IOWA Magazine | 05-30-2023

In Memory Summer 2023

9 minute read
Remembering the Hawkeyes we lost, including philanthropist John Pappajohn, WNBA pioneer Simone Edwards, and civic leader H. Rand Petersen.

1940s

Juanita Jack Christensen (47DI, 47MS) of Evansville, Indiana, on Dec. 29, 2022. Jack Dauner (47BSC) of Pinehurst, North Carolina, on Dec. 18, 2022. Agnes “Dorree” Hauser Eckhoff (49BA) of Iowa City on Dec. 27, 2022. Theodora Stiarwalt Gates (48GN, 58BSN) of Bronson, Texas, on Aug. 23, 2022. Janithe Propst Lewis (41BA) of Burlington, Iowa, on Nov. 25, 2022. Doris Havercamp Nelson (48BA, 49MA) of Hesperia, California, on Oct. 20, 2022. Edgar Updegraff (43BA, 45MD) of Oracle, Arizona, on Dec. 23, 2022.


H. Rand Petersen (51BA)

H. Rand Petersen

Petersen spent a lifetime working to better his alma mater and community.

Petersen met his wife, Mary Louise Anneberg Petersen (51BA), as a student at the University of Iowa, and they married in 1951, the same year they both graduated. The couple had four children: Steve (82BBA, 84MBA), Katharine (81BSPh), Allen (78BGS), and Margaret Lynn (76BGS).

After returning from deployment as part of an artillery unit in Korea, he moved with his family to his hometown of Harlan, Iowa, where he joined Shelby County State Bank. He rose to president of the bank in 1970, a position he held for over 40 years. During this time, he and Mary Louise supported numerous health, wellness, and community space projects in Harlan, including the Shelby County Health Foundation, the Petersen Family Wellness Center, and the C.G. Therkildsen Activity Center.

Petersen was also invested in the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and arranged the donation of his family farm as a wildlife management area that provides year-round public access to 450 acres of ponds and grasslands.

Along with his wife, he dedicated much of his giving to the UI, supporting the Pentacrest Museums, the Iowa Women’s Archives, Hawkeye Athletics, and UI Hospitals & Clinics. The couple also founded the Walter and Margaret Anneberg Scholarship Fund in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education in the College of Education, for which they received the UI’s IE2000 Campaign golden medallion in 1993. He was a member of the College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Club, the UI Alumni Association’s Directors’ Club, and the Foundation’s Presidents Club, and he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the UI in 1996 in honor of his service.

Petersen died March 15 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He was 94.


1950s

Fernando Aleu (54R, 56R) of Boulder, Colorado, on Jan. 6, 2023. Allene Peterson Anderson (53BSN) of Greenville, South Carolina, on Nov. 26, 2022. Dorothy Frank Anderson (51BA) of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, on Dec. 2, 2022. Thomas Baldridge (52BA) of Iowa City on Jan. 3, 2023. Lois Fincher Briggs (50BA) of Seal Beach, California, on Jan. 8, 2023. Roger Christensen (50BSC) of San Francisco on Jan. 11, 2023. Ann Corcoran Cooper (57BA) of Geneva, Illinois, on Nov. 16, 2022. JoAnn Lekwa Corrigan (52BA) of Milwaukee on Dec. 23, 2022. Brunhild Wegner Ericksen (57BSN) of Sioux City, Iowa, on March 5, 2022. Frank Gilliam (57BA) of Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 2, 2023. L. Clark Hamilton (52BA) of Alexandria, Virginia, on Dec. 14, 2022. Frederick Hansen (54BA) of Wichita, Kansas, on Nov. 4, 2022. R. Jerry Hargitt (55BA) of Lake Forest, Illinois, on June 11, 2022. Darel Hein (59BSC) of Stockton, Iowa, on Jan. 12, 2023. Louis Hurwitz (52BA) of West Des Moines on Jan. 13, 2023. Susan Starman Hutchison (53BA) of West Des Moines on July 31, 2022. Theodore Hutchison (54BA, 56JD) of West Des Moines on Nov. 26, 2022. Gary Long (59BSME) of Paradise Valley, Arizona, on Jan. 10, 2023. David Lowe (56BSC) of Overland Park, Kansas, on Nov. 27, 2022. Robert Meisenheimer (52BSC) of Johnston, Iowa, on Dec. 23, 2022. Fred Patterson (55BA, 58MD, 67R) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Feb. 8, 2022. Paul Pechous (58MD) of Dubuque, Iowa, on Jan. 13, 2023. Irwin Pesetsky (54MS, 59PhD) of Lexington, Massachusetts, on Jan. 9, 2023. Richard Reitmann (57PhD) of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 14, 2022. Charles Roudebush (52BA, 56DDS) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Nov. 21, 2022. Warren Schultz (56BA, 58MA) of Burlington, Iowa, on Nov. 24, 2022. James Fraser Smith (50JD) of Charles City, Iowa, on Nov. 30, 2022. William Stanford (52BSPh, 56MD, 64R, 66F, 85R) of Iowa City on Jan. 24, 2023. Anna Law Stober (54BA) of Bokeelia, Florida, on Nov. 13, 2022. Kent Stufflebeam (56BSC) of Vinton, Iowa, on Nov. 27, 2022. James R. Walker (55BSC) of Lake Worth, Florida, on Dec. 7, 2022. William Whitmore (56BA, 56MD, 63R) of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, on Jan. 29, 2023. John Wicks (59BSC, 64JD) of Plymouth, Minnesota, on Jan. 21, 2023. Howie Wolf (56BA, 59MD) of Longmont, Colorado, on Jan. 5, 2023. Hugh Wolff (52BA, 55MD, 63R) of Alamo Heights, Texas, on Dec. 23, 2022. Sarah “Sally” Bailey Wulfekuhler (53BA) of Storm Lake, Iowa, on Dec. 22, 2022.

1960s

Thomas Ayres III (62BSPh) of Norman, Oklahoma, on Jan. 11, 2023. Lyle Bighley (63MS, 66PhD) of Overland Park, Kansas, on Jan. 3, 2023. Paula Ervin Boehlje (64BSN) of Pella, Iowa, on Dec. 21, 2022. Byron Clark (62MA) of Iowa Falls, Iowa, on Jan. 6, 2023. John Cotter Jr. (66BSME) of Hockessin, Delaware, on Oct. 30, 2022. Lake Crookham (61LLB) of Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Jan. 8, 2023. Ronald Feilmeyer (60BA, 66JD) of Ames, Iowa, on Nov. 22, 2022. Ellen Slusalek Francis (62MA) of Burlington, Iowa, on Dec. 24, 2022. Jack Galef (67MFA) of Hoboken, New Jersey, on Dec. 30, 2022. Brian Hoffmeier (67BA) of Arvada, Colorado, on March 8, 2020. Patricia Hynes Johnston (60BA) of Naples, Florida, on Dec. 8, 2022. William Joy (67BA, 68JD) of Iowa City on Dec. 31, 2022. Herbert Knudten Jr. (63BBA, 66LLB) of Grinnell, Iowa, on Jan. 5, 2023. Michael J. Lane (62JD) of Knoxville, Iowa, on Dec. 11, 2022. David McCoid (65BA) of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, on Dec. 28, 2022. Guy McFarland III (62MD, 68MS, 68R) of Iowa City on Jan. 24, 2023. Richard Paulus (60BA) of West Branch, Iowa, on Dec. 26, 2022. Susan Scott (66BA) of Clinton, Iowa, on Dec. 23, 2022. Michael Sheets (69BS) of New Paltz, New York, on Jan. 8, 2023. H. Stanley Thompson (66MS, 66R) of Oxford, Iowa, on Jan. 15, 2023. David Treiber (68BBA) of Beresford, South Dakota, on Dec. 4, 2022. Maxine Mielke Triff (68MA) of Madison, Wisconsin, on Nov. 28, 2022. Stephen Turner (64JD) of Greenwich, Connecticut, on Jan. 20, 2023. Douglas Wallace (68MS, 71PhD) of Iowa City on Dec. 7, 2022. John Robert Warren (60BA) of Ottumwa, Iowa, on Feb. 21, 2022. Ralph Wentzien (61BA) of Fort Madison, Iowa, on Dec. 4, 2022. Barry Witham (64MA) of Redmond, Washington, on Dec. 26, 2022. Charles Wolle (61JD) of Broomfield, Colorado, on Dec. 6, 2022. Bernie Wyatt (62BS) of Iowa City on April 1, 2023.


John Pappajohn

John Pappajohn (52BS, 10LHD)

A self-made entrepreneur, visionary philanthropist, and generous champion of Iowa students, John Pappajohn used his success in the business world to make the greater world—and particularly his alma mater University of Iowa—a better place. 

Pappajohn (52BS, 10LHD) died April 22, 2023, at age 94. Read more about his life and impact on Iowa.


1970s

Ayers Baxter (78MFA) of Los Angeles on Dec. 23, 2022. Jeanne Ryan Droll (72BS) of Tipton, Iowa, on Dec. 4, 2022. David Dworzak (73BA, 76MA) of West Chester, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 26, 2022. Charles Gates Jr. (72MD) of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Nov. 28, 2022. Voanne Miller Hansen (74BA, 77MA) of Marion, Iowa, on Nov. 25, 2022. Richard Heathcote (74BS, 87PhD) of Des Moines on Nov. 21, 2022. Larry Holden (79BGS) of Henderson, Nevada, on Jan. 1, 2023. Janet Homewood (78BBA, 83MBA) of Iowa City on Dec. 9, 2022. Jean Middleton James (78MA, 83PhD) of Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Dec. 20, 2022. Ralph Kephart (71EdS, 71MA) of Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 20, 2023. Mary Bernadette Lenz Lynch (79BGS) of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on March 19, 2022. Bette Friedman Meisel (78MSW) of Silver Spring, Maryland, on Dec. 16, 2022. Kenneth Mobily (77MA, 81PhD) of West Branch, Iowa, on Dec. 30, 2022. James "Butch" Pedersen (75BS) of West Branch, Iowa, on April 3, 2023. Jerry Randall (72BBA) of West Des Moines on Nov. 21, 2022. Royce Schweizer (71BA, 72MA) of Des Moines on Dec. 4, 2022. Richard Taffe Jr. (70BA) of Boston on Dec. 15, 2022.

1980s

Steven Elliot (89BGS) of Loves Park, Illinois, on Dec. 26, 2022. Geri Richards Hall (88MA, 98PhD) of Tempe, Arizona, on Nov. 10, 2022. John D. Hines (82MBA) of Urbandale, Iowa, on Dec. 27, 2022. Tascha Schulze Keettel (81BM) of Iowa City on Nov. 10, 2022. Jay Levitt (86BA) of Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 2022. Juan Moran (88JD) of Greeley, Colorado, on Oct. 14, 2022. Timothy Rockafellow (81BA) of West Branch, Iowa, on Jan. 20, 2023. Julie A. Cummings Thomas (84MA) of West Des Moines on Nov. 21, 2022. David M. Tucker (84BS) of Denver on Nov. 28, 2022. Prem Virdi (82F) of Moline, Illinois, on Jan. 2, 2023.


Simone Edwards (96BA)

Simone Edwards

Known as the “Jamaican Hurricane,” Edwards took basketball courts by storm as a star for the Hawkeyes and one of the first women in the WNBA.

Originally from Jamaica, Edwards played for Iowa women’s basketball from 1994–97. In 1996, she was part of the team that earned a regular-season conference championship and a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16. As a senior in 1997, she helped the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten tournament title and to the NCAA’s second round.

Edwards joined the New York Liberty roster during the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997, and later played six seasons as a center with the Seattle Storm. She was also on Seattle’s 2004 championship team.

After retiring from the WNBA in 2006, she coached Jamaica’s national women’s team to the Caribbean championships in 2014 and served as an assistant coach at Radford University and George Mason University.

Edwards died of cancer Feb. 16, 2023, in Boynton Beach, Florida. She was 49.


1990s

Cari Bauman (93BS) of Ames, Iowa, on Aug. 18, 2022. Wendee Sands Chase (95BSPh, 97PharmD) of Rock Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 5, 2023. Kelly Durian (91BA, 95MA) of Iowa City on Jan. 9, 2023. Russell Loven (91PhD) of Guttenberg, Iowa, on Dec. 27, 2022. Todd P. Smith (90BBA, 96MBA) of Iowa City on April 27, 2022. Nancy Thoma (90BBA, 94JD) of Osage, Iowa, on Nov. 28, 2022. Doretta Petersen Watson (91MA) of Deepwater, Missouri, on Dec. 11, 2022.

2000s

Marcus Beer (07BBA) of Sunbury, Ohio, on Jan. 19, 2023. Lorene Abbott Harden (01BBA) of Muscatine, Iowa, on Dec. 27, 2022. Betsy Ziegenbusch Mudd (05BA) of Burbank, California, on Nov. 20, 2022. Jeffrey S. Roberts (05JD) of Denver on Nov. 8, 2022. Michael Slezak (09BA) of Iowa City on Nov. 28, 2022. Christopher Smit (04PhD) of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Jan. 4, 2023.

2010s

Carol DeBoef Fischer (13PhD) of Forest City, Iowa, on Feb. 25, 2022. Joshua Haugo (15JD) of Ankeny, Iowa, on June 13, 2022. Joseph B. Henderson (17BBA) of Iowa City on Jan. 2, 2023. Janelle Young Morio (19MBA) of Hiawatha, Iowa, on Jan. 8, 2023.

2020s

Millie Brewer (21BA) of Iowa City on Dec. 10, 2022.

faculty & friends

Carolyn Carney of West Branch, Iowa, on Jan. 5, 2023. Robert Holland of Fountain Hills, Arizona, on Dec. 28, 2022. Kenneth Starck of Iowa City on Jan. 8, 2023.

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