Class Notes

In Memoriam

Notices of deaths received before October 7, 2022 To submit listings, please contact alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123

Helen Julius Ernst ’41, May 31, 2019, in Menlo Park, California. She was a member of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service during World War II, which is when she met her late husband, Charles. The family lived in New York and Washington, DC for his naval career before settling in Menlo Park in 1960. She is survived by two children, three grandchildren, and a number of great-grandchildren. Roberta Rice Treseder ’43, March 20, 2022, in Los Gatos, California. After Mills, she earned a master’s degree in art from San Jose State, later working as a writer for art books by Pomegranate Press and opening her own pottery studio. Roberta also served on the AAMC’s Board of Governors. She is survived by four children. Joan Gumbrecht Andrews ’49, June 6, 2022, in Orinda, California. After graduation, she headed to New York City to embark upon a long career in publications and PR; first, as advice columnist for Living for Young Homemakers magazine. Joan later represented authors such as Hunter S. Thompson and Helen Gurley Brown. Back in the Bay, she loved all manner of outdoor activities, including patrolling East Bay Regional Parks on horseback, and volunteering for the Oakland Museum of California and the Orinda Garden Club. Joan is survived by her husband, John; two children; and a nephew. Mary Lou Hale Smitheram de Pravia ’50, August 6, 2022, in Santa Barbara. After Mills, she earned a master’s from Bryn Mawr and a doctorate in Spanish literature from UC Santa Barbara, which she completed while a full-time working mother. Mary Lou worked at educational institutions throughout the Santa Barbara area, including Laguna Blanca and Westmont. In addition to her talent for languages, she was a gifted singer and tap dancer, and she loved to read. She is survived by her second husband, Augusto; three children; eight grandchildren; and niece Kaitilin Moore Riley ’86. Kathleen Van Wyck Tanham ’51, September 2, 2022, in Chestertown, Maryland. She later graduated from Bennington College and went overseas as a member of the United States Foreign Service in Israel and Saudi Arabia. After returning to the US, Kathleen earned a certificate in library science from the University of Virginia and became a school librarian and teacher, then pursued a career in magazines. A job editing and designing a program at the Smithsonian in 1978 later led to the position of production manager at the Smithsonian Institute Scholarly Press. She is survived by three children and many extended family members. Bonna “Kay” Vyn Nelson ’51, August 25, 2022, in Madison, Wisconsin. Upon graduation, she served three years in the Women’s Medical Specialist Corps as a first lieutenant and earned a degree in occupational therapy. Her late husband, Roger, was her childhood sweetheart. Kay’s family asks everyone to celebrate her life by reading or donating a book, supporting a local performance or visual arts group, or taking a walk in the woods. Kay is survived by two siblings, five children, 15 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Carol Nielson Nelson ’52, June 20, 2022, in Hillsborough, California. She later graduated from Stanford, where she met her late husband, Peter. Carol spoke French fluently and used it well as a docent and lecturer for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco as well as president of Vieilles Maisons Françaises. She was well-known for her love of nature (through cycling and skiing), of travel (she visited every continent except Antarctica), and for finishing the Sunday crossword puzzle in record time. She is survived by three children and five grandchildren. Patricia “Ruth” Rymer ’53, September 15, 2022, in San Rafael. She was exposed to the field of law at a young age and determined she wanted to be an attorney, and she finally did it after birthing her children, graduating from the Golden Gate University School of Law in the mid ’60s. As one of the scant women attorneys, Ruth focused on family law in California, later serving as president of several law associations and writing four books, including a novel and an autobiography. She is survived by two siblings, two children, two grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. Sheila Grieve Barton ’54, August 23, 2022, in Monterey. She studied occupational therapy at Mills. She is survived by two children.

Joanne Schantin Anderson ’55, August 8, 2022, in Sandy, Oregon. While teaching with the degree she earned at Mills, Joanne used her summers off to travel around the country and the world. After she met her late husband, Ron, when he moved into her apartment complex, they built their own home overlooking the Sandy River Valley and continued expanding it along with their family. Joanne loved to sew, and she was a longtime member of the local bowling league. She is survived by four children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Eleanor “Ellie” Dinaburg Elbaum ’56, August 19, 2022, in Providence, Rhode Island. Ellie was born to Russian parents in China, later spending World War II in a remote Japanese village. After Mills, she studied nursing at the University of Toronto, and she worked as a pediatric nurse at hospitals in Providence starting in the early 1960s, later retiring as director of pediatric patient services at Hasbro Children’s Hospital—which she helped establish—in 1994. Ellie was also a champion of women’s rights issues. She is survived by three sons and eight grandchildren.

Gifts in Memory of

Received June 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022 Lynda Campfield ’00, SES ’01, MA ’02 by Michelle Balovich ’03, MBA ’18; Joyce Fung Yee ’90 Theodora “Thea” Faust Anderson ’14 by Rhoda Faust Joy Waltke Fisher ’55 by Diane Smith Janusch ’55, NDO ’56 Harvey Jones, MFA ’69 by Elizabeth Elston ’57 Barbara Newman Kines ’55 by Diane Smith Janusch ’55, NDO ’56 Barbara Forster Mitchell ’63 by Roberta “Bobbi” Meyer Bear ’63 Robert “Bob” Sliter, husband of Stuart Johnson Sliter ’61, by Ann Gordon Bigler ’61, Elizabeth “Betsy” Frederick ’61, Mary Doerfler Luhring ’61 Carol Noble Smiley ’47 by Patricia Denney Peggy Woodruff ’58 by Gwendolyn “Gwen” Jackson Foster ’67

Lorry I. Lokey

In a 2004 interview with former Mills director of philanthropic planning April Ninomiya Hopkins, MFA ’03, Lorry I. Lokey admitted that, in college, he was voted least likely to succeed. And yet, with his communications degree from Stanford and passion for journalism, he founded and nurtured the news service Business Wire, which is still a thriving global media company today. Four decades later, he began racking up placements on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of most generous donors in the United States. In 2006 alone, he gave away $163 million. “What am I going to do with the money?” he said in that 2004 interview. “Buy a plane? Buy a yacht? That’s not my style.” As the name on the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy might indicate, some of that largesse made its way to Mills, the alma mater of his daughter, Ann Lokey ’85. Her post-grad career at Business Wire and, later, in public relations, inspired him to give back. “Seeing her success propels me to say Mills is every bit as good as I thought it was,” he said in 2004. Though the business school benefited the most from his generosity— more than $20 million in total—it was not his only focus. The Charles E. Larsen Classroom in Vera Long and the School of Education also received a $3-million gift to fund renovations and building projects. Former President Janet Holmgren honored Lokey’s giving by granting him an honorary doctorate of humane letters at Commencement 2004, and he served on the Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2013. Most of the fortune he donated went to educational institutions, including Santa Clara University and the University of Oregon— among many others. Why? He told Hopkins that it was the only realistic alternative to opening his own college: “If I couldn’t build one, I wanted to do something that would change the complexion of a school and make it a more valuable institution.” Lokey credited the success of his own business to the education that he and his colleagues attained, and he was the largest donor in the history of the College. He died on October 1, 2022, in Portland, Oregon. He is survived by Ann and her two sisters, his grandchildren, and scores of colleagues and admirers.

ERIN LUBIN

“What am I going to do with the money? Buy a plane? Buy a yacht? That’s not my style.” –Lorry I. Lokey

Sally Collins Young ’57, September 2, 2022, in Stanford, California. She moved west for Mills, relocating to San Francisco after graduation to work in the travel industry and meeting her late husband in the same choir group. They raised their children in Menlo Park, where Sally taught piano, entertained with scrumptious homecooked meals, and served as a deacon at Menlo Church. Her family recalls how she made others feel “seen,” as well as how much she loved flowers and other forms of natural beauty. She is survived by a sister, two children, and five grandchildren. Sara Larson Bennett Hills ’60, August 23, 2022, in San Francisco. She used her Mills degree in French to teach the language in San Francisco schools until 1973, when her family moved to London. There, Sara worked as an interior decorator and photojournalist for publications such as Vogue and National Geographic. After returning to the United States, she married her second husband, Austin, and the two spent their time appreciating the arts and traveling the world together. She is survived by Austin, three siblings, three children, and nine grandchildren. Kennetha “Posy” Love Krehbiel ’60, July 23, 2022, in Lake Forest, Illinois. So called because an aunt said she was a “pretty as a posy” newborn, she lived up to her nickname when she became an avid gardener, using her plantings to connect with others and with nature. Posy graduated from Lake Forest College with an art history degree, yet it was her passion for accessible healthcare led her to found the Women’s Health and Advisory Council of Lake Forest and The Posy Krehbiel Breast Care Center at Lake Forest Hospital. She is survived by a sister, her former husband, two children, and five grandchildren. Helen Gordon Whitesides ’61, September 26, 2022, in Albuquerque. After Mills, she graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in sociology/psychology. Her career took her to a variety of medical practices around New Mexico, but her true passion was politics. Helen was the manager for two campaigns for state office, and among many similar roles and groups, she was also treasurer of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County. She is survived by two sisters, Margaret Gordon Augustine ’64 and Ann Gordon ’64; a daughter; and two grandsons.

Jennifer Losch Bartlett ’63

The creator of dynamic paintings that defied easy categorization, Jennifer Losch Bartlett ’63 died on July 25, 2022, in Amagansett, New York. She is survived by a daughter and two sisters. After graduating from Mills with a bachelor’s degree in studio art, Bartlett went on to Yale, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s of fine arts degrees. Early in her artistic career, she shuttled between the SoHo loft where she settled with late husband Ed, Yale, and the University of Connecticut, where she was teaching. Her time on mass transit prompted the creation of one of the most characteristic materials of her career: steel plates topped with silk screened enamel surfaces, similar to subway signs. A piece incorporating that medium, “Rhapsody,” later became part of the atrium at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Bartlett’s work has been exhibited across the globe, from Documenta in Kassel, Germany, and the Venice Biennale to the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis, and numerous museums—including SFMOMA—hold pieces of hers in their collections. In a remembrance in The New York Times, Roberta Smith wrote, “Ms. Bartlett was an unrepentant maverick who started out as a fringe member of the post-Minimalist generation, Conceptual Art Division, devising mathematical or geometric systems that she need only execute, without further aesthetic decisions. She characterized this as a ‘What if?’ approach.” Her experimental methods, which she used in everything from printmaking to jewelry and costume design, were lauded by a wide range of art publications, including Artforum. In 2013, she characterized her process to Julian Elias Bronner from that magazine: “Sometimes the rules change, but I prefer to follow through with them until the end,” she said. “My work is finished when it’s finished, when I finish solving the problem.” In addition to her visual work, Bartlett also co-wrote A History of the Universe, an autobiographical novel published in 2013. Judith “Judy” Hadley Depew ’61, August 16, 2022, in Camino, California. She later graduated from Oregon State University but returned to California to start her longtime career in teaching, focusing on the elementary grades. After retiring and moving to the Sierra Foothills, Judy joined with several friends to open Window Box Antiques in Placerville. She also took up painting in her later years, often focusing her artistic talents on renderings of cats. She is survived by her husband, a daughter, and four nieces and nephews. Rosemary Tourney Brahana ’64, October 1, 2022, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She later graduated from the University of Illinois with a biology degree. Rosemary was a stay-at-home mother to her two sons, then went back into science to train and work as a medical technologist. She was well-known for her empathetic nature toward all living creatures, and she loved to travel and enjoy classical music. She is survived by her husband, Van; a sister; two sons; and five grandchildren. Margot Lind ’66, July 12, 2022, in El Cerrito, California. She left Kansas City to attend Mills and lived the rest of her life on the West Coast. After Mills, Margot was initially a magazine writer and editor, co-authoring the book The California Catalogue with former husband Roger Rapoport, then evolved into positions in tech. Berkeley was her well-loved second hometown; she volunteered with many local organizations, especially those involved with historic preservation, and she explored every inch of Northern California. She is survived by four siblings, two children, and seven grandchildren.

“Swimmers” by Jennifer Bartlett, displayed at the Russell Federal Building and US Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia