In Memoriam Notices of death received before December 21, 2012 To submit listings, please contact alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123
Alumnae Mary Frances Bestor Cram, MA ’34, April 24, 2012, in Flemington, New Jersey. Born at Chautauqua Institution, she participated in Chautauqua programs for 94 years; served as a trustee for the Institution, and was a board member of the Chautauqua Foundation. She is survived by three children and five grandchildren. Elsie Louis ’36, April 10, 2008, in San Luis Obispo. Dorothy Gaylord Argo ’37, September 29, in Monterey, California. She was executive director of the Monterey Girl Scout Council in the 1950s and enjoyed gardening, painting, and her cats. She is survived by three daughters, including Sally Carley ’71 , and seven grandchildren. Nedra Arendts Niles Snouffer, MA ’37, November 1, in Santa Monica, California. A resident of Dallas, Texas, for 64 years, she was director of The St. Michael School and the Hockaday Lower-Middle School for girls; she also served on the Teachers Education Advisory Committee of the University of Dallas. She is survived by a son, two grandsons, and four step-children. Ivey Adell Ruiter Lambert ’38, MA ’46, November 15, in Sacramento. She had a 38-year career teaching in local high schools and at Sacramento City College, and was a founding faculty member of Consumnes River College. Survivors include three children and eight grandchildren. Kathryn Keeler McGanity, MA ’39, November 13, in Alamo Heights, Texas. Betty Buonpane Crummey ’41, December 7, in Loudonville, New York. She was a high school English teacher, a founding member of the Saint Gregory’s School for Boys, and was frequently honored for her work as a leader in numerous charitable and arts organizations. She is survived by her husband, Edward; three children; and six grandchildren. Harriet “Penny” Fagan Johnston ’41, August 29, in Portal, Arizona. Janet Skittone Mussman ’41, January 16, 2012, in Modesto, California. She lived in the Bay Area for many years, but returned to live on the family ranch in 1999. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she was the force behind the Scotch Acres Horse Show. She is survived by two children and three granddaughters. Frances Barthes Daniels ’42, June 10, 2012, in Hughson, California. She worked as an elementary teacher and in hotel management. Elizabeth Alden, MA ’43, May 7, 2012, in Pacific Grove, California. She earned her PhD at Ohio Northern University, served as director of the University of Iowa Preschool Lab and spent a year as an educational consultant in Afghanistan. She also raised champion Hackney ponies at Spindrift Farm. Jane Kunkel Bradford ’45, August 27, in Carmel, California. She was a prolific painter and showed her work in numerous local galleries, as well as in other states. She is survived by three children and four grandchildren. Betty Bryan Finley ’45, July 2, in Bolton Landing, New York. An accomplished ceramist, she was a high school math teacher before retiring to Sanibel, Florida. She was a member of the Lake George Garden Club and supported conservation efforts in the Lake George area and along Florida’s Gulf Coast. She is survived by her children, Michael and Laura “Sandy” Finley Alexander ’72, and a granddaughter.
Beate Sirota Gordon ’43 Beate Sirota Gordon, whose work in post–World War II Japan helped guarantee women’s rights in that country, died December 30 at her home in New York City. Raised in Tokyo, where her father taught music, Gordon was fluent in Japanese language and culture—knowledge that made her a valuable recruit as a government translator during World War II. Following the war, she joined the military as a civilian researcher and soon found herself on a team charged with writing a new democratic constitution for Japan. Her efforts resulted in clauses that decreed, “all people are equal under the law” without discriminating on the basis of “race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin.” The constitution also declared that marriage must be by “mutual consent of both sexes” and gave women the right to choose a spouse, divorce, and claim family inheritances. Gordon remained silent about her role for many decades, but the 1995 release of her memoir, The Only Woman in the Room, made her a celebrity in Japan. She was also the subject of A Gift From Beate, a documentary film that chronicles her life and the post-war evolution of women’s rights in Japan. The film screened at Mills in 2009, when Gordon donated her personal archives to the College. Gordon was director of performing arts at the Asia Society in New York for more than 20 years, bring artists from across Asia to American and Canadian audiences. She received an honorary doctor of fine arts degree from Mills in 1991 and returned to campus as the keynote speaker at Commencement in 2011. “The education I received at Mills from my professors, the speeches I heard on campus about social and economic issues, the exposure I had to men and women dedicated to the advancement of women, profoundly influenced my life’s work,” she said. Gordon is survived by a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren. The family has asked that gifts to Mills in her memory be used for the preservation and dissemination of her papers (which will be housed at Mills pursuant to her wishes) and for curriculum or programs related to Asian performing arts.
Julia Clark Gwynn ’45, October 23, in Asheville, North Carolina. She was a lecturer for several years in the computer science department at California State University, Sacramento. Survivors include her sister, Janet Clark McCoy ’47. Mary Bressi Persic ’46, December 15, 2011, in Los Angeles. She was active in the Volunteer League, Assistance League, and other organizations. She is survived by three children. Betty Mee Wescott Rowntree ’46, August 9, in Oklahoma City. She joined the US Department of State after World War II and lived in Rome until 1980. A member of the Colonial Dames and a bridge Life Master, she is survived by her son, two stepchildren, and five stepgrandchildren.
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