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Beverly Rathcke
Beverly Rathcke, a retired faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Born in 1945 in Wadena, Minn., Rathcke’s grandparents immigrated from Sweden and settled in northern Minnesota. Her interests were evident early; photos from childhood scrapbooks show her with cats, dogs or flowers. She was valedictorian of her high school class, and earned a Fulbright Fellowship to study entomology at Imperial College in London after completing her undergraduate degree at Gustavus Adolphus. She did doctoral work at University of Illinois and postdoctoral work at Cornell University, then joined the faculty of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at U-M, where she served from 1978 until her retirement in 2010.
Rathcke conducted pioneering studies on pollination biology and plant-animal interactions in species ranging from mangroves (Bahamas, Mexico and Florida) to spotted knapweed (Michigan) to mountain laurel (Rhode Island). She was the dissertation chair or co-chair for 29 doctoral students and worked on more than 50 other doctoral committees. She was an excellent teacher and strong advocate for graduate students; she received a Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award in 2008. She encouraged her friends and former students to follow their passions - not just to be scientists, but to be artists and explorers and spiritual seekers. Former students and colleagues traveled from as far as California and Maine to celebrate her retirement. This past year she traveled and reconnected with former students, colleagues and friends in Mexico, California, Maine and places between.
Rathcke’s home was a frequent gathering place for potlucks. Parties overflowed with quirky scientist types and their families. In 2005 she completed a renovation of her house, which was featured on the Old West Side homes tour. Her beloved rescue dog, a Keeshond named Kodi, was a part of her life for 11 years. She enjoyed Ann Arbor life, attending garden and home tours and music and dance performances. Her exultant laugh will echo always in the minds of her friends, they say.
She is survived by her cousin Chuck Larson, and his family, and many friends.
A life celebration will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 19, at the fourth floor amphitheater of the Rackham Graduate School Building. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to any of three causes: Bahamas Environment Fund (Bahamas National Trust), 260 Crandon Blvd., Suite 32-213, Key Biscayne, FL 33149; The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203-1606; or to a fund for graduate student summer support at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 830 N. University, 2019 Kraus Natural Science Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048.
Wayne Hazen
Wayne Hazen, professor emeritus of physics, died July 9, 2010. He was 89.
Howes received his Bachelor of Arts in 1941 and a Master of Arts in 1943, both from Middlebury College. After serving as an instructor at Middlebury, he served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Civil Service in Japan from 1945-48. He became fluent in Japanese and maintained a lifelong interest in Japanese culture and art. At the time of his death, Howes was working on a book about the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. He taught at the University of Connecticut and as a guest professor at the Yokohama National University, before receiving his doctorate from Yale University in 1955. He joined the U-M faculty that same year and moved through its ranks to full professor in 1969. Howes taught at the university until 2001, retiring at age 80.
Throughout his career, Howes was devoted to his students and especially loved training future teachers, colleagues say. In 1975, along with Professor Walter Clark, he founded the New England Literature Program (NELP), co-directing and teaching each spring in New Hampshire from 1975-90. He then taught for many years as a guest lecturer at NELP. The program remains in place as an intellectually and developmentally challenging enterprise for U-M undergraduates.
Howes’ major scholarly contribution is “Yorick and the Critics: Laurence Sterne’s Reputation in England,” published by Yale University Press in 1958 and reprinted by Archon Books in 1971. This contribution is supported and extended by briefer accounts of Sterne and by a later volume, “The Critical Heritage Series: Laurence Sterne,” published in 1974. He also contributed to the pedagogy of language and composition by co-editing “Literature for Adolescents,” published in 1975, co-editing “The Norton Reader” (eight editions from 1965-92), and by co-authoring “Language and Reflection,” published in 1992.
Howes served the university and the profession in a wide variety of roles, directing the English Summer Institute and serving as a reader for College Board examinations, as well as being a consultant for National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and to numerous high schools on matters of curriculum and pedagogy. His service to the Department of English was especially extensive. He was a key figure in the department’s administrative structure, and his programmatic commitments have been far-reaching; he was deeply involved with the undergraduate curriculum and with the joint program in English and education.
His commitment to pedagogy, reflected in courses and programs, earned for him the Amoco Good Teaching Award, 1977; the Charles Carpenter Fries Award for contributions to the profession of English, 1983; the LSA Counseling Award, 1988; and the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Research in the Teaching of English (along with others as the co-author of Language and Reflection), 1992.
Howes is remembered as an avid outdoorsman, hiker, fisherman and gardener. As a friend described him, “He was full of ginger, and he lived a delicious life.”
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Lidie; children Timothy (Nancy) and Marjorie (Paul); and grandchildren Zhi, Madeline and Alexandra. A memorial service took place Aug. 22 at the family’s summer home in Greensboro, Vt.
Thomas Truett
Thomas “Ricky Tee” Truett, a 20-plus-year employee at U-M, born Sept. 13, 1958, in Highland Park, Mich., to Byres and Grace (Gladson) Truett.
He was a lifetime member of Bikers United Motorcycle Club. He loved listening to music, playing his guitar, riding his motorcycle, racing cars at Speedway Tracks and spending time with his children.
Truett is survived by his children, Joben and Lauren, and their mother Kelly, all of Saline; his mother Grace Truett of Murphy, N.C.; brother Kenneth of Melvindale; sisters Bernice Stewart of Murphy, N.C., Ruth (Ralph) Kuykendall of Tuxedo, N.C., and Martha (Jerry) Lance of Adrian; nephews Keith and Jeffery (Jan) Truett, Tim (Tammy) Stewart, Bobby (Tracy) Stewart, Gray (Dina) Motsinger, Daniel Motsinger, Shannon Miller and Kenny (Sue) Lance; great niece and nephews Cherokee, Grayson, Ryvers, Releigh, Jon, Brad, Jessica, Zac and Brianna; and his loving friend, Myra Warren. He was died Sept. 5, 2010. She was 60.
A member of the POM faculty since 1997, Klausner earned a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene from the School of Dentistry in 1972 and a master’s degree from U-M the following year. She also was a member of the Lansing Community College dental hygiene faculty.
Klausner’s primary responsibility was coordinating the entry-level dental hygiene preclinic curriculum and directing the course for second-year dental hygiene students that prepared them to administer patient care. She also taught in the School’s E-Learning (online) Degree Completion Program, the Internationally Trained Dentist Program, the periodontal foundation courses to dental students, and was course director for dental hygiene biomaterials. Her research focused on educational methods, genetics and diabetes.
Klausner was an active member in the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and the American Dental Education Association, served on the American Dental Association’s National Board Test Construction Review Committee, and was an examiner for the registered dental assistant licensing examination with the State Board of Dentistry.
“We all remember Chris for her spontaneous smile, positive attitude and compassion for others,” says Wendy Kerschbaum, director of the dental hygiene program. “Her commitment to dental hygiene and to students was recognized by everyone who knew her.”
During this spring’s Relay for Life at the U-M campus, members of the dental hygiene Class of 2012 wore special T-shirts that read “Team Klausner.” They wore the same T-shirt to class last week after learning of her death. The photo shows the message that was included with the luminary during the event.
Klausner was one of 52 licensed dental hygienists from the United States invited by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and the People to People Citizens Ambassador Program to travel to Russia and Poland during the summer of 2007. The delegation discussed U.S. dental hygiene practices with colleagues in health ministries, colleges and universities, public clinics and private clinics in the two countries.
“I saw some major differences in how the professions of dental hygiene in particular and dentistry in general are practiced there, compared to this country,” she said in a story that appeared in the School of Dentistry’s alumni magazine, DentalUM, published in the spring of 2008. “In those two countries, it seems to me that dental hygiene is still in its infancy … so it was an exciting opportunity for me and others to share our knowledge with oral health care professionals from that part of the world.”
Lisa Dodge, POM student administration assistant, says, “Chris was a gift to everyone and we will miss her very much.” Klausner is survived by her husband, Leo (DDS 1974, MS, restorative dentistry, 1978), her two sons and their wives, Kyle and Courtney, and Kent and Kat, and three grandchildren.
