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out on him, but the Marines benefited. So did the football and baseball teams — he played on both all four years. He went on to earn a master’s in business at the Univ. of Hartford and have a long career at Combustion Engineering, an American engineering firm with factories worldwide, a leader in the development of both fossil and nuclear steam supply power systems since absorbed by other conglomerates. He was the personnel manager of the naval reactors division and the manager of the industrial relations division. He retired to a brief career with the New Britain, Conn., school system. Survivors include children Susan Barry-Fulop, James, Richard, Douglas, Donald, and Scott Barry; and 12 grandchildren. Joseph Anthony Gillen April 21, 2015 Joseph Gillen attended Bates and then the Univ. of Cincinnati. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1964 before returning to Pennsylvania to work in municipal water operations. He was a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus and Rotary. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Thompson Gillen. Malcolm Douglas MacBain March 29, 2015 “Bates probably saved my life,” Mac MacBain once said. He was one of seven children in a family whose parents hadn’t gone to college, who lived in a small coastal town in Maine, who only got to Bates because he won a debate scholarship that paid half his way. His uncle, Jack MacBain ’36, was willing to pay the other half over the protests of his father, who thought the whole thing was worse than nonsense. He hadn’t turned 18 when he first reached campus. But he figured things out pretty quickly, especially the debate situation. He was a big part of the Bucksport High School debate team that won the state debate championship, and that got Professor Brooks Quimby’s attention. He went on to earn a master’s from Wesleyan and taught math, physics, and chemistry at several prestigious private schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and also coached debate. (His team made it to the national competition one year.) He coached baseball, soccer, and basketball at several schools as well, and was on the faculty at several colleges during his career. He read seven newspapers every day “to get a real picture of what goes on in the world,” he said. He is survived by his brother, Richard MacBain. Andrew J. Pease April 4, 2015 Andy Pease left Bates after two years and graduated from
Husson College with a degree in business administration. He served with the Air National Guard until 1967 while working for Merrill Trust Co., then went to work for Webber Energy Fuels, where he remained for the remainder of his career, retiring as senior vice president and CFO in 2003. Survivors include wife Janet Wadsworth Pease; daughters Becky Pease and Katy Wood; one granddaughter; and two great-grandchildren. Jon Charles Prothero February 16, 2015 You never know where a degree in economics will take you: Jon Prothero left Bates, joined the Army, learned Russian, and became a translator in Japan. Then he did something economics-like — he worked for a bank for a while, actually becoming a vice president of one in San Francisco, but eventually moved to Tallahassee in the late 1960s, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. He earned a doctorate in social work from Florida State Univ. That took his career in two different directions. He worked with the Florida department of human services, and taught in FSU’s education department. He also worked with FSU’s board of regents. The second direction his career took was into driver safety. He was instrumental in developing the Florida Driver Improvement System; some of his resources have been adopted nationwide. He was divorced from Prudence Milton Prothero, who died in 2013. Survivors include son Gregg; brother S. Richard Prothero ’55 and his wife, Helen Anderson Prothero ’55; and niece Laurie Prothero Sperry ’81.
1961 Richard Albert Yerg March 21, 2015 Dick Yerg knew sports inside and out. He played on three teams at Bates — baseball, basketball, and soccer (captain for two years) — and was the sports editor of the Student to boot. No surprise that he went on to a long and successful career as a sportswriter for his hometown newspaper in the Rockland, N.Y., area. A plaque honoring him hangs in the Rockland Sports Hall of Fame. For over three decades he covered local sports and the New York Rangers hockey team, his specialty. He retired in 1998. He was a founder of the New York State Sports Writers Assn., worked for 13 years as media director of the Florida Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, and volunteered weekly at the Patch Reef Park wheelchair tennis clinic. His wife, Sandi Smith Yerg, predeceased him. Survivors include children Kari and Roger; and two grandchildren.
1963 Allyn L. Bosworth August 16, 2014 When you’re born in New London, Conn., home of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and your father is a high-ranking Army officer, you have national service on your mind. It’s no wonder Allyn Bosworth signed up for the Coast Guard right out of college, economics degree in hand. He served in Vietnam and continued to serve in its Reserve ranks, rising to lieutenant commander before retiring. He worked for Rhode Island’s department of labor and training for 32 years as a research analyst. At Bates, he was one of the original Deansmen and is named in the male a cappella group’s constitution. Survivors include his wife Patricia Baptista Bosworth; daughters Jennifer Madden, Caroline Jaret, and Kimberly Phalen; and 11 grandchildren.
1965 Judith Magyar Isaacson November 10, 2015 A survivor of Auschwitz, Bates’ first dean of students, a mathematics graduate, parent and grandparent of an alum — Judith Magyar Isaacson was one of a kind. She started life in a small provincial city in southeastern Hungary, valedictorian of her high school class, but was cruelly wrenched away by Hitler’s troops into the horrors of the Holocaust with her mother and aunt. The three survived by their wits and luck. They were liberated by American troops in 1945, one of whom, Irving Isaacson, fell in love with her on the spot, despite her wretched appearance. He brought the three of them home to Lewiston. She began to watch mathematics lessons on PBS. This inspired her to pursue a degree at Bates, which she completed the same year her daughter graduated from high school. She went on to earn a master’s from Bowdoin. She taught math at Lewiston High and computer science at Bates. In 1968, she became dean of women, despite skepticism from some members of the hiring committee. One asked whether she’d ever lived in a dormitory. “Yes,” she said. “At Auschwitz.” Next question, please. She brought about radical change for women, such as providing locks and keys for their rooms, just as the men were given. She also stopped their being required to sign out with a housemother, even simply to go to the library to study. She also recognized that change was needed: relaxed rules about dating and contact between men and women; coed dorms; better athletic opportunities for women. Her memoir, Seed of Sarah, was published in 1990 in English, her fifth language. In
1994, Bates honored her with a doctor of laws degree. She retired in 1978, but continued to speak about her experiences to students and private groups, especially after her book was published. It continues to be taught today in many schools and universities. Her husband, Irving Isaacson ’36, had several Bates relatives, all now deceased: his sister Frances Isaacson Miller ’37; and cousins Philip Isaacson ’47 and Harris Isaacson ’22. Besides her husband, survivors include children John Isaacson, Ilona Isaacson Bell, and Mark Isaacson; eight grandchildren, including Tess Isaacson Goode ’07; and two great-grandchildren.
1966 Penelope Brown Kielpinski February 8, 2015 “Gorge Yourself!” Not advice you hear too often these days, but that’s what Penny Brown Kielpinski called her book. She was referring to all of the interesting things people could do traveling along the Columbia River Gorge between Washington and Oregon, but it very well could be the maxim for her life. She threw herself into everything she did, and she did it well. Complete strangers became friends, bedraggled animals became pets, ragtag kids became choirs: Everything was worth a try. She grew up in Boston, coached gymnastics for 25 years, raised three daughters, ran a ranch, lived along the lush, green Gorge, and then moved to the New Mexico desert. She held a master’s degree from the Univ. of Washington and studied gymnastics at the Univ. of Oslo in Norway. In 2009, she learned to play marimba and was soon performing with a percussion band; it helped her through two rounds of chemotherapy. She married “a good man,” she said, had three children, and later came out as a lesbian. She lived amicably with her ex-husband, Jan Kielpinski, and her partner, Maria Santa Maria. Both survive her, as do daughters Krysta Panaitescu, Jenya Kielpinski, and Marina LeGree. Bonita Popek Peterson June 20, 2015 Bonita Popek Peterson dedicated her life to animals. Her degree was in biology, and she went on to earn certification as a lab technician from Harvard Univ. School of Nutrition and Cornell Univ. Veterinary College. She worked for over 40 years at Cornell’s lab. She also volunteered at a number of wildlife charities and adopted a number of strays. Survivors include her son John Matthew Peterson, and her beloved friend Lorraine Cooper.
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