood Institute, and taught organic farming at Evergreen State College in Washington State. Janet lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, from 1999 until 2004, when she moved to Montauk, Long Island, where she served on the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee and East Hampton Town’s agricultural, energy and sustainability, and transfer station committees. In addition to her son, she is survived by her brothers, Richard Goldenberg and Michael Freund.

1961

Robert Guilford Kitchel, 82, died June 29, 2022. Guil, as he was known, was a student of history, an early member of the Civil War Hemlocks, an avid reader and gardener, and a collector of antique tractors, radios, model airplanes, and automobiles. He served on the board of the Pope Memorial Library for many years and was devoted to the Danville, Vermont, community. He is survived by his wife, Jane, a Vermont state senator since 2005; son, Nathaniel Royce; brother, Frederick; and sister, Alice.

Jessica Stuart Yudelson, 82, died March 11, 2022. Jessica majored in theater at Bard and spent her junior year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. In the ’60s, she worked as a fashion and TV model, acted in commercials, and starred in onewoman plays at Café La Mama in New York City (e.g., Mother Was Sober and It Was So Much Fun, 1966). Into the ’70s, she divided her time between New York and Los Angeles, and went on to act in movies and TV dramas. She became a screenwriter and eventually taught acting and speaking voice. She is survived by her husband, Jerry, and her brother, Daniel Marcus.

1962

Stephanie (Cole) Kaylin died April 13, 2022.

1964

Carol Adler died April 4, 2022. Carol grew up in Los Angeles, with the world-renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky as a neighbor and family friend. From an early age, she was exposed to and influenced by great performers of classical music, and after graduating from Bard she followed her passion into that world. Falling in love with classically trained pianist Audrey Jarach, who would be her partner for 23 years, Carol relocated to Northern California and then Portland, Oregon, where she dedicated herself to causes that advanced human dignity, health, education, and music appreciation.

1965

Roxanna Orlando Leone, 81, died May 21, 2022. Roxanna is survived by her husband, Peter, and her daughters, Petra Leone Steriti and Sairey Luterman.

1967

Dickran Toumajan, 76, died April 7, 2022. Dickran studied political science at Bard for one year before transferring to University of New Hampshire, but he remained loyal to Bard throughout his lifetime. He studied Armenian history, culture, and language, and was a lifelong teacher who cared deeply for all of his students. Dickran is survived by his wife, Anahit, and their three children, Mihran, Armen, and Ani.

1968

Andrew Frank, 75, died April 21, 2022. Andy studied composition with Elie Yarden and Jacob Druckman at Bard, and with George Crumb, George Rochberg, and Richard Wernick at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his master of arts degree. In 1972, he began teaching composition in the Department of Music at the University of California at Davis, becoming a professor emeritus in 2007. Andy received numerous awards, prizes, grants, and commissions for his music, including two BMI Awards, two NEA Composer Fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His work has been performed nationally and internationally by the Kronos Quartet, Da Capo Chamber Players, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Penn Contemporary Players, New York New Music Ensemble, and Debussy Trio, among others. A consummate artist, Andy was in his music studio until the very end, composing, revising, and revisiting beloved musical, literary, and film masters of the present and past. Andy cherished his years at Bard and the lifelong friendships he made there, in particular with his classmates Paul Smith ’68, Richard Ransohoff ’68, and Donald Fagen ’69. Andy is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Tyler (Ty) Watkins; children, Lily and Christopher; and sister, Elizabeth Frank, Joseph E. Harry Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at Bard.

1969

Judith Anne Shepherd, 74, died May 19, 2022. Judy had a long and successful career with the Federal Trade Commission, protecting consumers from fraud. She is survived by her sister, Paula Metzner, and her brother, Richard Metzner.

Lance David Stalzer, 74, died September 7, 2022. Lance graduated from Rhinebeck High School as valedictorian. At Bard, he became interested in the spiritual teachings of Meher Baba, and he remained a dedicated follower for the rest of his life. He worked for the US Postal Service for almost 40 years. Lance is survived by his wife of 27 years, Elaine C. Wiley Stalzer; daughters, Leela Stalzer and Amy Stalzer; stepdaughters, Emily Hittle and Azlyn Wheeldon; and stepson, James.

1970

Steven Allen Levy, 73, died May 27, 2022. He was a veterinarian in private practice until his retirement in 2008. Steve was nationally known as an expert in tick-borne diseases in animals and was instrumental in the development of the canine Lyme disease vaccine. He published and lectured widely. He is survived by his wife, Diane Seltzer Levy, and his brother, Jeff Levy ’67.

1973

James Jennings, 71, died May 19, 2022. Jim studied sculpture at Bard and he played a significant role in the creation of the College’s film department. He became a bright star in the microcosmos of experimental film with his mostly silent, 16millimeter, black-and-white works, which are celebrated for their formal compositions, striking reflections and shadows, and fluid camerawork. A 10-year apprenticeship led to a master plumber’s license in 1990, and Jim started his own Manhattanbased company, Time Mechanicals. In 2007, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his contribution to film. He is survived by his wife, Karen Treanor, and siblings, Jack Jennings and Carol Guay.

1974

Susan Joslin, 70, died November 7, 2022. Susan was born and raised in Connecticut. After earning her BA in dance from Bard, she got an MA in dance education at New York University. During a reverse commute from New York City to her teaching job on Long Island she met John Scott Wilkerson. They married and had two children, Joslin and Charles. In 1989, after a stay in Central Point, Oregon, they moved to Cape Cod, where Susan worked for the Waldorf School of Cape Cod as administrator and admissions director. John Scott died of malignant melanoma in 1991. In 1998, Susan went to work at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where she ran special events and oversaw volunteer activities, and where she met her future husband, Joe Hayes. In addition to John Scott, Susan was predeceased by son Charles and stepdaughter Aidan Hayes. She is survived by her sisters, Sarah, Eliza Kendall and Caroline Joslin; stepdaughters Viridiana and Felicia; stepsons Connor and Dugan Hayes and John McCluskey; and her daughter Joslin Joel.

1975

Duncan Rathbun Hannah, painter, diarist, heartthrob, collagist, bon vivant, draftsman, cartoonist, and writer, died June 5, 2022. He was 69. Hannah had more than 100 solo exhibitions, starting in 1981, but his art career was set in motion the year before when he was part of the Times Square Show, along with Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. As those names suggest, Hannah was part of— and fascinated by—culture and counterculture. “I’ve always been interested in scenes,” he told the New York Times in 2016. “Even scenes that aren’t mine, like Swinging London, the Beat scene, or Paris in the ’20s. So when I got to New York, I wanted to find the scene or make the scene.” Hannah vividly described that period in 20th Century Boy: Notebooks of the Seventies (Knopf, 2018), which was drawn from the extensive journals he kept. His painting was representational and cinematic, and he swam against the tide of abstraction. He called his work, “a love letter to art history.” In 1988, Michael Kimmelman wrote in the Times of Hannah’s painting News of the World, “Against a beautiful mauve-pinkgray sky, a boy carries a newspaper through a nearly empty town. The place is at once ordinary and totally unreal. This is the heart of Mr. Hannah’s terrain—a curious, half-dream, half-nightmare landscape just on the edge of no place.” Hannah grew up in the Midwest, but was eager to expand his horizons. “I’ve been accepted to Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, so it’s the East Coast for me next fall,” he wrote in his diary. “I’ll put myself in odd situations. I won’t avoid challenges, I will uncover my true grit. I’ll exhaust my resources and keep pushing through.” Hannah is survived by his wife, Megan Wilson, and a sister, Holly Lewis.

1978

Zachary Santiago, 65, died March 6, 2022. In his senior year at Bard, Zac met his future wife, Nancy Lehmann. Zac enjoyed camping in every form; in high school he was a Boy Scout and later became a leader for Cub Scout Pack 12 in Kingston, New York. In 2020, he retired from his job as a caseworker at the Ulster County Department of Social Services. In addition to Nancy, Zac is survived by his children, Anthony Santiago and Amanda Bradley.

1980

Joseph Mario Giramma, 73, died September 8, 2022. After graduating from Bard, Joseph earned a master’s degree in public administration from University of Washington. He spent many years in San Francisco, where he met and married his wife, Kelly, in 2002. Joseph traveled to nearly every continent, and lived in Italy, France, and Mexico. He was a prolific artist, and his paintings and sculptures have sold in galleries in San Francisco, New York City, and the Berkshires. Joseph is survived by Kelly and their children: Robert, Aubrey, Maximillian, Ursula, and Joseph.

1981

John Sypek, 65, died May 3, 2022. John was born in Częstochowa, Poland and came to the United States with his parents at 12. He studied history at Bard, where he was also a star tennis player and coach. In 1982, John moved back to Poland, where he met his wife, Dorota. They married in 1985. John is survived by Dorota and their sons, Paul and Alex.

1985

Marylin Quint-Rose MFA, 95, died July 20, 2022. An acclaimed sculptor, educator, and mentor, Marylin was a design instructor and artist at the School of the Worcester Art Museum. During her tenure at the University of New England, she founded the local chapter of Maine Women in the Arts. Marylin received many awards and honors for her art, including a MacDowell fellowship, and has been involved in many exhibitions and competitions worldwide. She is survived by three children: Stephanie Miller, Janis Rose, and Sanford Rose.

1986

Paul Luikart died in January 2022. Paul had recently retired from Williston Northampton School (Massachusetts), where he had taught science since 1997 and coached the judo team. In his subject area, chemistry, Paul was encyclopedic, but his interests and life experience revealed a Renaissance scholar’s breadth of knowledge, and he was an absolutely devoted mentor to his students and advisees. Paul is survived by his daughter, Bella.

1990

August Armstrong, 72, died July 2, 2022. August was a director, actor, playwright, documentarian, teacher, counselor, gardener, healer, and wanderer. With her trademark boldness, she talked her way into auditing most of the film classes she went to at Bard before she was officially a student. She was also a trailblazer; a single mother bringing her toddler with her to college classes without a care for what others might think. August is survived by her husband, Dean Kent; children, Autumn Armstrong-Berg, Willow Baer, and Amber Baer; and stepchildren, Bethany KentHawkins, Mathew Kent, and Jeremy Kent.

1992

Bartolomew John Calendar, 53, died October 10, 2022. While at Bard, Bart studied film and literature. He spent several years as a reporter in the Toms River and Manahawkin bureaus and business department of the Asbury Park Press before moving to police and court coverage at the Central New Jersey Home News and Tribune in 1996. Bart moved to Montpellier, France, in 2000 with his then-wife, Jessica Nesterak. He was known for his quirky and dark sense of humor, which frequently came out via his online persona, The Drunken Expat Writer— Montpellier Madman. After a brief post-divorce move back to the United States, he returned to France, where he met Christine Cantera, who would become his long-term girlfriend and business partner. Bart is survived by his parents, Carl and Jody Calendar, and his brother Shane.

Michael Galen Conelly, 51, died July 31, 2022. Michael started his career in visual effects for the Oscar-winning studio Rhythm & Hues, where he supervised such films as Charlotte’s Web and Snow White and the Huntsman He went on to found the virtualreality studio Blackthorn Media, and was a member of the Producers Guild of America as well as the Visual Effects Society. Michael will be remembered for his supportive management style, the scope of his visual work, and a foundational humanity. He is survived by his mother, Pamela Emerson; father, William Conelly; stepmother, Elizabeth Thiebe; and brothers, Raphael Conelly and James Conelly.

1993

Pēteris Cedriņš MFA, 59, died August 8, 2022. He was the son of Latvian intellectuals who escaped Stalin’s Soviet Union and eventually landed in the United States after World War II. His parents would not countenance having a television in the house, so he grew up with literature and poetry. Impatient and precocious, Pēteris left high school before graduating and directly entered the Master of Fine Arts program at Bard. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he returned to Latvia. Pēteris carried the dual pedigree of a respected line of poets in Latvia and of a welleducated American. He was made foreign affairs director of the Latvian Writers’ Union and became a speech writer for Latvia’s president, Vaira VīķeFreiberga. Pēteris is survived by his sisters Sandra and Astrid.

2004

John Laragh, 73, died June 14, 2022. John attended Dutchess Community College and Columbia Green Community College before graduating from Bard. He worked for the Columbia Paper in Ghent, New York, for many years, and was also an avid photographer. John’s legacy will live on in the black-and-white landscape prints he created and gave to his family and friends. He is survived by his sister, Margaret.

2018

Katharine Lynn Miyajima Hochswender, 28, died June 27, 2022. Kate was born with a magnificent brain, an enormously loving and kind heart, and great beauty. For those who were fortunate enough to know her, Kate was the most wildly glittering jewel, the funniest, smartest, most beautiful little creature. She was kind and generous, and was able to see the humor in almost every situation. She is survived by her mother, Cynthia Hochswender.

2022

Margarita Kuchma, 21, a student in the master’s degree program in Human Rights and the Arts, died November 22, 2021. A graduate of Smolny College and the University of St. Petersburg, Kuchma spent the fall 2019 semester as an exchange student in Bard’s Program in International Education. In summer 2020, after graduating from Smolny, she enrolled in an online class at Bard and expressed eagerness to return to Bard to join the new graduate program. She was a gifted video editor, filmmaker, rapper, musician, and music video artist. Kuchma was particularly proud of her part in Bard’s clemency video advocacy project. She is survived by her parents, Alexander and Alina, and sister, Daria.

2023

Angela McKenzie, 58, died February 3, 2022. Known as Angel to her friends, she was a first-year student of Bard Microcollege Holyoke and a graduate of the Bard Clemente Course in the Humanities. Angel visited the Annandale campus this December for the annual Women and Leadership summit.

Faculty

Elie Yarden, 99, died September 5, 2022. As a teenager, he studied piano and music composition with Stefan Wolpe at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. He went on to study music at University of Pennsylvania, Eastern languages at University of Chicago, and engineering at University of California, Los Angeles. In 1950, Elie moved to New York City, where he pursued his music career. His completed compositions include string quartets, pieces for piano, small ensembles, opera, and an orchestral work. He worked with the Living Theater, hung out at Ratner’s, and navigated the beatnik happenings of Greenwich Village. It was there that he was introduced to Nona Baird, to whom he was married from 1956 until her death in 2020.

Elie was a professor of music at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and later at Tel Aviv University, and in 1967 the family moved to Bard, where Elie taught music and humanities for more than 30 years. He helped to build the Bard Music Program, bringing in such notable contemporary composers as Benjamin Boretz, Joan Tower, and Roswell Rudd, and later was instrumental in creating Bard’s groundbreaking low-residency Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts. Elie and Nona built a home in Annandale that was open to an extraordinary community of artists, students, and teachers who gathered frequently to share in the work of activism, love, learning, and food. During this time, Elie and Nona developed lifelong relationships with the artist Gale Sasson ’69 and the poet Timotha Doane ’66.

After retirement from Bard College in 1987, Elie joined Nona in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she had moved to restart her own career. Elie spent many years building community with his neighbors there, working on issues of fair and equitable housing, city zoning, and environmental concerns. He was an active member of the GreenRainbow Party and participated in writing the party’s platform and advocating for social and environmental justice. At the age of 90, Elie ran for Cambridge City Council. He was a beloved teacher, spouse, father, composer, traveler, mentor, cook, and a resister. He had an unquenchable thirst for inquiry and knowledge, and he abhorred prejudice in any form. Elie is survived by Gale and Timotha, and his sons, Tal ’81, Guy ’84, and Seth.