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Stephen J. Tonsor III
Emeritus Professor of History Stephen J. Tonsor III, of Chelsea, formerly of Ann Arbor, born Nov. 26, 1923, in English Township, Ill., the son of Stephen J. Tonsor II and Rose Mary (Schmidt). He was a professor of history at the University of Michigan for 30 years, retiring in 1984, and a veteran of the United States Army. He served in the Signal Corps in the Pacific in World War II, and was honorably discharged in January 1946 as a staff sergeant.
Tonsor started his college education in Carlinville, Ill., at Blackburn College, a Presbyterian work-study college. After his second year, he was drafted into the United States Army. He completed his undergraduate degree on the GI Bill at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1948, and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Illinois in 1955. He studied abroad at the University of Zurich and as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Munich, and received his position at the University of Michigan as a professor of history, by letter, while in Germany.
While a graduate student at the University of Illinois, Tonsor and his wife worked for three summers as fire look-outs on Ruffneck Peak in the Sawtooth Mountains. He loved traveling and spending time outdoors, especially hiking and mountain climbing, and he was passionate about gardening. A member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Detroit, he enjoyed attending its German-language mass.
In addition to his work as a scholar, he was well known in the broader community outside the university. In scores of articles and reviews, he addressed both academic and nonacademic audiences. The numerous themes he treated - youth and education, the meaning of equality, religion, historiography, culture, and others - resonated widely and brought Tonsor broad recognition. The Distinguished Teacher Award he received in 1962 attests to his devotion to teaching at all levels, from undergraduate introductory surveys to upper-level and graduate courses. Tonsor guided many graduate students in their pursuit of graduate degrees in European intellectual and cultural history of the late 18th and 19th centuries. His generous hospitality was warmly remembered by many former students.
In 1972-73, he was the senior visiting research fellow at the Hoover Institution, in 1969-72 he was consultant to the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and for many years he had been closely associated with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Since 1970, he had been associate editor of Modern Age. From 1969-71, he was secretary to the Relm and Earhart Foundations. His distinguished service to U-M was recognized in 1996 when he was named professor emeritus of history.
On Sept. 6, 1949, he preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Patrick.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. Donations in his honor may be made to the United Methodist Retirement Communities Heritage Foundation or to the Stephen J. Tonsor Best Oral Presentation of Thesis Award at the Department of History, University of Michigan.
James Lyle Miller Jr.
James (Jerry) Lyle Miller Jr., a professor emeritus of higher education at the University of Michigan, born Dec. 16, 1927, in Toledo, Ohio, to James L. Miller Sr. and Marjorie Cleveland Miller. On Dec. 16, 1955, in Nashville he was died Nov. 26, 2013. He was the first child died Jan. 3, 2014. She was 53.
She will be missed by many, including her dear companion, John Everett.
Berdy is the daughter of Ernoe and Adelaida Berdy, and sister of Erno Berdy, Celia Robinson, and Linda (Mario) Ocasio.
She worked as a student adviser at both Wayne State University and the University of Michigan.
She cherished her role as “aunt" to Jonathan Erno Robinson (fiancée Courtney Phelps), Alan Jay Robinson, Erno Andres Berdy, Isabella Sophia Ocasio and Marco Alejandro Ocasio. She also is survived by cousins and many friends.
William Anderson
William Russell Anderson, emeritus professor of botany, born Sept. 25, 1942, in Tucson, Ariz., the son of John L. and Eleanor (McCaddon) Anderson. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree at Duke University in 1964, and he obtained his Master of Science (1965) and doctorate (1971) degrees in botany from the University of Michigan.
Anderson began his career as an associate curator at the New York Botanical Garden in 1971. In 1974, he joined the faculty of the Department of Botany and Herbarium at U-M. He served as director of the Herbarium from 1986 to 1999. In 2002 he retired, but remained active in research as professor and curator emeritus until shortly before his death.
Anderson was an expert in plant systematics and floristics, as well as botanical nomenclature. He specialized in the flowering plant family Malpighiaceae, in which he had many significant contributions over four decades. He conducted extensive field work throughout Mexico and Central and South America, and he was renowned for his exquisitely prepared herbarium specimens. Along with fellow U-M botanist Rogers McVaugh, they focused much of their field work in western Mexico in the area known as Nueva Galicia. In addition to over 80 scientific papers he published, Anderson was the general editor for eight volumes of the monumental Flora Novo-Galiciana.
During his career, Anderson received numerous awards and recognitions, including the U-M Faculty Recognition Award, the Asa Gray Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, and the Robert Allerton Award for Excellence in Tropical Botany from the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Colleagues and former students established the William R. Anderson Graduate Student Research Grant Fund at the American Society of Plant Taxonomists to honor his role as mentor to numerous students throughout his career.
On Dec. 21, 1967, Anderson married Christiane Eva Seidenschnur, who survives him along with their daughter Rebecca Christiane. Their son Russell William preceded him in death. He is survived by his sisters Carol Boche and Lucile Chevalier and his brother John Anderson along with his sister-in-law Annette Mahler and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
