IN MEMORIAM

DEATH DATES AND DEATH NOTIFICATION DATES THAT WERE RUN FOR THIS LIST: APRIL 1, 2022, to MARCH 31, 2023 uncomfortable,” he says—his relationship with his biological father, a man largely a stranger during his childhood and someone he hadn’t seen in 10 years.

THE MASON GROSS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS COMMUNITY REPORTS WITH GREAT SADNESS THE LOSS OF ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE SCHOOL. WE EXTEND OUR CONDOLENCES TO EACH OF THEIR FAMILIES AND CLASSMATES.

Lessovitz knew Spencer’s work to be “bold, inventive, and sensitive,” she says, qualities that would transfer to a thesis project she describes as “a story that was both personal and haunting to him.”

The result is a short documentary, We Are Suns, which screened at the Montclair Film Festival in October. The 30-minute film follows Spencer and his close friend, MGSA alum Chris Cuervo, as they drive across the country to meet up with Spencer’s father on the West Coast. Spencer and Cuervo shared the driving and the cinematography, and Spencer scored the film.

“It had crossed my mind in the past—I should go make something about this—but I never thought I’d actually do it because it made me feel sick to my stomach,” says Spencer, whose parents divorced when he was about nine weeks old. “Danielle told me if that’s how you feel about it, that’s what you have to do. That’s where great art is made.”

We Are Suns won the best documentary award at last year’s Burlington County Short Film Festival and was an official selection at several other festivals over the summer of 2022, including the Sarasota Film Festival.

“The charm of the film is the mystery or the anticipation of not knowing what’s going to happen,” Spencer says. “Everything happens for a reason, and it was the best possible thing that could have happened.”

Watch the trailer at go.rutgers.edu/mgsamag.

Dr. Paul Bruner, GSED '99, EDD (Creative Arts Education), MGSA Retired Associate Professor, March 31, 2023

Joyce Ware Kalbach, DC '59, BA (Music), Donor, February 12, 2023

Kenneth R. Hunt, MGSA '90, BMUS (Music), January 12, 2023

Yayoi Asoma, GMGA '07, MFA (Professional Visual Arts), January 1, 2023

Lucille C. Heller, Ed.D., Rutgers University GSNB '62 (Mathematics); GSED '82 (Science & Humanities Ed.), RU Retired Administrator, Donor, December 26, 2022

Donald Lee Gross, RC '59, (Economics), Donor, December 17, 2022

Yun-Yun Feng, GMGA '86, MM (Music); GMGA '92, ADPL (Music), December 3, 2022

Lynn Peters, GMGA '85, MFA, November 29, 2022

Jaclyn L. Kamm, MGSA '11, BFA (Theatre Arts), October 16, 2022

Dwight R. Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., RC '57, BA (Psychology); GSNB '60, MS (Psychology); GSNB '63 Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology), Glee Club, Donor, October 12, 2022

Bruce S. Nicholas, ENG '49, BS (General Engineering), Donor, October 10, 2022

Michael R. Curtis, RU Retired Faculty, Donor, October 3, 2022

Josiane E. Jameux-Joyce, GSNB, MA '72 (French), RU Retired Administrator, Donor, September 28, 2022

Rev. Alfred Moring Niese, Jr., RC '59, BA (English), Glee Club, Donor, August 15, 2022

Pamela G. Torain, MGSA '90, BFA (Professional Visual Arts), July 25, 2022

Robert E. Mortensen, ED '63, BS, Glee Club, Donor, July 18, 2022

H. Carl Willenbrock, Jr., ENG '45, BS (Ceramic Engineering), Glee Club, Donor, June 11, 2022

Dr. Robert H. Barron, RC '59, BA (Mathematics), Donor, May 23, 2022

William R. Palmer, ED '48, BS, Glee Club, Donor, May 1, 2022

All death notifications included in this issue of our magazine were submitted to the university after our last issue in spring 2022 and before going to press on this issue. We apologize for any omissions and ask that loved ones of deceased alumni, friends, donors to the school, faculty, and staff notify us by emailing records@ruf.rutgers.edu. Please be sure to include the full name of the deceased (and name as a student), death date, class year, and major. Thank you.

Dr. Shirley A. Smoyak, CNUR '57, BS; GSNB '69, Master of Philosophy; GSNB '70, Doctor of Philosophy, Donor, April 1, 2022

Rev. Richard B. Holzer, ED '55, BS (Secondary Education), Glee Club, Donor, April 2022

Dr. Janet A. Grice, GMGA '05, DMA, (Music), March 31, 2022

Chattles K. Hoffman, Jr., RC '58, BA (Business Administration), Glee Club, Donor, March 26, 2022

Dean E. Horowitz, MGSA '86, BFA (Professional Visual Arts), 2022

Paul J. Jansak, RC '52, BA (Economics), Glee Club, Donor, June 2, 2013