In Memoriam – Page 3 – Deep Springs College

Noel David Burleson DS50 (1931-2017) – Cos Cob, CT

David Burleson peacefully left our world on New Year’s Eve. David’s family thanks all who cared for him with such engagement. John Hudson DS51, his roommate during John’s first year at Deep Springs, shares that David contributed greatly to peace and it was a joy to have known him.

David (“Noel”) was a Deep Springer and London School of Economics Fellow with National Science Foundation and Woodrow Wilson grants. In preparation for a lifelong career in United Nations Diplomacy, David graduated with a Harvard Anthropology PhD where he also taught. David treasured his service as Associate Director of the Pathfinder Fund and as Visiting Professor of Social Anthropology with the Faculty of Medicine, University of El Salvador (funded by the Rockefeller and Pop Council). David reached many through myriad human rights programs and as UNESCO advisor to UNICEF.

David and Nan married in 1970. Nan stretched David to explore skiing and hiking many nature preserves globally. David was an avid swimmer and gardener on the beloved banks of the Mianus River where he and Nan loved to kayak with friends. He enjoyed making and sharing maple syrup for over three decades with his family and friends. David soulfully and tirelessly advocated for girls’ education and helped bridge divisions by being the change he wished to see in the world.

David was also an avid poet, saying:

I am ever grateful that my day’s daze is but a brief phrase,

When each night’s knight whispers some praise,

Then, I do believe I find quiet reprieve.

Thanks to his daughter Betsy who provided the material for this remembrance.

February 14, 2018/by John Dewis

In Memoriam

John W. Lewis, DS’47 – Stanford, California

John W. Lewis DS’47, veteran and scholar, passed away on September 4^th in Stanford, California, after a distinguished life of service. He was one of the leading experts on China in his time, playing a crucial role in establishing peaceful US-China relations. He also made several visits to North Korea and was the first China expert to speak out against the Vietnam War. Lewis taught at Cornell and Stanford, becoming professor emeritus at Stanford in 1997. It was there that he founded the Northeast Asia-United States Forum on International Policy and the Center for International Security and Cooperation.

Evanne Jardine, Friend – Bishop, California

We were saddened to learn of the death last week of long-time college friend Evanne Jardine of Bishop, California. Evanne and her husband John have been enthusiastic friends to the college ever since they moved to the Eastern Sierra two decades ago, and we have enjoyed their company at campus events and public speaking over many years. Their devoted support of our educational goals has made a very positive impact on the life of the college. John has shared the announcement of Evanne’s passing, below. We extend our deepest sympathies to John and all of their family.

Evanne Hays Jardine, 3/12/40 – 12/10/2016

On December 10, Evanne Jardine, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, ended her two years long fight with pancreatic cancer at her home in Bishop. She will always be our champ, now at rest and content with her life and achievements, centered in her indomitable spirit and held in the steadfast love and joyful memories of family, friends and colleagues.

From 1966-95, Evanne taught English composition and literature at Santa Barbara City College, with an emphasis on American literature. After retiring with her husband John Cunningham to Mammoth Lakes, she continued writing poetry and fiction as she always had, participating in two writing groups. She returned to her earlier practice of art, joining plein air classes and groups, her work frequently exhibited in Bishop and Mammoth. Her book of recent poems and watercolors, chiefly of the Sierra, Learning to Weave, was published in October, 2016 and is available through Bishop Art Supply and Spellbinder Books in Bishop. It is also available at http://stores.bishopartsupply.com/

Evanne, an avid hiker and skier, also taught courses in the history of the Eastern Sierra. With grace and humor, she demonstrated strength of character, a lifelong love of learning, appreciation of beauty, and spirit of adventure. She and John traveled the world and, with their dog Sophie, camped all over the West and Mexico.

Evanne is survived by her ever-loving husband John, her son Sean, stepchildren Barbara and Michael, and grandchildren Eamonn, Kyle, Brian, Henry and Clara, as well as her sister Debbie and her brother John Edward, known as Jed.

We let go, but we never lose sight . . . . ”All Light is Beautiful.”

Memorial service to be announced later.

December 15, 2016/by abarkafski

In Memoriam

Stefan Sperling DS’92 – San Francisco

We were deeply saddened to learn that Stefan Sperling DS’92 died on August 10, 2016 after a brief but aggressive illness. He was 45. Stefan had only recently received his law degree from Stanford University in 2013. At the time of his death, he was an attorney with the San Francisco office of Baker & McKenzie, specializing in issues of data protection and security compliance.

Stefan was born in East Germany in 1971; he escaped to West Germany at age twelve with his mother and sister. After completing compulsory service in the German army, Stefan came to Deep Springs at age 20. He was a much-loved member of the DS community; he enjoyed children and spent one summer working as an au pair for a faculty couple. Stefan received his B.A. from University of Chicago, an M.A. from Stanford, and ultimately his PhD in anthropology at Princeton. He taught at Harvard (where he was a post-doctoral fellow in the STS Program at the Harvard Kennedy School), University of Humboldt in Berlin, and at Deep Springs in 2009-2010. His courses in science, culture and ethics were popular with students and he was an active participant in faculty matters and community life. His keen intelligence and easy-going humor were much appreciated.

Stefan was a talented medical anthropologist and received a priority visa from U.S. Immigration to live and work in the United States. He closely examined the tension between scientific advancement and ethics. His dissertation Reasons of Conscience: The Bioethics Debate in Germany was published by University of Chicago Press in 2013. A memorial gathering was held at his home on August 21st. He will be greatly missed by family and scores of friends.

August 24, 2016/by David Welle

In Memoriam

Ernest Tucker III, M.D. DS’50 – California

Ernest Tucker DS’50 died peacefully on April 10, 2016 after a long decline following a stroke in 2011. Ernie grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and was a National Merit Scholar before attending Deep Springs. He is remembered by his classmate, Don Noel, as being hard working and committed to the ideal of student responsibility for the college. As labor commissioner in 1951, when Ernie learned how costly it would be to have professional crews rebuild the irrigation canal from Wyman Canyon to the campus, Ernie organized a break from the regular academic schedule and rallied the entire student body into a continuous labor crew that completed the work in a week’s time at a fraction of the cost.

Ernie completed his undergraduate degree at Cornell, then attended the Medical College of Alabama where he completed his medical training, internship and residency, specializing in pathology. He enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a Board Certified Immunopathologist. He was an Army physician at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C. In 1967 he joined the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation as an NIH Special Fellow in Experimental Pathology, later becoming director of the Immunology Reference Laboratory and ultimately director of the Department of Pathology.

Dr. Tucker served as Chair of the Department of Pathology at California Pacific Medical Center in 1989-92. He was president of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists 1991-92 and held numerous positions that promoted continuing education and developing the field of immunopathology. He also served as a trustee of Deep Springs from 1993-2001, helping to shepherd the college’s major rebuilding effort. He loved to travel, whether on international excursions or a simple weekend camping trip. He was devoted to his family and loved to share his home with friends.

May 26, 2016/by David Welle

In Memoriam

Ron Alexander DS’64 – California

We learned recently that Ron Alexander DS’64 died in Reno, Nevada on January 9, 2016 after a brief illness and bout with pneumonia. He was 68 years old. Ron had been a longtime resident of Bishop, California. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Ron was predeceased by his parents, Benjamin & Lydia, and his brother, Kenneth.

Ron came to Deep Springs in the summer of 1964, a time when the college was just entering its ‘modern’ era following the travails of the 1950s and the reorganization of the administration at the guidance of Bob Aird DS’21. He is remembered by his classmate and former TDS Chair Michael Stryker as “unfailingly decent, humble, and humane, virtues not always shared by the rest of us in his class. Over the years he gave a great deal to Deep Springs, despite struggles with his illness that would have paralyzed many. His was, as far as I knew it, a life of service.”

Ron spent three years in the Student Body. Following college, he pursued a career in broadcasting, working as a technician and video editor for several stations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and, ultimately, in Bishop, where he became a mainstay for Sierra Wave Media. He settled in the Eastern Sierra for good in 2002; it was a place he felt most at home and he often reminded friends that “Inyo” translates to mean “Dwelling Place of the Great Spirit”. His favorite pastimes included hiking with “Togiak”, his beloved Samoyed dog, listening to classical music, and editing/producing short documentary videos. He also regularly volunteered as an administrative assistant for the local office of California Indian Legal Services.

During the past twenty years, Ron served as a diligent observer for alumni gatherings at Deep Springs. He was ever-present in the background to capture most proceedings on camera (and frequently share his wry humor and pointed observations, as well). With countless volunteer hours of video recording, editing, and collating at his own expense, he assembled a record of alumni stories and reflections from scores of gatherings, creating a testimonial archive for the entire college community. He was already planning for the Centennial Celebration in 2017. His presence will be sorely missed, then and beyond.

As Ron related in one of his own letters: “But fortunately the Valley never changes – the same mountains, ridges, rocks and shadows always greet me with a welcoming feeling of being at home again every time I return to their enveloping embrace.”

January 26, 2016/by David Welle

In Memoriam

Kenneth Pursley DS’57 – Idaho

Ken Pursley DS’57 died tragically on Oct. 21, 2015 when his boat capsized on a fishing excursion in an upper tributary of the Amazon River. He was 75. Originally from Idaho, Ken lived in Boise with his wife Betsy. The summer after his high school junior year, Ken came directly to Deep Springs and stayed for two years before transferring to Cornell to complete his Bachelor’s degree. Ken is remembered fondly by his DS classmates as being particularly vocal among the students in alerting the Board to the destructive behavior of the Director in the late 1950s. He went on to take his law degree from University of Chicago and moved back to Idaho in 1970 to practice in Boise. He was a firm believer in the virtues of good government and made an unsuccessful bid for a Congressional seat in the 1976 election. In 1977, he co-founded the law firm Givens Pursley, where he worked for the next 28 years, building it into one of the largest firms in the state.

His law colleagues recall him as being intellectually curious, fair-minded, and caring deeply about his employees. After retiring from law practice, he started a real estate firm, investing in multiple local developments in the Boise area. Ken enjoyed the great outdoors throughout his life. He was a co-founder of the Idaho Conservation League, served on the board of the Nature Conservancy, led citizen initiatives to promote land use planning and campaign finance laws, and was instrumental in advocating the Boise Greenbelt initiative. He was also an avid fly-fisherman – ‘talented but not flashy’ according to his friends. His enjoyment of the sport motivated him to be co-owner of a fly-fishing outfitter shop, and he travelled to far-flung locations, both in the U.S. and abroad in pursuit of interesting adventures, often together with Betsy. He died doing something that he loved.

November 10, 2015/by David Welle

In Memoriam

February 21, 2015

Edwin Wesely DS’45 passed away peacefully at his Manhattan home on Feb. 15. He was 85 years old. Ed served two terms on the Deep Springs board of trustees in the 1990s, and was a long-time volunteer on behalf of the college over the years. Ed was born into a European Catholic immigrant family in New York City and attended Brooklyn Tech High School before coming to Deep Springs in the summer of 1945. He subsequently graduated from Cornell University and received his law degree from Columbia Law School. He went on to a highly distinguished legal career as a federal prosecutor, and a litigation partner with Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman) for 37 years.

Ed was a dedicated humanitarian, serving many years as Chairman/ President of CARE, the leading international relief and development agency, and was a co-founder of CARE International in 1982. Throughout his career, he received many honors including Foreign Press Association World Humanitarian Award 1988. Ed was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, served on numerous nonprofit boards and chaired multiple legal committees in the Federal Court system. Ed and his wife Marcy visited Deep Springs numerous times together during the past quarter century; he will be remembered by his many friends and colleagues as someone with a sharp intellect, charming wit, and enormous heart.

February 21, 2015/by abarkafski

In Memoriam

January 22, 2015

The college is sad to report the death in Chicago on January 22 of Jon Shotola DS’97 at the age of 35. After finishing the program at Deep Springs, Jon had completed his BA in Cognitive Science at Brown University, then became a private pilot and flight instructor.

Jon’s classmates at Deep Springs remember him as a spirited debater and a brilliant, kind, hilarious, and generous friend, one who especially treasured public speaking, cooking, and hiking. One of Jon’s classmates put it well: Jon is deeply missed by me and so many others. I will always cherish the time we spent together.

January 22, 2015/by abarkafski

In Memoriam

October 22, 2014

We learned this week of the death of one of Deep Springs’ most prolific authors. Park Honan DS’46 died on September 27 in Leeds, England, where he had lived and worked for over 40 years. Park was a professor of American and English Literature at the University of Leeds and authored five major biographies of English literary figures. The New York Times book section published a posthumous acknowledgment of Mr. Honan’s career and contributions to the field.

In an essay from 1964, Park wrote of his alma mater, “Deep Springs means to discourage any passive attitude toward life, by which responsibility is allowed to go by default to those who always stand ready to seize it unworthily.”

October 22, 2014/by abarkafski