In order that we might honor our deceased alumni, we ask survivors and friends to kindly send information to kyle.layne-allen@ roxburylatin.org
in memoriam 1949: Roland Paul Crawford Roland Paul Crawford passed away on 27 April 2016. The son of Marie L. Crawford and John H. Crawford, Roland found his academic niche at Roxbury Latin in the languages of French, Latin, and German, and enriched his extracurricular life as a member of the Glee Club, hockey, and tennis programs, and as a contributor to his class plays. His mother attributed “all his gentlemanness, his fidelity, and true worth” to the School. After spending years working for his father’s business, Roland eventually graduated from Harvard College in 1969. He leaves his wife, Marjorie (Ryan), as well as sisters-in-law Beverly Staph and Barbara Breen. He was predeceased by his brother, John H. Crawford Jr., and is survived by his nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. 1950: Robert Louis Fish Barbara Fish called to inform the School of the passing of her husband, Robert Louis Fish, last October. He was 84. At Roxbury Latin, Robert excelled in the realms of mathematics and science, subjects in which he received honors marks throughout his years. His eclectic extracurricular pursuits included Student World Federalists, football, wrestling, and stage crew. After graduation he attended MIT and went to work for Raybestos-Manhattan (later renamed Raytech), where he enjoyed a long career as a chemical engineer. He and Barbara, his wife of 61 years, raised three children: Robert II, Marcia, and Diane. Raytech transferred the family to Indiana for Robert’s last twelve years before retirement. Robert 44
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enjoyed summers on Cape Cod, and was an avid bike rider, riding 16 miles to work everyday—sun, rain, or snow. Last September he and Barbara moved to a retirement home in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Robert is survived by his wife and their three children. 1956: Laurence Edward Casson Laurence Edward Casson passed away on 25 November 2016 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was 78. Larry was born in Cambridge and grew up in Newton. Throughout his R.L. years, Larry was an active participant in the Glee Club, Debate, and Drama. In athletics, in addition to a freshman year stint in sailing, he helped guide the fate of Varsity Soccer for three years. He went on to Harvard University, graduating in 1960, and earned his JD from Harvard Law in 1963. In 1967 he married Gloria (Gold) and together they raised their two boys, Anthony and Jonathan. Larry’s experience in politics, public relations, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development served him well in his own real estate investment and development companies, which focused on inner city and suburban residential planning throughout Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Maryland; and Northern Virginia. He first retired to Cape Cod and later to Estes Park, Colorado. In retirement Larry “indulged in fishing and lobstering and maintained an enthusiasm for politics,” and served on Eastham Cape Cod’s Land Acquisition Committee. He is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, their sons, and two grandchildren.
1967: John Denis Sullivan John Denis Sullivan died in his hometown of Milton on 17 December 2016. Son of the late Cornelius Sullivan and the late Rita Sullivan, John shone as a citizen at Roxbury Latin and participated in all aspects of the School’s culture. He played for the football, basketball, and lacrosse programs, participated in theater, served as his class vice president, and contributed his poetry to Tripod, for which he also served as editor. In R.L. athletics he was a tri-captain, an all-New England lacrosse player, and even a j.v. lacrosse coach after a knee injury forced him to the sidelines his junior year. Despite the setback he was still elected co-captain the following spring, a testament to John’s “good spirits.” Headmaster Richmond Mayo-Smith summarized John’s teachers’ comments: “A great boy—outgoing, amusing, enthusiastic”; “mature beyond the average”; “respectful, talented, and gifted.” John matriculated at Harvard College and graduated in 1971. He worked as a training supervisor at Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems and retired as a manager of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory for Harvard Medical School’s Pathology Department. He leaves behind his wife, Deborah Smullyan; two children, John and Margaret; sisters Rosemary Kimball and Elaine Sullivan; and a brother, Paul. 1960: Francis Paul DiBella Francis Paul Richland DiBella passed away on 10 December 2016 in Michigan’s Rose Arbor Hospice. Born to Rosario and Mary DiBella, Frank came to
Roxbury Latin in the fall of 1954. One of his schoolmasters noted his “ability to work diligently, his kindliness of spirit, forgetfulness of self, his loyalty, willingness, and self-discipline.” Graduating from R.L. with honors marks in French and science, he took his interest in science to Brown University, where he earned an AB in chemistry in 1964, and followed that with a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1969. A research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania led him to Nancy, his wife of 45-plus years, with whom he raised four children. The family settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Frank worked in the Patent and Intellectual Properties divisions of the Upjohn Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Services Company. He endured the group’s numerous corporate transitions until his retirement from Pfizer in 2007. In a June 2000 note to the School, Frank wrote that “in spite of mergers, downsizings, and reorganizations… I’d like to think that in some ways, those six long years of RLS rigor pretty much prepared me for it all.” A lover of music, which he acknowledged as an “RLSkindled interest,” Frank enjoyed spending time gardening, “eating pasta with clam sauce, backyard grilling, gazing at the ocean, bird watching, tracking the weather, and in later years, working on his Nook tablet.” Frank is predeceased by his son, Matthew. He is survived by his wife Nancy DiBella, daughters Christine and Regina, and son Michael. He also leaves behind his sisters, Cecilia and Stella; a brother, Tony; and a grandson, Max.