Class Notes

Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College alumnae community. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills. edu. Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of the Mills Quarterly. Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College Alumnae Community, alumnae.mills.edu. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills.edu.

Notices of deaths received before January 4 To submit listings, please contact alumnae-relations@mills.edu or 510.430.2123 Mary Dell Johnson Walz ’41, TCRED ’42, December 14, 2020, in Boise, Idaho. She used her Mills biology degree to teach, both in the Bay Area and in Idaho. After her husband’s death in 1984, she traveled the world with family members. Mary Dell was a “Pink Lady” volunteer at St. Alphonsus Hospital until her 91st birthday, and two former exchange students came back to the United States to celebrate her 100th birthday in 2019. She is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren. Hazel-Clair Loewy Dwoskin ’43, October 12, 2021, in Seattle. With her late husband, Joseph, she expanded Hugo Loewy Co., a women’s apparel company founded by her father. After raising her family in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, she went back to the Capitol Hill area as one of the first residents of Summit at First Hill. There, she continued to champion the liberal Jewish traditions she held so dear. Hazel is survived by her sister, Terry Loewy Breyer ’37; six children; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Doris Villadsen Mendell, TCRED ’49, December 9, 2021, in Oakland. She lived in the Bay Area her entire life. After receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art from UC Berkeley, she came to Mills for her teaching credential. She was a lifelong teacher and prolific artist. She is survived by two children, four grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Mary Ann Brown Tonkin ’50, November 10, 2021, in San Francisco. Mary Ann was a fourth-generation San Franciscan, and she started her own real-estate company in the city after graduating from Mills. She was also an avid athlete, loving to golf, ski, and play tennis, and she was one of the first women to swim across Lake Tahoe. More than a dozen charities benefited from Mary Ann’s generosity, and her family noted that one could find her riding the hills of San Francisco on her Vespa. She is survived by two daughters and six grandsons. Barbara Gilinsky Werlin ’50, November 8, 2021, in Los Angeles. She married her late husband, Jerry, the same year she graduated from Mills, and their family settled in Southern California after stints in Oklahoma and Northern California. Barbara adored teaching and considered the hundreds of students to whom she taught American history her “other children.” She was also a longtime member of LAMCA, and volunteered as a docent at Skirball Cultural Center after retirement. She is survived by two daughters, including Andrea Werlin ’76; a brother; and many nieces and nephews. Martha “Marty” McMaster Quimby ’51, October 21, 2021, in Anchorage, Alaska. At Mills, she studied art, and she met her late husband, Thomas, at a dance with Coast Guardsmen from Alameda. Marty worked in a variety of jobs before returning to school to become a nurse, and she specialized in emergency care. Her love of art persisted—she volunteered for several creative organizations in Anchorage, and she continued to paint watercolors until several days before her death. She is survived by five children, including Gretchen Neely ’85; 10 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. Joy Blaney Patten ’52, October 21, 2021, in Daleville, Virginia. She continued on to Cornell, where she obtained her nursing degree and met her late husband, Robert, who was a medical student. Together, they worked as medical missionaries in South Korea, after which they returned to Virginia’s Roanoke Valley and she joined the nursing staff at Hollins University. Her favorite place to be was Ironbound Island in Maine, picking berries and spending time with her family. She is survived by five children, 12 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Rebecca “Becky” Fuller, MA ’54, a dancer, choreographer, and Mills College emerita professor, died on January 7 in Santa Rosa, California. Becky was a member of the dance faculty at Mills from 1955 to 1988. She taught the entire dance curriculum, including Saturday morning classes for children, and served as head of the Dance Department from 1981 to 1988. Becky attended college at Michigan State University, then studied modern dance and choreography with Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Louis Horst at Connecticut College, and later, with Anna Halprin, on the West Coast. In 1952, she moved to Oakland, where she received her MA under Marian van Tuyl, Eleanor Lauer, and Doris Dennison. She joined the Dance Department as a faculty member, choreographing numerous works in collaboration with the renowned composer Darius Milhaud and visual artist Tony Prieto— including ’Adame Miroir (1963) and L’homme et son désir (1967). She made works for specific sites, such as Gallery Dance in the Mills College Art Museum in 1978, and Roof and Fire with Trisha Brown ’58 surrounding the Haas Pavilion in 1973. She also choreographed dances for fellow Mills dance faculty members Mary Ann Kinkead, Kathleen McClintock, and June Watanabe.

She was a beloved teacher of many young dancers who were inspired to pursue professional careers as performers/choreographers and teach in universities and their communities. Former students Brown and Molissa Fenley ’75 are internationally acclaimed dance artists. With another of her former students—Nancy Lyons, MA ’68; professor emerita in dance at Sonoma State University—Becky published dance resources that included The Moving Box, a tool kit for creative movement in primary, secondary, university, and community settings. She was predeceased by her partner of many years, John Rinn, and will be deeply missed by her many friends and former students.

Jane Farrell Gaw ’52, November 27, 2021, in Carson City, Nevada. She graduated from Mills with a double major in English and art. Jane and husband Bob were educators, teaching around Lake Tahoe and Northern California before exploring international opportunities in places like Kuala Lumpur and Saudi Arabia. Among other adventures, Jane was an advanced scuba diver who embarked on more than 100 dives, and she helped design and build the couple’s retirement home in Nevada. She is survived by Bob, three sons, and four grandchildren. Jo Ann Sandman Sharts ’53, October 2021, in Sequim, Washington. She graduated from Mills with a degree in education. She was predeceased by her husband, Clay. Althea Sayward Parks ’53, MA ’55, October 16, 2021, in Sunnyvale, California. Her family reports that she was very proud of her Mills degrees—both in psychology—and she was a longtime counselor for gifted children in the Santa Clara Unified School District. She is survived by two children. Joan Blanchard Redford ’54, October 11, 2021, in Boise, Idaho. She attended Mills for her junior year, later graduating from USC. Joan and late husband Bob lived in the Southern California town of San Marino for 46 years, where she was an active Christian Scientist, a substitute teacher, and a member of arts-related organizations. In recent years, she relocated to Boise to be closer to her family and enjoy the area’s many festivals and performances. She is survived by a daughter, three granddaughters, and one great-granddaughter. Shirley Buchanan Stigelman ’54, May 20, 2018, in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. She is survived by her sister, Martha Buchanan Billman ’52, and four daughters. Received September 1, 2021 – November 30, 2021 Willa Wolcott Condon, MA ’32, P ’69 by her daughter, Ann Condon Barbour ’69, P ’13 Tanya Wood Mollenauer ’60 by Sue McCall ’60 Florence Fox Rubenstein ’38, P ’64 by her daughter-in-law, Lisa Rubenstein, P ’06

Paula Merrix Sporck ’46 by Lucile Pedler Griffiths ’46, MA ’47, P ’75 Ann Sulzberger Wolff ’42 by Linda Cohen Turner ’68

Joanne Spitzer McGillis ’54, December 21, 2021, in Salt Lake City. She was awarded an art scholarship to Mills but returned to Utah before graduating to marry her late husband, Dick. Joanne devoted herself to the rescue and resettlement of persecuted Jews throughout the diaspora, and the couple helped reopen what was renamed McGillis School to champion Jewish values. She later described her 1980 trip to Israel as “my trip of a lifetime.” She is survived by two children, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Sally Zook Burdick ’54, February 16, 2019, in Northampton, Massachusetts. After Mills, she earned a master’s degree in literature from George Mason University. She is survived by two children. Elizabeth “Betty” McMahon Wied ’55, November 25, 2021, in San Diego. After Mills, Betty immediately began teaching in Piedmont, but after meeting and marrying a Naval cadet, she and her family eventually moved to San Diego. She wrote columns for the local newspaper and got her certification as an interior designer, and she loved to garden and volunteer around the community. Betty was also extensively involved with the AAMC. She is survived by her husband, Colin; three A former member of the Board of Trustees and a prolific alumna volunteer, Wendy children, including Beth Wied ’81; and four Hull Brody ’68 died on November 25, 2021, in Lake Placid, New York. grandchildren. During her tenure on the Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2016, Wendy chaired a Joanne “Jo” Windberg Cannon ’56, December number of committees, including a presidential search committee. She was also an 20, 2021, in Austin, Texas. After Mills, Jo enthusiastic fundraiser who helped her peers from the Class of 1968 set a record for a received her MSc in child development from 50th Reunion class in 2018, established several scholarship funds, and headed up the University of Texas. Her family remarks alumnae groups in Palo Alto and San Diego. that she was exceedingly modest about her Wendy graduated from Mills with double degrees in economics and sociology. Her career took her from SRI International in Palo Alto to the Social Security Administration in Washington, DC, where she wrote a seminal work: The Economic Value of a Housewife. Later ventures took her family to Baltimore, where former husband Bill served as president of Johns Hopkins and Wendy was on the board at the Walters Museum. The Brody Learning Commons at Johns Hopkins is named for the couple’s contributions. In retirement, the couple settled in San Diego, where intellectual abilities, but her intelligence and quick memory for facts were the stuff of family legend. Jo was eager to be included in social events, and she showed up with a sparkly smile and easy laughter. She is survived by her sister, three children, and a number of nieces and nephews. Wendy volunteered with a number of organizations, including the Museum of Lavinia Lesh Swain ’57, October 5, 2021, Contemporary Art, the La Jolla Music Society, and the Torrey Pines State Nature in Berkeley. She departed Mills early to marry Reserve. her husband, Donald, with whom she moved She was notorious for her unlimited spirit and energy. Many will remember her athleticism in tennis, skiing, cycling, and hiking, and for wearing bright red lipstick while doing so. to Hawaii. Lavinia later finished up her degree and earned her teaching credential at UC Davis. While she did go into education, she also worked in real estate and business, and she Upon Wendy’s passing, President Elizabeth L. Hillman announced her death to the served as the first lady at the University of Board of Trustees in an email: “What I remember most about Wendy, notwithstand- Louisville, where her husband was president. ing her service and fierce commitment to Mills College, is her devotion to her family,” She is survived by Donald; two children, she said. Wendy is survived by two children, three grandchildren, and three siblings. including Cynthia Swain Castle ’82; and A Bent Twig several generations removed, Wendy’s great-grandmother Elizabeth four grandchildren. Johnson graduated from Mills Seminary in 1870.

Laurie Rosen Rice ’60, October 16, 2019, in Fresno, California. At Mills, she studied occupational therapy. She is survived by two sons.

Barbara Schwartz Meixner ’64, MA ’67, October 6, 2021, in Davis, California. She devoted her life to music: playing the piano and handbells, teaching, composing, and singing. Barbara trained in the Suzuki Method at the first US training institute, and a series of second-piano accompaniments she published is still in print today. More recently, she taught remotely, and she discovered a new passion in founding the Juuliebells Handbell and Handchime Choir in Davis. She is survived by a sister, a niece, and a nephew. Eva Brown ’66, July 31, 2021, in Oakland. Her Austrian parents met in New York in the early 1940s; both families had been killed in the Holocaust. Brown later graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA and an advanced degree in social work. At 23, Brown diagnosed herself with a rheumatological disease, which progressed to requiring bed rest in her last few years. However, it didn’t derail her practice of treating the grown children of emotionally disturbed parents. She is survived by her partner, David Widelock, and many lifelong friends and colleagues. Lucinda Merrill ’87, November 1, 2021, in Tiburon, California. Lucinda was a resumer who earned a degree in economics. The arts were a huge influence, as she was an interior designer who loved antiques and opera. She also worked for many years as head of human resources for the auction house now known as Bonhams. Lucinda lived in Tiburon for more than 50 years and worked with a variety of community organizations there. She is survived by a son, two grandchildren, and a sister. Celeste Holmes ’95, August 1, 2021, in Stanford, California. Michele Adamo ’02, October 5, 2016, in San Francisco. Michele was a resumer who earned her Mills degree in anthropology and sociology.

Elizabeth Karplus, former visiting professor of STEM education, September 22, 2021, in Orinda, California.

George Basye, spouse of Mary Johnson Bayse ’51, February 6, 2021, in Sacramento.

Robert Berkland, spouse of Lucy Do ’75, December 12, 2021, in Lafayette. William Eldredge, spouse of Pat Sawyier Eldredge ’56, May 3, 2021, in Hudson, Ohio.

David Levin, spouse of Carol Eklund Levin ’64, January 15, 2020, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Gerald McCullough, spouse of Mary Stuart McCullough ’58, May 29, 2021, in Hollister, California. Norman Piner, spouse of Loadel Harter Piner ’50, October 28, 2021, in Davis, California.

Joseph Vanderliet, spouse of the late Louise “Weezie” Hayes Vanderliet ’53 and father of Sarah Vanderliet ’90, July 26, 2021, in Orinda, California.

Stephen Bechtel, March 15, 2021, in San Francisco. Nancy Bechtle, November 3, 2021, in San Francisco. Thomas Corry, August 11, 2019, in Naperville, Illinois. Jean Foster, July 5, 2020, in San Francisco. Margaret Gault, former Associate Council member, March 16, 2020, in Greenbrae, California.

William Regan, December 8, 2019, in Walnut Creek, California.

A beloved and instrumental figure in the Ethnic Studies Program, who taught at Mills from 1993 to 2018, Melinda Micco died on December 5, 2021, in Oakland.

When she began at Mills, she was the only Indigenous member of the faculty, but in short order, she single-handedly championed better representation for her community on campus. Micco advocated for the planting of Indigenous healing plants across campus, and she organized the inaugural dinner for Native students in 1997. She also partnered with the group now known as the Indigenous Women’s Alliance to revive the Mills College Pow Wow, a student-driven event that annually brings people to campus from around Northern California. Her research specialized in the intersections between American Indian and African American histories; for example, she published “Blood and Money”: The Case of Seminole Freedmen and Seminole Indians in Oklahoma based on interviews she conducted with the Black Seminole community. As ethnic studies chair, she also helped initiate the integration of Latinx and African Diaspora studies in the department. Upon Micco’s retirement from Mills in 2018, the Alumnae of Color Committee of the AAMC honored her as a Phenomenal Woman of Color.

In her later work on violence against Indigenous women, Micco partnered with Esther Lucero ’08, MA/MPP ’10, to direct a short film titled Killing the 7th Generation: Reproductive Abuses Against Native Women. All of these accomplishments built upon a most impressive entrance into academia: she enrolled at UC Berkeley as a 39-year-old single mother, and she graduated with her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate within seven years. She is survived by two children and two grandchildren.

RUBY WALLAU

After the January rains this past winter, an unusual sight popped up between the Student Union and the Moore Natural Sciences Building: a wooden sculpture in an unusual combination of a bench and a seesaw. As the weather clears up, it can often be found crawling with Faculty Village children—or students of a slightly older vintage.

Gifted to Mills in August 2021, the installation is an interactive art piece titled “The Wooden Wave” that matches similar pieces on the Northeastern University campus in Boston. The original work was designed by four Northeastern architecture students in the fall 2020 Furniture Urbanism course, which saw four designs overall that were crafted in collaboration with Northeastern’s facilities department and installed in various places on campus. The project aimed to create a sense of community in shared outdoor spaces.

In 2021, after the announcement of the impending merger between Northeastern and Mills, Northeastern President Joseph Aoun decided to ship a sister version of the design to Oakland as a symbol of partnership. Four other new manufactures will become permanent additions to the Boston campus.

However, the original installation was constructed with poplar lumber and plywood, a combination that was meant to last four or so months and would not have weathered the elements. So, the original four students—Alexandria Batiste, Mark Lewis, Adrian Ramon, and Adele Biehl—regrouped and submitted new specs to the oncampus carpentry shop. Materials in the five new benches are much hardier, ranging from Brazilian hardwood to mahogany— and include a clear varnish on top.

The West Coast version of “The Wooden Wave” hosts Millsies of all sizes wanting to play, to chat, or both. The past year, with its various ups and downs, has been made manifest in functional form.