In Memory, Spring 2025

1940s

Marilynn McQuoid Gillman (48GN) of Alexandria, Virginia, on Oct. 20, 2024.

John Tyrrell (47BA, 50MD) of Manchester, Iowa, on Nov. 30, 2024.

1950s

Emily J. Pratt Brown (51BA) of McAlester, Oklahoma, on Nov. 6, 2024.

Thomas Kincaid (52BA) of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on Oct. 1, 2024.

Jack McNeish (57DDS) of New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Sept. 27, 2024.

Marilyn Long Neely (50BA) of Iowa City on Dec. 2, 2024.

Patricia Mayer Shanahan (59BA) of Naples, Florida, on Sept. 14, 2024.

Sylvester Sluka (57BA) of San Diego on Sept. 25, 2024.

James A. Wiese (58BBA) of Iowa City on Nov. 5, 2024.

Clarann Bekman Winslow (55BSC) of Blair, Nebraska, on Nov. 11, 2024.

Jim Leach

Representing eastern Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives for three decades, former Congressman Jim Leach developed a close connection to the University of Iowa, eventually serving as a faculty member in the College of Law and as interim director of the Stanley Museum of Art.

“Jim was a relentless advocate for our state, its people, and this university,” says Peter Matthes (00BA, 14MBA), UI vice president for external relations. “He lived a life of service that we should all aspire to emulate.”

Serving in Congress from 1977– 2007, Leach championed academic research, supporting science and humanities programs that resulted in more than a half-billion dollars of peer-reviewed competitive grants to the UI. He also acted as the chair of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services and as a senior member of the Committee on International Relations.

After his time in office, Leach taught at Harvard and Princeton and served four years as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities before returning to Iowa as the UI chair of public affairs and visiting professor of law. Leach also was a senior scholar with the college’s Center for Human Rights and sat on its advisory board.

Leach served as the interim director of the UI Museum of Art from 2017–18, during which time the museum was renamed after benefactors Richard (63MS) and Mary Jo Stanley. Leach collaborated on the design of the new museum, and he and his wife, Deba (72MA), donated more than 300 artworks. Leach also donated his papers to the UI Libraries.

Upon earning a UI Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015, Leach described the university as a place of warm friends and colleagues.

“Ties of loyalty give compass and meaning to life,” he said at the time. “All of us need things to love that can be shared. This university is one.”

Leach died Dec. 11 at age 82.

1960s

Judith Smith Baughman (64BA, 66MA) of Elgin, South Carolina, on March 18, 2024.

Robert Dockendorff (60BA) of San Francisco on Dec. 9, 2024.

Hugh Drake (60BA) of West Des Moines on Sept. 16, 2024.

Kent Hills (61BA, 64MS, 67PhD) of Silver Spring, Maryland, on Sept. 10, 2024.

Morgan J. Jones (60BM, 61MA) of Redmond, Washington, on Oct. 30, 2024.

Rodney W. Lundgren (67BBA) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Aug. 30, 2024.

Lucy Mitchell (60MA) of North Chatham, Massachusetts, on Sept. 17, 2024.

1970s

Richard Butikofer (79BSPh) of Cedar Rapids on Feb. 17, 2024.

James Haddad (79BBA) of Hiawatha, Iowa, on Aug. 8, 2024.

Lora Sturtz Harper (77BA) of Des Moines on Sept. 18, 2024.

Roger Jerrick (74BS) of Coralville on Sept. 21, 2024.

1980s

Steven Banwart (81BSCE, 83MS) of South Anston, United Kingdom, on Dec. 30, 2023.

James Branam (82MBA) of Cedar Rapids on Sept. 10, 2024.

Kerry Burt (87BA, 90MA) of Waterloo, Iowa, on Oct. 1, 2024.

Thomas M. Cook (87PhD) of Iowa City on Oct. 18, 2024.

Stephen Forret (87MS) of Morton, Illinois, on Aug. 14, 2024.

Patty A. Harris (85BBA) of Lisbon, Wisconsin, on Sept. 12, 2024.

Krysty Bujakowska

University of Iowa Kid Captain Krysty Bujakowska was a positive, strong, and joyful presence throughout her extended battle with cancer.

Born in Poland, Bujakowska moved to the U.S. with her family in 2013. The Coralville middle school student was passionate about swimming, theater, and chess, for which she won multiple trophies. Outside of school, she loved to read, write, and travel, visiting 49 U.S. states.

After her diagnosis with the aggressive bone cancer osteosarcoma in 2021, Bujakowska remained involved at school and in theater, starring in Jack and the Giant Beanstalk at the Young Footliters Youth Theatre. An Iowa women’s basketball fan, she served as the Kid Captain for the Crossover at Kinnick game in 2023 and an honorary assistant coach for an exhibition game in 2024. On Nov. 20, just before Bujakowska’s death, head coach Jan Jensen dedicated the team’s win against Kansas to her.

Bujakowska died Nov. 21 at age 13.

1990s

John M. Brown (90BA) of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, on Sept. 18, 2024.

Pat McGhee (90BGS) of Minneapolis on Nov. 23, 2024.

Brian R. Thompson (97BBA) of Maple Grove, Minnesota, on Dec. 4, 2024.

2000s

Jamie Cavey Lang (07BA, 13MA) of Solon, Iowa, on Dec. 21, 2024.

faculty & friends

Michael Bosch of Iowa City on Dec. 1, 2024.

Joe Coulter of Beaufort, North Carolina, on Sept. 20, 2024.

Peter M. Green of Coralville on Sept. 16, 2024.