Ad Astra

Ad Astra

Fratres Qui Fuerunt Sed Nunc Ad Astra

Obituaries

William R. Bracewell (Georgia 1968) passed ad astra on December 10, 2021. Bill had a distinguished career as an educator, both as a student affairs professional at the University of Georgia and as a volunteer in Phi Gamma Delta. He did his undergraduate studies at Emory University but did not join a fraternity. In 1965 he began a 34-year career on the student affairs staff at Georgia, initiating the role of Director of Judicial Programs in 1971 and serving in that position until his retirement in 1999. He was initiated into the Fraternity as a faculty initiate at the chartering of the Kappa Deuteron Chapter in 1968. His service to Phi Gamma Delta was continuous from that time. At Kappa Deuteron, he served for eight years as Purple Legionnaire and for many more years on the Board of Chapter Advisers. He served the International Fraternity as a Section Chief, as an Archon from 1988 to 1992, and as Educational Director for 24 years. He served as Legate for charterings at the College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, and Clemson. In the 1990s he represented Phi Gamma Delta on the board of the North American Interfraternity Conference. He was named a Distinguished Fiji in 2020.

Richard C. Carson (Nebraska 1952) passed ad astra on December 19, 2021. Dick majored in speech and radio at the University of Nebraska. In 1956, after service in the U.S. Navy, he began a 43-year career in television, starting in San Diego and in 1960 moving to Los Angeles, where he directed several programs for ABC. In 1962 he was hired as director of the New York-based Tonight Show, which his brother, Johnny (Nebraska 1949), would soon join as host and star. After seven years, Dick returned to California, where he would direct The Merv Griffin Show for 14 years and the Wheel of Fortune game show for 22 years, until his retirement. Over his career, he directed thousands of TV shows, commercials, and pilots and earned five Emmy awards.

Thomas R. Matte (Ohio State 1961) passed ad astra on November 2, 2021. After starring as a quarterback at Ohio State, he began his 12-year NFL career in 1961 as a halfback with the Baltimore Colts. He earned All-NFL second team honors in 1969 and appeared in the 1968 and 1969 Pro Bowls. He was the starting halfback for the Colts in the 1969 Super Bowl against the New York Jets, rushing 11 times for 116 years and catching two passes for 30 yards. His 10.5 yards per carry is still a Super Bowl record. Over his career, he ran for 4,646 yards, caught 249 passes for 2,869 yards, and scored 57 touchdowns. After his playing days, he was a color analyst on NFL games for CBS from 1976 to 1978 and from 1996 to 2005 was on the broadcasting team covering Baltimore Ravens games on local radio.

John A. Rodgers (Kansas 1953) passed ad astra on August 29, 2021. At Kansas Jack played varsity football and basketball and was a member of the 1952 NCAA national championship basketball team. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he worked for a number of years for IBM. Leaving IBM, he settled with his family in 1972 in Seattle, where he owned and operated several successful restaurant and retail franchises. His experience with franchising and involvement in a Seattle private equity group brought the opportunity in 1986 to join a small coffee enterprise that became Starbucks Coffee Company. He was the first senior vice president of business development for Starbucks and served on the board of directors. He was a founding member of the Seattle Seahawks Booster Club and part of the ownership group for the Seattle Supersonics of the NBA and the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. He and his wife, Nancy, created two scholarship funds at the University of Kansas to support Native American and African American students in the Schools of Business and Education.

James H. Stellar (Occidental 1954 Arizona 1954) passed ad astra on January 7, 2022. Jim’s lifetime of involvement in Phi Gamma Delta extended from the chapter level to multiple positions in the International Fraternity. He served as a Field Secretary from 1954 to 1956, after which he returned to Southern California, eventually settling in Redlands and enjoying a career with Hayden Industrial. Resuming his fraternity involvement as a volunteer, he served as Section Chief in Southern California in the mid-1960s and again from 1978 to 1982. He played a key role in the founding of the Chapter at the University of California Riverside, serving as Purple Legionnaire from 1976 to 1978 and on the Board of Chapter Advisers for many more years. He served on the board of the Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation from 1992 to 2001, including terms as Secretary and Vice President, and was named a Director Emeritus in 2004. As further evidence of his lifetime commitment to Phi Gamma Delta, Jim attended 21 Ekklesiai. He was the sire of Fiji son James H. Stellar, Jr. (CSU Long Beach 1991).

Ad Astra List

Akron

Oliver S. Barravechia (2025) 4/7/2022

Alabama

James A. Baird Jr. (1957) 2/26/2022

Oliver C. Baker (1952) 12/23/2021

W. Fitzgerald Hill (1957) 12/11/2021

Vernon L. Sellers (1973) 1/28/2022

Alan E. Watson (1978) 12/5/2021

Allegheny

Carl O. Anderson (1965) 10/11/2021

James S. Lewis (1949) 12/18/2021

Amherst

Charles N. Leach Jr. (1956) 8/6/2021

Paul N. Vonckx Jr. (1959) 12/26/2021

Arizona

Craig M. Courville (1981) 2/7/2022

Franklin D. Coxon (1955) 12/28/2021

Daniel J. Mariscal (1960) 2/8/2022

Harold M. McNair (1955) 6/27/2021

Howard T. Roberts Jr. (1970) 1/3/2022

Charles M. Rucker (1956) 11/25/2021

Arizona State

Keith R. Armstrong (1981) 1/23/2022

Auburn

James J. Gideon (1966) 2/27/2021

Dennis R. Powell (1962) 6/1/2021

Bradley

Louis R. Sukle Jr. (1988) 11/14/2021

British Columbia

Terry S. Julian (1945) 2/3/2022

Blair E. Mercer (1984) 8/1/2021

Jerrold K. Peterson (1956) 8/4/2021

Brown

Thomas M. Churchill (1960) 11/2/2021

Bucknell

Joseph Golomboski (1982) 7/11/2021

Robert H. Stumpf (1958) 7/13/2021

Richard H. Tichenor Sr. (1958) 6/24/2021

California Berkeley

Earl F. Galligan (1948) 1/24/2022

Nick Hummel (1956) 1/18/2022

Gregory H. Miller (1976) 2/11/2022

Merle M. Smith (1959) 12/8/2021

Jerald P. White (1960) 8/18/2021

California Los Angeles

Randy R. Johnson II (1962) 2/9/2021

James C. T. Noe Jr. (1958) 6/17/2021

California Riverside

Tom Ambrose (1981) 12/31/2021

Case Western Reserve

Thomas J. Glennon (1987) 11/29/2021

Neil W. Love (1949) 3/22/2022

Timothy R. Meehan (1970) 9/17/2021

Chicago

John D. Foret (1953) 9/7/2021

Albert M. Fortier Jr. (1955) 3/5/2022

Jeffrey L. Smith (1976) 1/24/2022

Colorado

Peter C. Abernethy (1993) 4/24/2021

Robert M. Kennedy (1961) 8/8/2021

Colorado College

William E. Parrish (1956) 3/14/2022

Charles Rubens (1952) 4/29/2021

Albert E. Strand (1952) 10/28/2021

Columbia

Dudley Ferris (1952) 12/29/2021

Cornell

Ara S. Aftandilian (1983) 8/25/2021

Klaus P. Brinkmann (1953) 4/3/2021

Frederick A. McFarlin (1955) 12/4/2021

Kent R. Woloson (1959) 1/23/2021

Dartmouth

William L. Beshore (1959) 9/29/2021

John S. Edison (1956) 9/30/2021

George B. Smith Jr. (1952) 1/17/2022

Louis C. Turner (1955) 12/29/2021

Ralph A. Warburton (1947) 12/25/2021

Davidson

Charlie B. Shapard (1964) 6/15/2021

Denison

James W. Baird (1968) 3/9/2021

Richard L. Boyer (1965) 1/19/2021

Chris Cornell (1977) 3/7/2021

James J. Fais (1967) 12/29/2020

John M. Houk Jr. (1951) 8/1/2021

James M. Kennedy (1958) 1/11/2022

John F. Peters (1946) 11/28/2021

James N. Sutherin (1946) 11/12/2021

Edward B. Weston II (1952) 5/15/2021

DePauw

William C. Frey Jr. (1957) 7/22/2021

Charles K. Hall Jr. (1953) 11/2/2021

David M. Jenkins II (1957) 9/14/2021

Steven R. Linville (2006) 10/19/2021

Michael D. Milatovich (1980) 12/1/2021

Luke J. Ruane III (1972) 10/15/2021

David W. Sowersby (1959) 10/29/2021

East Carolina

Thomas S. Jenkins (2020) 12/11/2021

Emory

William A. Gillaspie II (1966) 12/18/2021

Florida

L. Del Butterfield Jr. (1960) 2/7/2022

John F. Hurlebaus (1952) 8/3/2021

Edward F. Newberger Jr. (1969) 3/29/2022

Georgia

Steve W. Crawford Jr. (1993) 12/21/2021

William W. Lavigno III (1970) 11/12/2021

Clay A. Richardson (1992) 2/22/2022

Georgia Tech

Edgar M. Holtsinger (1946) 9/1/2021

Kevin G. Neal (2003) 10/11/2021

Ernest O. Rotramel Jr. (1952) 11/23/2021

Gettysburg

Richard L. Barrick (1952) 2/2/2021

Arthur J. Hendley (1957) 3/6/2022

Stephen J. Schulz (1956) 6/8/2021

Hanover

Daniel R. Durrett (1967) 5/25/2021

Pete P. Kovacic (1943) 3/11/2022

J. David Mauer (1975) 4/3/2021

Peter L. Roesner II (1986) 11/13/2021

Idaho

Geoffrey H. Finlay (1957) 12/16/2021

Harold D. Fowler (1972) 11/7/2021

Andrew W. Klemm (1962) 12/13/2021

John D. Rowell (1948) 11/12/2021

P. Craig Storti (1968) 3/4/2022

Ronald W. Thurber (1959) 7/31/2021

Ron W. Watson (1966) 10/11/2021

Illinois

Harry L. Childress (1954) 4/7/2021

A. F. Gaynor (1976) 9/16/2021

Theodore J. Himes (1950) 11/5/2021

Harold E. Hindsley (1950) 1/17/2022

William R. Irwin (1962) 3/29/2022

William W. Nicholas (1970) 12/16/2021

Ronald N. Peterson (1958) 8/26/2021

Illinois Wesleyan

Charles W. Bimba (1965) 1/12/2021

Dr. James L. Cook (1964) 12/4/2021

Willard H. Curtis (1960) 2/16/2022

Graham Hoggins (1958) 12/17/2021

Bruce K. Imig (1963) 3/20/2022

John Naylor (1962) 3/31/2022

William J. Polich (1957) 9/14/2021

Indiana

James E. Dice (1959) 4/9/2022

David A. Drinkwater (1952) 10/14/2021

Richard L. Neal (1957) 10/20/2021

Robert R. Wait (1959) 2/19/2022

Indiana State

Anthony M. Hernandez (2016) 12/3/2021

Donald R. Schuessler (1973) 1/6/2022

James C. Storm (1974) 10/7/2021

Iowa

Steven L. Aanes (1971) 1/22/2022

William R. Bailey (1963) 11/7/2021

Mark Lemon (1977) 12/15/2021

Iowa State

Robert L. Logan (1955) 2/6/2022

William J. Miller (1974) 2/16/2021

Randal L. Rehmke (1978) 3/2/2022

Johns Hopkins

Gerald L. Bartell (1959) 2/27/2022

Kansas

Barney E. Barnes (1965) 9/3/2021

Donald B. Burns (1976) 3/16/2022

Donald G. Green (1979) 3/16/2022

Dean M. Grogger (1952) 6/16/2021

Joseph A. Hambright (1964) 12/5/2021

Clarence O. Hughes Jr. (1952) 3/16/2022

Robert F. Johnson Jr. (1962) 3/16/2022

Mark A. Kirkpatrick (1967) 12/30/2021

Todd L. Laster (1978) 7/13/2021

Finis G. Shannon (1952) 3/16/2022

Shelby W. Smith (1952) 11/6/2020

F. Alan Stamper (1964) 1/8/2022

Scott J. Wilson (1982) 3/16/2022

Kansas State

Juan C. Sexton (1972) 10/22/2021

Cecil E. Stout (1970) 11/11/2021

Kentucky

Rex L. Bailey (1961) 2/25/2022

James F. Boyd (1960) 11/9/2021

Kettering A

Elon L. Clark Sr. (1965) 1/12/2022

Gary Kusumi (1969) 4/11/2022

Knox

J. Jay Graening (1963) 12/8/2020

John D. Lange (1977) 7/7/2021

Gerald L. Pihl (1949) 1/27/2022

Lafayette

Arthur H. Axberg (1953) 2/19/2022

George B. Cannon Jr. (1950) 3/18/2021

William M. Houldin Jr. (1958) 3/29/2022

Bert E. Stromberg (1966) 8/11/2021

Lawrence

William T. Johnson (1966) 12/13/2021

Lehigh

Alfred F. Burfeind (1961) 11/6/2021

C. Keith Rust (1957) 3/25/2022

Charles F. Wuestner Jr. (1956) 12/3/2021

Louisiana State

Christopher J. Gauthier (1992) 2/11/2022

Ralph D. Jackson Jr. (1966) 10/28/2021

Alexander S. McKean Jr. (1959) 10/15/2021

Kenneth D. Posey Jr. (1964) 7/14/2021

Maine

Robert S. Cheney Jr. (1978) 3/17/2022

Steven M. Dunwoody (1979) 4/8/2021

Peter J. Frost (1968) 3/11/2021

George K. Hutchinson (1955) 1/17/2022

Paul F. McCarron (1963) 12/25/2021

Michael J. McInnis (1968) 3/15/2022

Floyd L. Milbank Jr. (1951) 10/29/2021

Albert L. Noyes (1955) 11/1/2021

McGill

John M. Anderson (1959) 2/7/2022

James C. Robertson (1962) 2/14/2022

Miami

William R. Jefford (1991) 3/11/2022

Tim D. Newton (1963) 6/27/2021

Ted D. Owens (1965) 4/12/2021

Michael C. Parisi (1963) 3/31/2022

G. Steven Wellman (1970) 2/8/2022

Richard M. Wonder Sr. (1959) 11/16/2021

Michigan

Alan M. Christman (1956) 1/9/2022

John P. Deniston (1960) 11/25/2020

Charles W. Gerdts III (1975) 3/5/2022

Stephen M. Qua (1955) 11/9/2021

Ronald A. Sistrunk (1962) 11/3/2021

Robert N. Wells Jr. (1955) 12/10/2021

Minnesota

Earle G. Maynard (1949) 3/23/2022

Roger A. Wahldick (1957) 11/18/2021

Mississippi State

Justin L. VanStory (2004) 7/20/2021

Missouri

James R. Connell (1951) 10/17/2021

Gary F. Miller (1964) 1/18/2022

Christopher C. Polson (1969) 2/13/2022

Hal A. Souther (1967) 1/13/2022

MIT

William C. Mitchell (1949) 1/25/2022

Nebraska

Richard A. Goll (1953) 12/24/2021

Donald R. Larson (1953) 12/30/2021

James D. Myers (1948) 11/26/2021

J. F. O'Keefe (1959) 1/12/2022

Darrell L. Scharmann (1951) 11/12/2021

New Mexico

Richard W. Leep Jr. (1970) 12/11/2021

North Carolina

E. Thomas Baysden Jr. (1965) 2/13/2022

Hugh E. Eagleton (1966) 11/11/2021

William E. Ellington III (1950) 12/19/2021

Gene F. Lyon (1954) 7/28/2021

Duncan I. MacCalman (1951) 7/16/2021

F. Rockwell Poisson (1950) 2/19/2022

David B. Strickland (2003) 3/22/2022

William R. Titchener (1969) 1/21/2022

Northwestern

Norman Young (1947) 10/21/2020

Occidental

William E. Manning (1951) 3/31/2022

Ohio State

Jameson Crane (1948) 12/22/2021

John E. Criss Jr. (1950) 11/11/2021

James W. Davis (1960) 10/19/2021

Robert H. Jolliffe (1954) 2/10/2022

Jervis W. McEntee (1955) 1/17/2022

Sheridan L. Weaver (1945) 2/19/2022

Michael L. Wu (1996) 10/19/2021

Ohio Wesleyan

Robert B. Martin (1955) 12/2/2021

John T. McDonald Jr. (1987) 1/22/2022

C. Nicholas Pry (1963) 12/22/2021

W. Leslie Rogers (1955) 3/28/2022

Oklahoma

Larry L. Hanson (1974) 1/7/2022

James O. Harp (1981) 10/22/2021

Donald C. Kinsinger (1969) 11/12/2021

Robert G. Mullendore (1958) 6/28/2021

Alfred M. Steadley Jr. (1957) 3/30/2021

William G. Thompson (1964) 12/18/2021

Oklahoma State

R. Rance Bennett (1974) 11/16/2021

Tom R. Cornish (1966) 2/2/2022

Larry L. Warren (1972) 4/10/2022

Old Dominion

George A. Thompson Jr. (1981) 11/30/2021

Oregon

John E. Dugan (1956) 11/15/2021

Michael A. Huycke (1966) 1/23/2021

Victor E. Kreick (1953) 11/19/2021

Oregon State

K. Lawrence Clark (1964) 12/21/2021

Norman E. Koch (1955) 2/10/2022

Ronald J. Lucas (1967) 3/18/2021

Frank G. Sauer (1949) 3/20/2022

Pennsylvania

Lucian W. Dixon (1965) 7/9/2021

Walther S. Stephenson (1949) 10/24/2021

Penn State

Richard L. Johnston (1957) 2/22/2022

George A. Reihner (1977) 3/11/2021

Robert R. Ross (1950) 10/25/2021

David F. Titus (1964) 1/13/2022

Pittsburgh

Harrison F. Gleason III (1954) 2/14/2022

Milo Gwosden Jr. (1961) 4/20/2021

Gary W. Shaffer (1960) 1/24/2022

Purdue

James D. Brock (1951) 3/16/2021

T. Scott Collier (2000) 3/10/2022

William R. Davis (1959) 11/18/2021

James C. Donham (1948) 6/20/2021

Patrick L. Grady (1947) 2/3/2022

Sam J. McClure (1959) 10/9/2021

Kenneth T. Milne Jr. (1949) 1/22/2021

Richard A. Mitchell (1961) 5/8/2021

James R. Stover (1978) 12/28/2021

George P. Sweet (1964) 10/16/2021

Robert F. Worley (1958) 11/10/2021

Rhode Island

Norman B. Carlson (1954) 10/28/2020

William B. Stillman (1970) 11/18/2020

Gerard A. Succi (1962) 1/29/2022

Richmond

James A. Cales Jr. (1964) 4/23/2021

G. Ashton Carlton Jr. (1960) 12/23/2021

Thomas A. Ligon (1948) 1/11/2022

George W. Paynter (1964) 1/31/2021

A. Eugene Stewart Jr. (1951) 8/25/2021

Robert D. Whitehurst (1962) 5/16/2021

Richard T. Willis (1959) 1/25/2022

Rose-Hulman

James A. Cramer (1984) 5/6/2021

Rutgers

Wilson J. Andrews Jr. (1954) 11/25/2021

James E. Sierk (1960) 1/17/2022

Richard A. Waugh (1964) 12/16/2021

Sewanee

David H. DePatie (1951) 9/23/2021

Kent S. Henning (1959) 4/26/2021

Southern California

William H. Crowhurst (1974) 5/17/2021

Ralph E. Wolter (1971) 10/28/2020

Southern Methodist

Henry R. Bockus III (1976) 9/5/2021

Robert C. Francis (1965) 4/25/2021

James D. Jones (1978) 11/2/2021

Raymond H. Rockholt (1952) 3/31/2021

Stanford

Donald R. Collins (1950) 2/3/2022

Scott P. McCullouch (1964) 11/25/2021

Charles W. Poulson (1951) 1/10/2022

Eugene K. Shank (1954) 8/8/2021

Stewart Weitzman (1957) 12/29/2021

Syracuse

John E. Belle (1957) 11/5/2020

Robert F. Coulter (1949) 4/9/2021

Robert E. Neumeier (1972) 10/23/2021

William Skye (1953) 11/23/2021

Tennessee

Norman E. Daniel (1954) 1/12/2022

L. Blair Kline (1989) 1/27/2022

M. Andrew Mays Jr. (1979) 3/2/2022

R. Stephen Reece II (2001) 11/7/2021

William E. Robinson (1955) 1/25/2022

Paul A. Robinson (1950) 12/2/2021

David W. Rule (1964) 2/5/2022

Luttrell G. Schettler (1957) 6/25/2021

Alfred L. Thomason (1954) 10/29/2021

Texas

Randy M. Bishop (1969) 8/6/2021

Aubrey C. Black (1949) 1/30/2022

Judson C. Boykin (1959) 1/20/2022

R. Wilson Cozby Jr. (1955) 2/27/2022

William J. Derrick (1956) 11/24/2021

Steven H. Grage (1985) 4/7/2022

Michael S. Lee (1970) 6/10/2021

John C. McCaleb (1948) 2/12/2022

Paul H. Smith (1950) 12/10/2021

Robert S. Timmins (1954) 7/16/2021

James F. Witten (1952) 2/24/2022

Texas A & M

Weston A. Miller (2025) 3/5/2022

Texas Arlington

Michael D. Jarrett (1972) 12/2/2021

Texas Christian

Zachary C. Gilmore (1986) 9/21/2021

Texas Tech

Michael F. Novak (1981) 11/26/2021

Larry N. Phipps (1974) 9/14/2021

C. Greg Smith (1964) 11/4/2021

Steve M. York (1973) 2/4/2022

Toronto

Peter M. Higgins (1961) 3/25/2021

Union

Arthur T. Arcand (1944) 8/1/2021

Roland J. Barhyte (1946) 12/1/2021

Carl E. Gaiser (1962) 1/20/2022

Virginia

James R. Coulter (1952) 12/1/2021

Thomas B. Slade III (1953) 11/19/2021

Virginia Tech

Ronald S. Hill (1975) 3/6/2022

Vernon F. Tydings Jr. (1972) 2/9/2022

Wabash

William F. Brown (1974) 11/13/2021

Larry J. Chapman (1957) 2/22/2022

John D. Proffitt (1954) 6/30/2021

Ray H. Riddle (1959) 4/6/2022

John E. Trefz (1969) 10/25/2020

Washington

John M. Davis (1958) 9/4/2021

Curry E. Johnson (1963) 11/16/2021

Patrick A. Munter (1965) 5/3/2021

Robert F. Philip (1940) 11/14/2021

Charles F. Sanborn (1946) 8/1/2021

Edward J. Watson Jr. (1959) 11/22/2021

Washington & Jefferson

Robert M. Gordon Jr. (1952) 11/11/2021

Barrett C. Walker (1951) 1/20/2022

Washington State

Gerald R. Davis (1958) 10/27/2021

Larry R. Weir (1957) 8/16/2021

William Jewell

William Fligg (2016) 10/26/2021

Daniel Hacku (1950) 1/12/2022

Charles H. Owens Jr. (1952) 12/27/2021

Lloyd W. Searcy (1951) 4/5/2021

Williams

John H. Dalton (1949) 12/21/2021

Wisconsin

David A. Campbell (1957) 2/19/2021

John J. Ellsworth (1990) 7/1/2021

Stanley S. Judd Jr. (1956) 12/5/2021

Wittenberg

Paul J. Morsches Jr. (1951) 2/12/2022

WPI

W. Todd Akin (1971) 10/3/2021

Carleton C. Comins (1953) 12/4/2021

George E. Crosby (1957) 1/24/2021

Stephen J. Cummings (1976) 3/9/2021

William H. Holmes (1961) 3/11/2022

Yale

Howard V. Clayton (1952) 2/11/2022

Bruce Kendrick (1951) 8/27/2021

Richard R. Wilson (1967) 3/31/2021

Obituary Notifications

Submit obituary notifications online at www. phigam.org/AdAstra or email to phigam@ phigam.org.