Class Notes

William Christopher Hilleary, 57, whose company, Aerotech Golf, created an innovative new graphite iron shaft golf club called SteelFiber, on July 18, 2021, in Anchorage, Alaska. A WWU scholarship fund has been established in his memory at foundation.wwu.edu/ ChrisHilleary

Andrea S. Chapman, 69, a former social worker and musician who founded a Buddhist choir and published two books of poetry in her later years, on Oct. 18, 2020.

Gabriele Caitlin Bartholomew, 68, a former teacher and tutor in Snohomish County Schools, on Aug. 19, 2020.

Lee Hastings Taylor, 84, an instructor in Western’s Drama Department from the late ’60s through the ‘90s, with a specialty in lighting design, on Aug. 22, 2021.

Arlan Norman, 81, the founding dean of the College of Sciences and Technology, now College of Science and Engineering, on July 31, 2021. A scholarship fund in his honor, the Arlan Norman Award for Excellence, recognizes outstanding student researchers and their faculty mentors.

Ryszard Dylczyk, 82, a retired custodian, on Sept. 12, 2020, in Radomsko, Poland, where he had been born. Before moving to the U.S., Ryszard was a leader in the Polish Solidarity movement, for which he was imprisoned twice, and helped work for the election of Lech Walesa.

Geraldine T. DeMarco, 86, retired bookbinder for Western Libraries, on Feb. 27, 2021.

Donald B. Brown, 92, a supporter of Western’s Music Library and a retired aeronautical engineer at Boeing, on June 9, 2021.

Charles M. Atkinson, 78, retired associate dean of Woodring College of Education, on July 20, 2021.

Damian Lauritz David Wiese, 40, a modern work architect at Microsoft, on Feb. 2, 2021, in Bothell.

State Sen. Doug Ericksen, ’95, M.A., political science, a Republican who represented Whatcom County’s 42nd Legislative District for 22 years, died Dec. 17, 2021, at age 52. Sen. Ericksen served six terms in the state House of Representatives before he was elected to the state Senate in 2010, where he served as a ranking member on the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee and the Environment, Energy and Technology Committee. His support for Western included funding for the extensive renovation of the Carver building.

Michael Seal, 84, founding director of Western’s Vehicle Research Institute, on Oct. 29, 2021. In his 35 years teaching at Western, Seal was the force behind the institute’s innovative research in car design and a series of experimental vehicles that students took to competitions around the country.

Larry Richardson, 86, a 1957 graduate and Western’s longtime debate coach and forensics director, beginning in 1970, on Nov. 22, 2021. The Larry and Marilyn Richardson Endowment at Western supports debate scholarships.

Lee Maracle, 71, former Distinguished Professor of Canadian Culture at Western and a celebrated writer, poet and advocate for Indigenous women and children, on Nov. 11, 2021, in Surrey, B.C. Maracle’s time at Canada House is chronicled in Professor Emeritus Don Alper’s “Bridging the Longest Border.”

Linda Streitz, 69, a Seattle resident, on April 25, 2019.

Donald Gene Slone, 65, retired clinical psychologist for Western State Hospital, on Sept. 25, 2021, in Lakewood.

Ethel Lee Mitchell, 89, retired area manager of the Juvenile Diversion Program of King County Superior Court and a tireless advocate for justice and equality for Black people, on Aug. 24, 2021.

Jonathon Appels, 67, a longtime adjunct professor who taught in a wide variety of areas at Fordham University, including English, anthropology, dance, history, African and African American studies, theology, comparative literature and urban studies, on Nov. 28, 2021, in Manhattan.

Theodore Bestor, 69, Distinguished Alumnus and Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology and Japanese Studies at Harvard University, on July 1, 2021, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His research specialized in contemporary urban Japanese society and culture, particularly the Tsukiji fish market of Tokyo. The Japanese government awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun in 2017 for his contributions to the study of Japan and scholarly exchange between Japan and the U.S.