In Memory, Summer 2025

1940s

Fritz Cohen (49BA, 50MA, 55PhD) of Chicago on Dec. 30, 2024.

Janice Larson Donahue (48BA) of Peoria, Arizona, on March 6, 2025.

1950s

Richard Carrothers (57DDS) of Oak Harbor, Washington, on March 2, 2025.

Betty Jeanne Humphry (51MA, 54PhD) of Jacksonville, Florida, on March 8, 2025.

Karen Joy Lewis (55BSN) of Charlotte, North Carolina, on Jan. 8, 2025.

Allyn Mark (57BA, 61MD) of Iowa City on April 3, 2025.

Donna McKay (55BA) of Davenport, Iowa, on Jan. 11, 2025.

Ardith Morningstar (57BA) of Rolling Hills Estates, California, on May 25, 2022.

Peter D. Van Oosterhout (53BA, 55JD) of Cleveland on Dec. 17, 2024.

Jim S. Sherman (53BSC) of Minneapolis on Jan. 4, 2025.

Earl H. Smith Jr. (57BA) of Gary, Indiana, on Jan. 16, 2025.

Dorothy E. Walt Waugh (50MA) of Millersville, Maryland, on Oct. 31, 2024.

Dora Martin Berry

As the first Black Miss State University of Iowa, Dora Martin Berry broke boundaries and worked to improve the educational experience for other Black students.

Born in Houston, Berry came to the University of Iowa in 1955 to study theatre arts. When she was a freshman, her fellow students voted her Miss SUI, an accomplishment that soon made international news. However, the university quickly canceled her public appearances, including in the Rose Bowl parade, erasing her win until 2016, when she returned to campus and received a heartfelt apology from the university president.

The Texas native married Henry Berry (56BA), one of the UI’s first Black baseball and basketball student-athletes. Determined to make a good education accessible for others, Dora Martin Berry earned a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers University and spent her career helping New Jersey public school students. Throughout her life, she also remained active with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Iowa Black Alumni Association.

Berry died Oct. 5, 2024, in Framingham, Massachusetts. She was 86.

1960s

Rick Davis (67BA, 69MA) of Fernandina Beach, Florida, on Feb. 10, 2025.

Dennis Gaunt (67BA, 69MS, 72PhD) of Iowa City on Dec. 12, 2024.

John A. “Jersey” Jermier (65MA) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, on April 12, 2025.

Frank Kos (66BBA) of The Woodlands, Texas, on Dec. 11, 2024.

Takako Lento (67MFA) of Wilmington, Delaware, on Dec. 4, 2024.

Edward Maahs (68BBA) of Clive, Iowa, on Feb. 12, 2025.

Curtis Olthoff (68BSPh) of North Liberty on March 2, 2025.

Gary G. Petersen (64BA, 66MS) of Maquoketa, Iowa, on Dec. 7, 2024.

Jung Bay Ra (60PhD) of Medina, Ohio, on March 28, 2025.

John D. Sperry (63BA, 66DDS) of Mountlake Terrace, Washington, on Sept. 14, 2024.

1970s

Craig Halverson (73BBA, 75MBA, 76JD) of Dallas on Oct. 24, 2024.

Walt Lind (71BA, 74MS) of Nassau Bay, Texas, on Nov. 26, 2024.

Thomas Gaither (68PhD)

Scientist, teacher, and activist Thomas Gaither (68PhD) was the innovator behind key tactics used in the Civil Rights Movement.

Born in Great Falls, South Carolina, Gaither attended Claflin College, a nearby historically Black institution, where he was president of the youth NAACP chapter. After his graduation in 1960, he became a field secretary for the Congress of Racial Equality to help train and organize civil rights activists.

During a Rock Hill, South Carolina, lunch counter sit-in, he implemented the jail-no-bail strategy, in which he and other protesters—known as the “Friendship Nine”—accepted jail time to emphasize their commitment and draw renewed attention to the cause. He later helped plan the first of the 1961 Freedom Rides, bus trips that challenged illegal segregation in the South.

In 1962, Gaither returned to school, earning a master’s degree in biology from Clark Atlanta University and a PhD in botany from the University of Iowa. He then became a professor of biology at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, where he taught for 38 years.

Gaither died Dec. 23, 2024, in Prospect, Pennsylvania. He was 86.

1980s

Patricia Schupfer (86MD) of Coralville on March 25, 2025.

1990s

Mitchell Dralle (96BS) of Parkersburg, Iowa, on Dec. 17, 2024.

Tanya Shinkunas Winegard (93BA, 95MA) of Omaha, Nebraska, on Oct. 28, 2023.

Faculty & friends

Connie M. Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, in February 2025.

Wallace Chappell of Iowa City on April 14, 2025.

Lawrence Fritts of Iowa City on Jan. 18, 2025.

David Lohman of Iowa City on March 5, 2025.

Jim Marshall of Muscatine, Iowa, on Oct. 16, 2024.

Faculty & Friends

Connie M. Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, in February 2025.

Wallace Chappell of Iowa City on April 14, 2025.

Lawrence Fritts of Iowa City on Jan. 18, 2025.

David Lohman of Iowa City on March 5, 2025.

Jim Marshall of Muscatine, Iowa, on Oct. 16, 2024.

Richard Summerwill of Iowa City on March 17, 2025.

Robert Wachal of Iowa City on Feb. 9, 2025.