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George Edward Silverman March 19, 2013 George Silverman left Bates after two years and completed his degree at the Univ. of Pennsylvania. He was married to Beverly Opper Silverman for 59 years before her death. Survivors include children Diane Stockton and Gary Silverman; four grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and his partner, Norma Dinnerstein. Harold Hayward Todd Jr. January 9, 2012 Harold Todd got in enough time on campus to catch the eye of Barbara Putney ’42 before the Navy whisked him away for training at Northwestern. They married after the war ended, after his service in the Pacific, after he received a Bronze Star and after he completed his degree at Bates. Most of his career was with Connor Engineering Corp. in Danbury, Conn., where he was vice president of sales. As president of the Brookfield (Conn.) Historical Society, he was pressed into service to chair the Bicentennial commission. He also was part of the library building committee there. Once he and Barbara moved to Falmouth, Maine, he remained active as a volunteer with the Portland Museum of Art, the Portland Concert Assn. and Nantucket Lightship Restoration. He retired in 1992, but continued to do work for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. His wife passed away in 2009; her obituary appears above. Survivors include children Jeffrey Todd and Jennifer Tymula; and one grandchild.
1945 Ruth Howard Sherblom June 1, 2013 A few days after graduating from Bates, Rae Howard joined her life with that of Ed Sherblom ’44. They were together until his death in 1992. While he attended divinity school at Andover Newton, she was the director of a settlement house in East Boston. They founded a new congregation together in Portsmouth, R.I. Together, they raised 10 children while ministering to their congregation at Founders Memorial American Baptist Church on their hilltop farm. She earned a master’s in education from the Univ. of Rhode Island and taught kindergarten once her youngest was in school. Nine of her children survive her: Peggy, John ’72, Don, Jim, Pat, Steve, Paul, Becky and Joe. Son David died in 1989, which made fighting AIDS a major cause in Rae’s life. Other survivors include nine grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren. Edwin Wilson Tooker February 26, 2013 Ed Tooker started with a bachelor’s in geology from Bates and went all the way to the nation’s
highest award in his field, the Gold Medal for Distinguished Service from the Interior Department. He was the chief officer of the Office of Mineral Resources of the U.S. Geological Survey. In nearly 25 years with the USGS, his work included searching for uranium and precious metals, and in defining areas with potential for exploration. He held a master’s from Lehigh Univ. and a doctorate from the Univ. of Illinois. His work centered on the Western states, and he researched clay mineral alteration through a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation. His arrival at Bates was delayed a bit by service in the military, which had the favorable twist of him meeting Polly Beal ’45, who would be his wife and partner for 67 years, moving ever westward with him from Pennsylvania to Illinois to Colorado to Utah and finally to Los Altos, Calif. He retired in 1992, but continued to work three days a week finishing up publications and maps. He also became active in the local Camellia Society, as program chairman and eventually as president. Besides his wife, survivors include children Carol Stewart, Jean Stephens and Christine Thomas; and five grandchildren. Shirley Beal Dallam ’52 is his sister-inlaw; and Deborah Beal Ahle ’80 and Sandra Beal Carpenter ’84 are his nieces.
1946 Elizabeth Marie Morse April 29, 2013 Beth Morse was born, raised and died in Saco, Maine, specifically in Ocean Park. She attended Thornton Academy, and was thrilled when she was named its head math teacher. She also was thrilled when she became the postmaster at the Ocean Park Post Office after teaching for 25 years in Portland, Conn. Very active in her church, the United Baptist Church of Saco, she taught at Ocean Park’s Senior College, was active at its library (she herself had over 1,200 books) and with the York County Retired Teachers Assn. Janice Sunn Paskewitz March 10, 2013 Janice Paskewitz, who held a master’s in social work from Boston Univ., had retired from her career as a social worker in the Somers (Mass.) school system. She was active in Somers Congregational Church and in Faith United Church in Springfield. Survivors include children Bradford, Karen, Sabra and Charles; and nine grandchildren.
1947 Jacqueline Coventry Davis December 23, 2012 Jacqueline Davis was at Bates for two years before leaving to
marry Howard Davis. He passed away in 2003. She is survived by children H. Thomas Davis, Julianne Garvey and Eric Davis; 10 grandchildren; and one greatgrandchild. Edith Lydia Hary March 26, 2013 Edith Hary knew she wanted to be a librarian from the time she was 11, a goal made possible by a job at the burgeoning law library in Augusta to earn money before she could even start college, and then internships every summer. Lucky for her the director’s position at the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library was waiting when she graduated, a position she held until retiring 35 years later. She defined the job, winning the admiration of everyone she met. She only called it quits when she realized that she didn’t want to go to the bother of learning about computers, but knew the library needed to keep up with the times. Until then, however, she incorporated every change as it came along: The library quickly put into place a newspaper clipping service, for instance, and she expanded its card catalogue to hold much more information than a normal catalogue. She made it more than a law library; she made it a circulating library for the entire state. She recalled in an interview with the Muskie Archives that she would race to the State House chambers whenever Sen. Muskie (Class of 1936) was about to speak because “he had such ideas that you were just galvanized, and it made everything about the State House seem more exciting.” Although money was tight throughout her Bates years, she used a gift of $1,000 to purchase a “cottage” her great-grandfather built next to the Pemaquid Lighthouse in 1885, a purchase she called “the best decision I’ve ever made.” She retired there, and found winters were the best time of the year. Active in many national and regional law librarian groups, she was appointed to the criminal law revision commission and the board of bar examiners, the only lay member of these groups. She also was instrumental in bringing to life the famous diary of midwife Martha Ballard, which had sat in printed galleys in a barn for 60 years and in handwritten notes since 1795. She was a class agent for many years and active in the Kennebec Valley Alumni Club. In addition to her history/government degree from Bates, she held a master’s in library science from Simmons. In 1975, USM honored her with an LL.D. The following year, the Maine State Bar Assn. gave her its distinguished service award, and in 1978, Westbrook College gave her its Deborah Morton Award. In 1982, the Maine State Bar Assn. noted her retirement with a special award at a dinner attended by 280 people, including Chief Justice Vincent L. McKusick ’44 and then-Gov. Joe
Brennan, who as a young man had been a stock clerk in her library. She is survived by her dear friend of 43 years, Mary Irvine; sister Marion Abramo, and many nieces and nephews.
Phil Isaacson ’47 traveled the world, possessed multiple talents, knew countless high-powered people, but couldn’t wait to get home to Lewiston, Maine. Phillip Marshal Isaacson June 20, 2013 Phil Isaacson traveled the world, possessed multiple talents, knew countless high-powered people, but couldn’t wait to get home to Lewiston, Maine. He loved his custom-designed home near the college so much that he patted it goodbye many times when he left. He thought so highly of Maine’s architecture that he salted one of his three books heavily with photos of buildings from the state. His own contemporary house was included in 2012 on the National Register of Historic Places for its functional, modern design. His degree from Bates was in biology, partly because he loved to draw; he was part of the V-12 unit at Bates. His law degree was from Harvard, and he entered law practice with his father, Harris Isaacson ’22, in his Lewiston office. His commitment to public service ran deep. Among his many positions, he served as a Lewiston Public Library trustee, chairman of the city’s board of finance, chairman of the Maine State Commission on the Arts and Humanities, as Maine representative to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and as a member of the federal study committee to the National Endowment for the Arts. Bates awarded him a doctorate in humane letters in 1997. He also wrote an unerring column on contemporary art for the Maine Sunday Telegram for around 50 years, three books on architecture, and was categorized as “the most cultured man in Maine” by the Maine Times. His wife, Deborah Rosen Isaacson ’54, despaired when she realized he was taking his tripod along on vacation: She knew he would be lost behind his camera most of the time, because he was a careful, skilled photographer. Many of the photos in his books are his own; one is in the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art. He sometimes planned trips to remote locations simply to get a photograph of a desired building, such as one trip he took — alone — to Uzbekistan. Deborah Isaacson passed away in 1993. Survivors include children
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