In Memoriam, Winter 2014

1930s

Virginia Smith Poling BA ’34, July 19, 2013, age 101.

Ellen Peirce Bump JD ’37, January 21, 2013, age 98, in Hillsboro, Oregon. Bump began her career as a legal secretary for D.D. Bump. Noting her interest in and aptitude for law, Bump encouraged her to enroll in law school. She worked days in the office, attended classes in the evening, and passed the bar in 1937. For the next two years, she worked for Washington County juvenile court. In 1940, she earned a degree in social work from Pacific University. Two years later, she married Kenneth Bump, the son of D.D. Bump, in San Luis Obispo, California. The couple soon returned to Forest Grove.

Bump practiced with her father-in-law, and became a partner in the firm Bump, Young and Walker in 1956. She served as a lawyer for 43 years, until her retirement.

Bump was very involved in civic and community activities. A president of the League of Women Voters, she also served on the Forest Grove Library Commission, Library Committee, and the Washington County Public Welfare Commission. She was a member of Forest Grove’s Community Health Organization and served as the Banks School attorney. Bump made many quiet contributions to the citizens of Forest Grove and frequently visited nursing home residents, shut-ins, and the elderly.

Survivors include her husband, with whom she celebrated a 70th wedding anniversary in December 2012; son Daniel Bump; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Lois M. Hogan Johnson ’39, April 15, 2013, age 95.

1940s

Margene Stewart Hillway ’41, March 24, 2012, age 92.

Althea Brown Dorman ’42, March 28, 2013, age 92.

Richard Herndobler ’44, December 2, 2012, age 90.

Sam Tosti ’44, September 26, 2012, age 91.

Evelyn M. Sparlin Evelsizer BS ’46, April 23, 2013, age 89.

Arleen M. Deedon Hauser BS ’46, February 9, 2013, age 90.

Marjean S. Silva Versteeg BA ’47, October 2, 2012, age 87.

Thomas L. Weaver BS ’47, September 23, 2012, age 90.

Clifton F. Bennett BS ’49, December 20, 2012, age 87.

Osgood Munger BA ’49, July 14, 2012, age 88.

Robert Penner BS ’49, June 24, 2013, age 88.

1950s

Mariel L. Hampton BA ’50, April 9, 2013, age 85.

Betty J. Carlson Hansen BS ’50, July 17, 2013, age 83.

James O. Ward BS ’50, MAT ’51, February 16, 2013, age 88.

Bryce Hanning BS ’51, January 26, 2013, age 87.

Robert Gerhard Hilken BA ’52, January 15, 2013, age 84, of complications from cancer. Hilken served as an enlisted man in the Navy at the end of World War II and as an officer in the Korean War. In between, he studied business at Lewis & Clark College, where he met his future wife, Virginia Wion BA ’52.

After his military service, Hilken began a career in business. He worked at Morgan Stanley for 49 years, retiring as executive vice president. Hilken volunteered extensively for the Lutheran Church and served on the board of directors for the Northwest District of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. A champion of Lutheran higher education, he helped establish the Concordia University Foundation in Portland and served on its board for more than 30 years. He and Virginia supported the Hilken Family Nursing Center at Concordia and the Hilken Community Stadium, which opened in May 2012. Hilken also began Beaverton’s Care to Share Foundation, a network of west-side area churches that helped meet the needs of the less fortunate.

When he wasn’t working, volunteering, or playing golf, he enjoyed attending his grandchildren’s activities. He enjoyed traveling and playing any game (especially cards) and took pride in designing his home and its landscape. He was a lifelong philatelist, specializing in collecting stamps with images pertaining to Martin Luther or golf.

He cherished his wife, Virginia, and adored his children, Douglas Hilken and Barbara Bernard, and his four grandchildren.

Richard McGhee BS ’52, August 18, 2013, age 83.

Lester L. Rawls BS ’52, JD ’62, September 12, 2013, age 85.

Milton G. Hagen BS ’53, July 1, 2013, age 88.

Robert R. Strutz BS ’53, June 23, 2013, age 85.

George M. Youngs BA ’53, July 27, 2012, age 83.

Dr. James H. Schell BS ’54, July 17, 2013, age 80.

David C.G. Etter BS ’55, August 18, 2013, age 79, from complications of bacteremia. Etter graduated from Tigard High School in 1951 and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Sigma fraternity during his Lewis & Clark years. After serving in the U.S. Army (1956–59), he earned a master’s degree from Oregon State University and an Ed.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. In the mid-1980s, he became a certified professional logistician.

Etter’s skills in training design and development for higher education and industry were well recognized in a professional career that spanned from 1963 to 2005. He held positions with the Oregon State System Higher Education Division of Continuing Education, the University of California at Berkeley System Wide Extension, Computer Curriculum Corporation Federal/Commercial Marketing, Wyle Laboratories, USAF and Westinghouse Corporation, San Jose State University and the University of Southern California, Lockheed-Martin Corporation, and NASA Research Park. He also served on several boards for professional organizations.

Etter led a men’s Bible-study group and served as clerk of session for the First Presby- terian Church in Mountain View, California, where he was a 25-year member. He also served as president and chair of the American Board for the International Christian Leprosy Mission, founded by his parents in 1943.

He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 40 years and in Scappoose, Oregon, for the past two years. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Donna Etter; son William Etter of Scappoose, Oregon; daughter Diane Zavala of Bend, Oregon; and four grandchildren.

The Hon. Philip Abraham JD ’57, January 2, 2013, age 84. Abrams was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953 and served as a staff sergeant during the Korean War. He began his legal career working with the city attorney’s office in Portland, becoming a judge in 1964. Abrams retired as the chief criminal judge of Multnomah County, where he remained a senior judge until his death. He was respected for his fairness and humility on and off the bench and was known for his propensity to break into song. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Patti; daughter Leslie Keller; son Michael Abraham; son Matthew Abraham; daughter Lori Lane; son Philip Abraham Jr.; son Todd Abraham; daughter Melissa Hartnell; and 14 grandchildren.

Duane Bartsch JD ’58, April 9, 2013, age 85. Bartsch served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later worked for the West Coast Lumberman’s Association in Portland while attending law school at night. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1958. He went on to practice law for more than 50 years and was admitted as a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969. Bartsch was a member of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church for more than 60 years and served as member of the board of directors for the Northwest District Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, for 13 years. He was a founding member of the Concordia University Foundation. An avid sports fan, Bartsch passed his love for the Trail Blazers on to his entire family. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing, cooking, family road trips, and tending to his beloved rose garden and tomatoes. He is survived by his wife, Elaine; two sons; a daughter; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Victor E. Dolezal BA ’58, March 17, 2013, age 77. Dolezal lived in Woodburn, Oregon, with the late Fred Sylvester and was a committed collector of a variety of beautiful objects. When he passed away, he left his collections, house, cars, bank accounts, and investments to the Oregon Humane Society.

Norman J. Wetzler BS ’59, May 23, 2013, age 80.

1960s

Dean L. Van Leuven BS ’64, January 15, 2012, age 71.

Mary A. Gerlitz BA ’66, August 1, 2013, age 68.

1970s

Judith “Judy” M. Jensen Kunsman BA ’72, January 1, 2013, age 62.

1980s

George D. Shaver BS ’80, September 6, 2013, age 60.

Melinda McGregor BA ’82, March 20, 2012, age 52.

Frank F. Hemmerich BS ’83, June 20, 2013, in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Andrew C. Casimiro BS ’85, July 14, 2013, age 50.

Connie L. Grate BS ’85, October 14, 2012, age 53.

2000s

Alexandra B. Cooper BA ’07, May 7, 2013, age 29, of cancer. Described as “an extraordinary gatherer of friends,” Cooper was born in Pasadena, California, where she attended school through the eighth grade. She then went to Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, where she was elected head of her dormitory. She graduated in 2002.

Before attending Lewis & Clark, she took a gap year, working in retail to pay her way to teach and travel in Accra, Ghana. She graduated with honors in history and remained in Portland with friends, working in restaurants to support her proud involvement with socialist and anti-war organizations. She took German lessons in 2009 to prepare for her next adventure, living in Berlin. In February 2010, without knowing a soul, she bought a one-way ticket to Berlin. A former member of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, she joined a German choral group, Cantus Domus, which assisted her in absorbing the German language and brought her tremendous challenges and as many rewards. During her time abroad, she traveled extensively in Europe with friends. She worked for the English-language magazine Exberliner and at a museum devoted to typography that opened in 2008, the Buchstabenmuseum. She attended Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and studied for a second bachelor’s degree in art history.

Cooper was diagnosed with advanced melanoma in June 2011. She returned to Pasadena to be with family in August 2012 and participated in clinical trials at the University of California at Los Angeles. Thanks to her excellent care and her will to make the best of a bad situation, she enjoyed travels to Florida, Massachusetts, Portland, Snowmass, and Red Feather Lakes, Colorado.

Surrounded by the love and support of family, many members of her extended family, and close friends, she lived her life to the fullest.

Her father, mother, and sister feel blessed that they shared her life together for so long. “Her strength, daring, and resolve live on in all those who knew her.” Survivors include her father, John Lewis Cooper Jr.; her mother, Elizabeth “Bette” Baptiste Cooper; and her sister, Eliza Lewis Cooper.