In Memory, Summer 2026

1940s

Joseph S. Leo (48BA, 53JD) of Oelwein, Iowa, and San Diego on Dec. 12, 2024.

Seymour E. Spilka (49BA) of Brooklyn, New York, on Feb. 20, 2026.

1950s

Harvey G. Allbee Jr. (56BA, 58JD) of Muscatine, Iowa, on Dec. 11, 2025.

Carol E. Jordan Altenbern (51BSP) of Asbury, Iowa, on Jan. 24, 2026.

Jacob Eisenbach (55DDS) of Villa Park, California, on Nov. 27, 2025.

Kent M. Forney (56BA, 58JD) of Waukee, Iowa, on Jan. 21, 2026.

Judith Walters Lemke (58BA) of Irving, Texas, on Jan. 18, 2021.

Kenneth R. Lemke (58BA, 64JD) of Irving, Texas, on July 1, 2025.

Richard D. Roberts (58BSC) of Beaverton, Oregon, on Feb. 1, 2026.

Norma Townsend Schroeder (52BA) of Mason City, Iowa, on Dec. 26, 2025.

Gerald T. Schultz (52BA, 56MD, 61R) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Jan. 19, 2026.

Robert A. Stein Sr. (56BSC, 68MA, 86MA) of Iowa City on Dec. 11, 2025.

David Van Ginkel (53BSC, 62MD) of Cincinnati on Dec. 1, 2025.

Mary Beth Hurt (68BA)

Mary Beth Hurt wowed audiences all over the world from the stage and screen, but she got her start in the University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts.

Growing up in Marshalltown, Iowa, a young Hurt—then Mary Beth Supinger—was babysat by Jean Seberg, a former UI student who would go on to star in movies. Hurt sharpened her acting skills at the UI Department of Theatre Arts, where she studied communication and drama in the 1960s.

Hurt was beloved for her portrayals of female characters, bringing an interiority to roles others might have dismissed. On the stage, she was nominated three times for Tony Awards for her Broadway performances in Trelawny of the Wells, Crimes of the Heart, and Benefactors.

She got her big break on screen in 1978 in the Woody Allen film Interiors opposite Kristin Griffith and Diane Keaton. Hurt went on to star in 1982 alongside Robin Williams in The World According to Garp, a film adapted from the novel written by UI alumnus John Irving (67MFA).

Hurt was married to actor William Hurt from 1971 to 1982. She married filmmaker and screenwriter Paul Schrader in 1983 and is survived by her husband as well as the couple’s son, Sam, and daughter, Molly. In 2009, Hurt donated her papers to the Iowa Women’s Archives at University Libraries.

Molly wrote of her mother, “She was an actress, a wife, a sister, a mother, an aunt, a friend, and she took on all those with grace and a kind ferocity.”

1960s

Kathleen M. Gray Braun (61BA) of Waterloo, Iowa, on Dec. 31, 2025.

Ronald D. Brown (60BSEE) of St. Paul, Minnesota, on Dec. 26, 2025.

Camille Case Calhoun (62BA) of West Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 22, 2026.

Danny W. Clausen (68BBA) of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Oct. 4, 2025.

Richard P. Cummins (66BA, 70MFA) of San Diego on Oct. 19, 2025.

Bruce D. Dugstad (68BBA) of San Francisco on Oct. 29, 2025.

John M. Hey (68BA, 77MBA) of Hiawatha, Iowa, on Jan. 19, 2026.

Vivian Hildebrandt (68MA) of Kronenwetter, Wisconsin, on March 3, 2026.

Lou L. Holtz (62MA) of Orlando, Florida, on March 4, 2026.

James C. McGrath III (67JD) of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, on Dec. 15, 2025.

Jerold L. Nook (66BA) of Edgewood, Maryland, on Aug. 17, 2025.

Doug R. Rendleman (63BA, 65MA, 68JD) of Lexington, Virginia, on March 8, 2026.

1970s

Jerry E. Bradley (78PeriS) of Little Rock, Arkansas, on Dec. 27, 2025.

Jeffrey D. Grinnell (72BA, 75MFA) of Redwood City, California, on March 5, 2026.

Kenny E. James (71MS) of Sunset, South Carolina, on April 24, 2025.

Tracy Kidder (74MFA) of Williamsburg, Massachusetts on March 24, 2026.

William J. Lancial II (76BBA) of Iowa City on Jan. 18, 2026.

Mary B. Aggen New (79BGS) of Iowa City on Jan. 17, 2026.

Susan L. Hayes Taber (74BBA) of Des Moines on June 23, 2025.

Joseph M. Waechter Jr. (72BA) of Chicago on Jan. 6, 2026.

1980s

Robert Balik (84PhD) of Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Oct. 27, 2025.

1990s

Melvin A. Foster (90BGS) of Houston on March 21, 2026.

Faculty & Friends

Mike D. Adams of Bradenton, Florida, on Jan. 5, 2026.

Richard J. Bloesch of Iowa City on Feb. 12, 2026.

Jeffrey A. Brown of Fremont, Ohio, on Feb. 11, 2026.

Edward L. Kottick of Kansas City, Missouri, on Dec. 6, 2025.

Basil B. Talbott Jr. of Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28, 2026.