obituaries David M. Jonas ’77 died March 11, 2010, in Danvers, Mass., after a long battle with brain cancer. He was born on February 4, 1956, in New Haven, Conn., and prepared for college at Amity Regional High School in Connecticut. While at Bowdoin, he earned a varsity letter in squash and was awarded the Reid Squash Trophy as a senior as the most improved player. A James Bowdoin Scholar, he graduated magna cum laude, a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, he spent a year working on a lobster boat off Casco Bay before pursuing the same passion that inspired his grandfather and father before him: He enrolled at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 1984. He was a partner with Doug Williams at the Assonet Animal Hospital for many years. He devoted much of his free time to volunteering as the secretary at the Freetown State Forest, tutoring GED students in math, reading to children at Head Start programs, and providing veterinary services at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford. He wrote many books for children, and in 2009 collaborated with his brother, Philip, to self-publish The Misadventure of Count Snackula, a story about sharing. He also enjoyed farming on his land, fishing, hiking, and riding his motorcycle. He is survived by his parents, Donna and Albert Jonas; two brothers, Philip and Steven; and his former wife, Laurel Lassen Jonas.
survived by his wife, Clare Sullivan; a son, Fletcher Ballew; a brother, Stephen Ballew; a sister, Nancy B. Vanier; and his parents, Robert and Norma Ballew. Patricia Huse McVeigh ’82 died December 24, 2010, in Middlesex, Vt. She was born on May 27, 1960, in Cleveland, Ohio, and prepared for college at Newton North High School. She was on the dean’s list and earned high honors in psychology at Bowdoin. She was drawn to and dedicated to children long before she had any of her own, starting in high school as a volunteer at a Boston center for parents and children in need. After graduating from Bowdoin, she worked at a home for teenage girls for a year, before earning her doctorate in psychology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1991. In 1990, she began providing psychological services for the Barre (Vt.) City School District, testing children and advising on intervention plans. She was also a passionate flower gardener. In July 2005, she was diagnosed with primary peritoneal cancer, and endured several surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy before deciding to end treatment. She is survived by her husband, Christopher J. McVeigh; two sons, Brendan and Quinn McVeigh; her mother, Mary Huse; two sisters, Kathyrn and Susan Huse; and three brothers, Thomas, William, and Joseph Huse.
Joanne E. Goldman ’84 died of ovarian cancer January 14, 2010, in Cheektowaga, N.Y. She was born David F. Ballew ’79 died December in New York City on September 12, 2010, in St. Petersburg, Fla. He 29, 1962, and prepared for college at was born on October 23, 1953, in Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Cincinnati, Ohio, and prepared for for Music and the Arts. A member college at Cheverus High School and of Alpha Rho Upsilon fraternity, she Deering High School in Portland. He graduated from Bowdoin magna cum transferred from the University of Maine laude and went on to do extensive at Orono to Bowdoin, where he was graduate work in vocal performance at on the dean’s list and graduated cum the University of Maine. She earned laude. He went on to graduate from a master’s of divinity degree from Suffolk University Law School in 1982 Bangor Theological Seminary in 1990. and pursue a career in commercial real In 1991, she gave a vocal recital in the estate, holding executive positions at University at Buffalo’s Allen Hall that Commercial Net Lease Realty Inc. was broadcast on local public radio. In and Dunfey Properties. In 1988, he 1997, she moved to Buffalo, where she co-founded Ballew Campbell Associates, had a career as a church soloist, concert where he served as president. In 1992, singer, chorus member, choral director, he sold the environmental law and church organist, and teacher of voice. consulting practice to sail around world She sang from 1998 to 2008 with the aboard his 40-foot sloop, seeking warmer Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus. Since climates. He was buried at sea. He is 1998, she had been a voice teacher 126 BOWDOIN SUMMER 2011
at the Community Music School of Buffalo, where she taught both children and adults. Beginning in 2007, she was the choral director of the Kalina Singing Society, a women’s choral group specializing in Polish music. She loved literature and crafts and was a gourmet cook and a talented gardener. She is survived by a brother, Mitchell Goldman. Humphrey W. Oguda ’89 died January 25, 2011, in Brooklyn. He was born on January 28, 1967, in Nairobi, Kenya, and prepared for college at Lakefield College in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada. A dean’s list student who majored in romance languages, he served as a student representative to the Board of Overseers as a junior and graduated cum laude. He was a pianist, organist, and flutist. He is survived by his father and a sister. He was predeceased by his mother in 1996. William H. Hobbs ’91 died January 21, 2010, in Albany. He was born on September 28, 1969, at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, and he graduated from Albany Academy for Boys. He graduated cum laude from Bowdoin and was employed at Blue Shield of NENY as a workflow supervisor for the past 11 years. He was passionate about literature, film, and music. A self-taught guitarist and pianist, he enjoyed composing and playing music for his daughters. He is survived by his wife, Pamela Gamble Hobbs, whom he married in 2003; two daughters, Charlotte Marie and Daphne Eugenia Hobbs; a brother, James Hobbs; his parents and step-parents, William and Marilee Hobbs and Pamela and Warren Abele; a grandmother, Barbara Weber; a stepbrother, Peter Abele; and two stepsisters, Susan Abele and Lisa William Fitzmaurice. John R. Nicholson Jr. ’91 died February 20, 2011, in Raleigh, N.C., due to complications from pneumonia. He was born on June 5, 1969. He graduated cum laude from Bowdoin, where he was a dean’s list student. He served on the development committee of the Governing Boards, was senior editor of the Orient, and, as a junior, won the Lea Ruth Thumin Biblical Literature Prize. He went on to earn a law degree from the University of Michigan in 2000. He loved his work as a financial