In Memoriam

1940s

Merlin Morey ’41, MEd ’51, April 1, 2004, age 90. Morey worked in public education for 25 years and retired as superintendent of Marion County Schools in 1975. He was honored by the Lewis & Clark College Alumni Association with a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1973. While superintendent of Stayton Union High School, Morey started Student Tour U.S.A., a seven-week trip that went into Quebec, across the northern U.S., and then home to Oregon. The tour ran through the Deep South during the 1960s and included historic sites in Washington, D.C. As a veteran of World War II, he is buried at Portland’s Willamette National cemetery with Irene, his wife of 65 years and a fellow veteran. Morey is survived by his daughter, Suzann Lee, and his grandson, Merlin Pohl.

Gloria Jeanne “Judy” Gerlach Uppinghouse ’48, September 10, 2004, age 79. Uppinghouse was born in Chicago and raised in Portland. After graduating from Lewis & Clark, she worked in the College registrar’s office, as secretary for then-president John R. Howard, and as alumni director of the College of Arts and Sciences. She was later an administrator at Marylhurst University. In 1954, she married John; he died in 1985. She is survived by her daughters, M. Susan, Leslie, and Rebekah, and two grandchildren.

Eldon Foster ’49, April 26, 2004, age 81. Before coming to Lewis & Clark, Foster served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Oregon, where he joined the U.S. Navy Reserves and rose to lieutenant. After graduating from the College, Foster worked for IBM and Standard Oil in Portland. He went on to become a pharmaceutical representative for Armour pharmaceutical in Portland and Schering-Plough pharmaceutical in San Jose, California. He retired in 1980. Foster was a Dixieland jazz fan, a Civil War buff, and a collector of swords of historical value. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marjorie; daughter and son-in-law, Lynda and James Haraden; son-in-law, Robert Landon; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by daughter Marcia Landon.

Shirley Louise Phillips ’49, July 23, 2004, age 82. Phillips lived in Boise, Idaho.

1950s

Maria Krupkova Capper-Johnson ’52, July 19, 2004, age 96. Capper-Johnson, who was born in Prague, worked long hours in a munitions depot during the German occupation of the late 1930s. She met her late husband, Karlin, at a Quaker meeting and they married soon after World War II ended. After living in England, the pair journeyed to Portland. While Capper-Johnson’s husband taught at Lewis & Clark, she bought real estate and volunteered. She was a key leader in the UNICEF chapter of Portland, one of the first people to be trained as a hospice caregiver, and a longtime member of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church. Capper-Johnson was known for her graciousness and her sense of humor. She is survived by her sister, Anna Sedlackova.

Roger Hough ’56, May 22, 2004, age 72. A pioneer in researching and understanding the effects of networks and technology on our professional and personal lives, Hough was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He grew up in Portland and attended Reed College before majoring in physics and mathematics at Lewis & Clark. He earned a master’s degree in business and economics at the University of Oregon in 1962. Hough began his career as a physicist for the U.S. Naval Weapon Laboratory at China Lake, California, and later was a senior operations analyst at CEIR in Arlington, Virginia. From 1966 to 1976, he was senior analyst and engineering economist at the Stanford Research institute in Menlo Park, California. He then started his own telecommunications consulting company in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1998, Hough moved to Contookcook, New Hampshire, to be closer to his family. He is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Janice and Bill Otto; daughters Lauren Joyner and Lisa Hough-Kovacs; daughter Julie Hough and son-in-law Bill Bradbury; and five grandchildren.

Chris Zafiratos ’57, August 22, 2004, age 72. Before attending Lewis & Clark, Zafiratos repaired radios in the Air National Guard, bused tables, and operated a rope tow at Mount Hood. After earning his degree at the College, Zafiratos was a graduate assistant at the University of Washington from 1957 to 1962. He obtained his PhD in physics at the university before working at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories and Oregon State University. In 1968, Zafiratos became an assistant professor of physics at the University of Colorado, where he earned a reputation as a great teacher. He wrote two physics textbooks and more than 50 scholarly papers during his career. In 1986, Zafiratos became associate vice chancellor of academic affairs for budget and planning. The university named Zafiratos its vice president for academic affairs and research and dean of the system graduate school in 1991. He held these roles until his retirement in 1996. Lewis & Clark awarded Zafiratos its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1986. At one time, Zafiratos was married to Joellen McKimens. In 1990, he married Dee Marie Bundy Whittemore in Boulder. He is survived by his wife and his three daughters, Julie Zafiratos, Allison Zafiratos-Patten, and Diana Zafiratos.

Richard “Rick” Gray ’59, January 23, 2004, age 66. Gray was born in Columbus, Nebraska, and grew up in Vancouver, Washington. He graduated near the top of his class at Vancouver High School and earned a four-year journalism scholarship to Lewis & Clark. Gray served as editor-in-chief of the College’s student newspaper and earned recognition for his achievements in editorial journalism. After graduating, he worked as a wire service editor, feature writer, and copy editor at the Daily Tribune in Caldwell, Idaho. Gray then served a three-year term in the U.S. Army before earning a master’s degree from the University of Washington’s communications program. He became a journalism professor at Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington, where he taught for 28 years. After retiring in 1992, Gray moved to Tumwater to be closer to his family. Gray is survived by his older brother, Jerry; twin brother, Ron, and Ron’s wife, Sandi; five nephews; and two nieces.

Ted A. Venables ’59, March 24, 2004. Venables majored in education at the College and spent the first eight years after graduation teaching military dependents in Germany and Turkey. He ended his teaching career at Portland’s Gilbert Heights Elementary School. Venables is survived by his brotherJohn V. “Jack” Venables ’56 and his wife, Vicki; nephews Kevin and Ken; niece Julie Venables Fendrich ’92; and the families of his nephews and niece. 

1960s

George Range ’61, May 15, 2004, age 64. Born in Portland, Range helped his parents at their roller rink soda fountain and as a teenager was a championship figure roller skater. Range married his Lewis & Clark sweetheart and earned his master’s degree at the University of Oregon. After graduation, he taught English and math at two Oregon high schools and taught English and humanities at the Oregon Institute of Technology, where he also gave classical piano recitals. In the 1970s, Range lived in San Francisco, where he and his wife divorced and he pursued a PhD in psycholinguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. Range then moved to New York City. He was an avid square dancer, a member of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, an organist and pianist for many churches, and a dance-band and cabaret accompanist. In 1998, Range moved to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where he helped start and run two local restaurants and a bed and breakfast. Most recently, he was choir director and organist for the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor. At one time, Range was president of the Oregon American Civil Liberties Union and served on the national board of the Fellowship of reconciliation. Range is survived by his partner, Douglas Light; daughters Janet and Carolyn; a brother, Walter; a sister, Marilyn McCabe; and four grandchildren.

1970s

Carol Ann Waggott ’72, July 16, 2004, age 54. Waggott was born in Oakland, California, and earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education at the college. She taught for two years in Burns and then spent more than 30 years at Hillsboro’s Graner elementary School. She is survived by sisters Helen Waggott Robson ’64 and Marie Waggott Blankenship, as well as one niece and one nephew.

Thomas Hancock ’74, November 26, 2002, age 50. After graduating from Lewis & Clark, Hancock attended Thunderbird University, where he earned a master’s degree in international business and became fluent in Japanese. Hancock worked in the family business, Hancock Enterprises, as a trustee of numerous trusts. He and his family generously supported many charities. Hancock demonstrated his love of nature and animals through his philanthropy, his support of ZooMontana, where he was a board member, and his ownership of W.J. Hancock Resources Sanctuary for exotic waterfowl species. He is survived by his sister, Sheila Hancock McKay; nieces Kerry and Kelly; nephews Shaun, Will, and John; and many aunts and uncles.

1980s

Linda Scheldrup JD ’83, March 15, 2004, age 60. Scheldrup died of cancer three months after retiring from the Portland office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), where she was a field attorney. She joined the NLRB right out of law school in 1983, serving in the Seattle office before transferring to Portland in the late 1980s. A former high school counselor, Schedrup was known to union leaders and labor attorneys for her kind demeanor and her commitment to enforcing labor law. In March, when Multnomah County began issuing licenses for same-sex marriages, Scheldrup wed Jean Starr, her partner of 32 years. Survivors include her spouse, a daughter, a sister, two brothers, and three grandchildren.

2000s

Michael J. Feary LLM ’02, June 9, 2004. Feary served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, after which he began a career in law enforcement. He fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an attorney when he earned his JD from the University of Houston Law School and his master’s degree in environmental law from Lewis & Clark Law School. At the time of his death, Feary was working for the Kerr County Attorney’s Office in Kerrville, Texas. Survivors include sister Anne Feary Powell, brother Denis Feary, and uncle and aunt Keith and Pat Feary.