Class Notes

Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College alumnae community. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills. edu. Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of the Mills Quarterly. Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College Alumnae Community, alumnae.mills.edu. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills.edu.

Notices of deaths received before July 7

To submit listings, please contact alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123

Natalie Feldman, MA ’40, June 6, 2017, in Batavia, Illinois. Natalie loved attending Chicago Alumnae Club events. She is survived by three daughters, including Janis Feldman Siner ’69.

Lois “Loie” Johnson Cuthbertson ’41, June 2021, in Germantown, Tennessee. Loie was born in Phoenix and spent most of her life in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area before settling outside of Memphis. She was passionate about working in her garden and about her family, and she was an excellent seamstress. She is survived by a daughter, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Muriel Oppenheimer Levinson ’43, October 27, 2020, in Leawood, Kansas. Muriel died one day before her 98th birthday. A fervent reader, she also taught English as a second language to newly arrived immigrants and read stories to elementary students. Muriel’s sense of adventure took her to six continents, and she loved supporting her local opera and repertory theater. She is survived by three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Marilyn Malm Linscott ’44, April 26, in San Rafael, California. Marilyn was a dedicated volunteer, giving her time to St. Luke Presbyterian Church, the American Cancer Society, San Pedro School, and PEO International. She is survived by a sister, four children, four stepchildren, 10 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Barbara Johnson Penhallow ’46, April 9, 2020, in Litchfield Park, Arizona. After Mills, she received a master of library science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and worked as a children’s librarian. She is survived by a daughter; a sister, Sally Johnson Stewart ’56; and two nieces, Susan Dray ’72 and Laura Bramble ’90.

Lenore Mayhew Laycock ’46, May 13, in Oberlin, Ohio. Lenore taught courses on Japanese literature at Bowling Green State University and Oberlin College, and her translations appeared in A Gold Orchid: Love Poems of Tzu Yeh and Anna Akhmatova’s A Poem Without a Hero. She published original poetry from throughout her life in 2016. She is survived by three children, including Vera Laycock Lenore ’70; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Leona Frick Lepage ’47, December 11, 2020, in Petaluma, California. In the late 1970s, she returned to school to earn an MA in education at the University of San Francisco. She is survived by three children.

Elizabeth “Jo” Reynolds Hazen ’47, January 21, 2020, in Walnut Creek, California. After Mills, she graduated from the University of Minnesota. She is survived by two children.

Kathleen “Kay” Edwards ’49, April 4, in Kenmore, Washington. Kay graduated from Washington State with a degree in communications. She later opened her own bookstore, Kay’s Bookmark, in Seattle, which she operated for nearly 30 years. Kay also loved learning new ways to create works of art, from watercolor to woodworking, and she was dedicated to women’s and children’s causes. She is survived by a sister, and many nieces and nephews.

Professor Emerita of Studio Art Hung Liu

The prolific, esteemed artist Hung Liu, who taught studio art at Mills from 1990 to 2013, died in Oakland on August 7.

Multiple exhibitions of her work were planned or underway at the time of her death, including at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The striking portraits she painted elevated the experiences of the Chinese and Chinese American working class and immigrant populations, harkening back to her own time growing up in China during Mao’s rule, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

Liu first came to the United States in 1984 to study at the University of California, San Diego, with a full scholarship. Not long after finishing her studies there, she arrived at Mills where she remained for 24 years. Pieces of hers have appeared in the Mills College Art Museum (MCAM) as part of a joint exhibition with the Oakland Museum of California.

Liu was “fearless and generous, an inspirational teacher, mentor, and internationally recognized artist beloved by students, colleagues, and curators,” said Stephanie Hanor, director of MCAM. “Her work always feels authentic and resonates with a wide audience yet comes from her own very personal perspective as an immigrant, feminist, and artist.”

She is survived by her husband, Jeff Kelley.

Professor Emerita Moira Roth

A renowned and beloved professor at Mills, who retired as the Eugene E. Trefethen Professor of Contemporary Art History in 2017 after 32 years on the faculty, Moira Roth died on June 14 in Albany, California.

Moira was born and raised in Europe, attending Vienna University and the London School of Economics before relocating to the United States. She then moved her studies to NYU and UC Berkeley, earning her PhD with a dissertation on Marcel Duchamp. She came to Mills in 1985, but throughout her career, she edited a wide range of titles, including Amazing Decade: Women & Performance Art in America, 1970-1980; Connecting Conversations: Interviews with 28 Bay Area Women Artists; and We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith Ringgold. She also wrote for publications such as Archives of American Art Journal; Artforum; and Nka, Journal of Contemporary African Art.

Students and coworkers alike delighted in Moira’s buoyant personality. In her memory, her compatriots at the Faculty & Staff Club raised a glass in her honor. “If you had the good fortune to encounter Moira, you too were lifted by her joy and independent spirit,” wrote President Elizabeth L. Hillman in announcing Roth’s death. “She welcomed generations of artists, students, and faculty to Mills College and inspired all of us.” One of Roth’s favorite (and final) projects was The Library of Maps, which was a collection of 41 texts about a fictional library. She delighted in sharing this work with her many friends at Mills.

Mary Chase Bublitz ’50, October 28, 2018, in McMinnville, Oregon. After Mills, she taught kindergarten in Wisconsin before meeting and marrying her late husband, John. The family moved to Minnesota for John’s career, then settled in the Pacific Northwest where Mary was a homemaker. The couple loved to travel, and Mary was an active member of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. She is survived by a son and two grandchildren.

Janette Coon Younglove ’50, June 2021, in Newport Beach, California. She met her husband, Ben, during summer break while attending Mills, and they married in 1948. Janette helped out with the family car business. Later in life, she and Ben bought a second home in Utah, and they enjoyed camping there and taking family vacations to Santa Catalina on their boat. She is survived by Ben, four children, seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

Elizabeth “Betsey” Wallick Danon ’51, April 17, in Sonora, California. She was the first woman in her family to earn a college degree, taking it into teaching and cofounding Keys School in Palo Alto. Betsey’s longtime love for Pinecrest prompted her to move to the mountains 40 years ago, where she retired as manager for Sierra Foothills Residential Care Home. She is survived by two daughters, four grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Ann “Holly” Speir Clement ’54, June 3, 2020, in Vero Beach, Florida.

Jocelyn Sykes Cushman ’54, December 14, 2020, in San Juan Capistrano, California. She was the great-granddaughter of the renowned British artist Godfrey Sykes. For 15 years, Jocelyn was chair of the math department at Corona del Mar High School. She split time between Nova Scotia and Southern California, but in both spots, she loved historical houses, the ocean, and the arts. She was predeceased by her husband, Trevor. Beverly Brown McCall ’55, August 21, 2020, in La Pine, Oregon. She worked as a terminal agent with Greyhound before starting a business with her husband, James. They were in operation for 30 years before retirement to Oregon, where they enjoyed travel, garage sales, and the High Lakes Car Club. She is survived by James, three daughters, nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

Cecilia “Ceil” Moller Murdoch ’57, May 1, in Middlebury, Vermont. After Mills, she taught in Monterey, where she met her late husband, “Wedge.” They raised their family through three Army tours before settling in Vermont. Ceil and four neighborhood moms raised their collective group of 18 children together before she ventured back to work as the parish secretary at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. She is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.

Verna Ness, MA ’58, March 11, in Seattle. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Washington and returned there for a PhD in English. Later, she served as editor for Mountaineer magazine and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. After Verna turned 60, she taught English language and literature around the world, including at Hunan Medical University in Changsha, China, and at Gaziantep University in Turkey.

Diane “Dee Dee” Diamond Foreman ’62, April 28, in Phoenix. Dee Dee graduated from the University of Washington with dual degrees in psychology and education, and she taught for three years before becoming a full-time mother. Years later, she founded the property management company Columbia West, which is still going strong. She is survived by two children and four grandchildren.

Gifts in Memory of

Received March 1, 2021 – May 31, 2021

Barbara Goldblatt Becker ’63 by Marcia Bradley Gifford ’69 and Patricia Yoshida Orr ’63

William Campfield, P ’00; father of Lynda Campfield ’00, SES ’01, MA ’02; by Michelle Balovich ’03, MBA ’18

Marilyn Grimes Hill ’56, P ’83 by her daughter, Linda Hill ’83

Katherine Farrow Jorrens ’57 by Nina Thorp

Sandra Munch Kelleher ’61 by Kevin Kelleher

Leon Kirchner by Mona Monroe Lands ’60

Eleanor Lauer, MA ’40 by Yvonne Payne Daniel, MA ’75

Marcia McElvain ’61 by Elizabeth “Betsy” Frederick ’61

Katherine McGinity, MA ’13 by William Beeson, Elizabeth Bennett, Charles Brunk, Dawn Burdick, Linda Enger, Melanie Knutson, Michael Neff, Robert Leff, Suzanne Petranek, and Pam Wegner

June Ames Millard-Smith ’36 by her daughter, Judith Millard

Donna Riback ’61 by Elizabeth “Betsy” Frederick ’61

Marion Ross ’44 by Linda Tu ’91

Diana Russell by Robina Royer ’80

Kathleen Scott ’87 by Martha Sellers ’86

Patricia Ellis Severn ’64 by her husband, Alan Severn; Alexandra “Alex” Orgel Moses ’64; and Mary Wallon ’64

Charles and Mary Tateosian, P ’89 by their daughter, Lisa Tateosian ’89

Amy Tokioka, P ’74 by her daughter, Pamela Tokioka Carlson ’74

P=parent. For information about making a tribute gift, contact 510.430.2097 or donors@mills.edu.

City, where she met her late husband, John. They came back to the Bay Area, where Susan was a property manager, then retired to North Carolina to enjoy the beach, traveling abroad, and hosting friends and family. She is survived by two children and two grandchildren.

Carolyn Natella Ferguson ’62, April 7, in Happy Valley, Oregon. After Mills, she earned a master’s degree in teaching from Reed College, later teaching at what is now McDaniel High School. She is survived by two children.

Sheraldine Pedersen Redd ’65, April 19, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She worked for many years as a corporate recruiter.

Alexandra Swaney ’67, December 1, 2017, in Helena, Montana. The PhD she earned in cultural anthropology from the University of Colorado was just the beginning of her exploration of other heritages and traditions. Alexandra was also a keyboarder who studied composition at CalArts and co-creator of the Montana Artists Refuge in Basin, among other activities. She was preceded in death by her partner, Lillian, and is survived by many friends and colleagues. Marilyn Cole Arrington ’68, April 19, in Gardena, California. Due to a heart defect, she couldn’t play with other children, so she filled her days with books. She began her teaching career in Watts, later earning an MA from Pepperdine, and she loved cultivating lifelong learners. Marilyn enjoyed traveling across the US with her family, especially her sister, and later, her grandchildren. She is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

Cynthia Schmidt Baker ’71, June 2, in Walla Walla, Washington. An Army wife, Cynthia moved with husband Jim around the world for 26 years, later settling in his hometown of Walla Walla. Along the way, Cynthia earned a master’s degree at the University of Virginia and worked in early childhood education. She was also a lay Eucharistic minister at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. She is survived by Jim, two sons, and two granddaughters.

Valerie Armenis Rubendall ’72, February 14, in Citrus Heights, California. Family was the driving force in Valerie’s life. She was married to her husband, Bill, for 50 years, and she inspired her three children to achieve great things. They say that the hole left by her absence is “impossible to fill.” She is survived by Bill, three children, and two grandchildren.

Sarah Robinson Johnson ’72, December 17, 2020, in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. After Mills, she attended the University of Southern California for her MA in education, later owning and operating her own mail shop. She is survived by her husband, Robert; a daughter; and two granddaughters.

Roxanne Jones Overton ’73, June 8, in High Bridge, New Jersey. Roxanne retired as a programmer for Verizon Wireless, taking on a full schedule of volunteering for organizations such as Open Cupboard Pantry and Meals on Wheels, playing handbells at Spruce Run Lutheran Church, participating in book clubs, enjoying the arts, and traveling. She is survived by two daughters, two stepsons, and four step-grandchildren.

Martha Gates Hays, MA ’77, April 23, in San Francisco. Martha’s first career in TV production led to a campaign that saved the San Francisco Ballet. She taught preschool while earning her MA, then took on eighth-grade English. The last 40 years of her life were spent reckoning with a traumatic brain injury, but she pushed through by pursuing her love of painting, producing hundreds of works. She is survived by her husband, Christopher; and two sons.

Cynthia Muse ’98, January 3, in Brentwood, California.

Tana Polansky Maurer, MFA ’99, April 26, in Madison, Wisconsin. She pursued her MFA in editing after she earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Hunter College and was recognized with the National Arts Club for Writing Award on two separate occasions. Tana was a fighter, surviving two close calls on her life with a resilient spirit. She is survived by her partner, Eric; her mother; a brother; and a sister.

EB Troast ’05, January 11, in Petaluma, California. After Mills, EB finished her degree at San Francisco State, and later received her MPH from San Jose State in 2016. EB was a queer educator who specialized in LBGTQIA+ families and sex education, and had previously worked in various roles at Planned Parenthood and written curricula for the San Francisco Unified School District. She is survived by her partner and two children.