Obituaries April 15, 2008

John Warren

Dettman

John Warren Dettman of Oberlin died Sunday, March 23, 2008. He was 81.

Born July 14, 1926, in Greece, N.Y. He graduated from Charlotte High School in Greece, N.Y.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946. He was awarded the Victory Medal, the Asiatic Theater Medal, and the American Theater Medal.

He attended Oberlin College, where he met his wife. They were married on the same day they graduated from Oberlin College, June 12, 1950.

He earned his doctorate in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His honors and awards included Sigma Xi, National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, and five National Science Foundation research grants.

He was a pioneer in the development of the field of related partial differential equations during his tenure as a professor of mathematics and author at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland and at Oakland University in Rochester, N.Y.

Throughout his career he served as visiting faculty at the Courant Institute of New York University, the University of Glasgow, Scotland, Dundee University, Scotland, and the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

He was a member of the AMS, Mathematics Association of America, and the Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics.

He retired in 1988, first to Blowing Rock, N.C., then to Kendal at Oberlin in 1996.

Dr. Dettman is survived by his wife of 57 years, Eileen (nee Smith); sons Thomas and Robert Dettman, both of Illinois; daughter, Kathleen Neher of Michigan; grandsons Stephen and Evan Dettman and Jake Neher; and brothers Lawrence Dettman of North Carolina and Stanford Dettman of Pennsylvania. He was preceded in death by his parents, Warren and Mildred (nee Lagasse) Dettman; brothers Ralph and Paul Dettman; and sister, Eleanor Ollerenshaw.

A memorial service will be held at Kendal at Oberlin on Saturday, April 26, at 2:30 p.m. Burial will be at Westwood Cemetery.

Madaline E.

Bonnifield

Madaline E. Bonnifield (nee Evenden) of Oberlin died Saturday, March 22, 2008. She was 87.

Born Oct. 7, 1920, in Sioux Falls, S.D., she was raised in Plymouth, Conn., and graduated from Terryville High School in Terryville, Conn. She received her bachelor's degree from the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark., and was among the first group of women accepted into the Yale School of Music graduate program, where she received a master's degree in music theory and history in 1943.

Her first teaching position was at Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, where she met her husband, who was also on the faculty. She later moved to Hastings College in Hastings, Neb., and later to Montgomery, Ala. in 1951.

She taught private piano lessons in Montgomery for 38 years, focusing on student participation in National Guild auditions. She was active in public school music activities and music teachers' organizations, serving as chair of the Alabama Federation of Music Teachers from 1964 to 1966.

She retired to Oberlin in 1988, where she enjoyed every concert series and many student recitals. She traveled extensively during college breaks.

Mrs. Bonnifield is survived by her daughter, Lizette B. Benzing of Oberlin; son, Lee Delos Bonnifield of Tennessee; step-son, William Bonnifield of Setauket, N.Y.; grandson, Warren Benzing of Oberlin; four step-grandchildren, and nine step-great-grandchildren; brother, James Evenden of Florida; and three nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, West B. Bonnifield; and brother, Clayton Evenden.

Burial will be at West Cemetery in Plymouth, Conn.

Dicken Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Elyria handled local arrangements.

Lawrence Brown

Huston Sr.

Lawrence Brown Huston Sr. of Oberlin died suddenly on Sunday, April 6, 2008, at Allen Community Hospital. He was 84.

Born Sept. 7, 1923, in Oberlin, he lived all his life here.

He worked as a supervisor for Harshaw Chemical in Elyria or 33 years, retiring in 1986. He also worked briefly at the steel mill in Lorain.

He was a member of Rust United Methodist Church and the Methodist Men. He served on the pastor parish committee, board of trustees, and usher board, sang in the choir, and served as the official Col. Sanders for the annual smorgasbord meals.

He served Meals on Wheels with his wife. He enjoyed golf, bowling, fishing, bike riding, walking, and gardening.

Mr. Huston is survived by his sons Logan S. Huston of Lorain and Lawrence B. Huston Jr. of Salinas, Calif.; three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; brother, Allen Huston of Oberlin; sisters Minnie Isom of Oberlin and LaVerne Bailey of LaPlato, Md. He was preceded in death by his wife, Louisa; parents, Theodore Sr. and Mayme (nee Lum) Huston; brothers, Theodore Jr., Harold, Richard, and Elwood Huston; and sisters Viola Mason and Marguerite King.

Services were Saturday at Rust United Methodist Church, the Rev. Lorenzo Smart, pastor, officiating. Burial was at Westwood Cemetery.

Cowling Funeral Home handled local arrangements.

Helen Snyder

Hoskins

Helen Snyder Hoskins of Oberlin died Thursday, April 9, 2008, at the Stephens Health Center of Kendal at Oberlin. She was 91.

Born April 2, 1917, in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., she graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory in 1940 with a bachelor's degree in organ. She lived in Oberlin since 1998, coming from Jacksonville, Fla.

She was a private piano teacher for many years and organist and choir director for Springfield Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville. For 15 years she was the chair of the National Guild of Piano Teachers in Jacksonville.

She was a member of the National Music Teachers Association and the Jacksonville chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Mrs. Hoskins is survived by her daughters Karyl Anne Lee of Oberlin and Dorothy Jean Hoskins of Honoeye Falls, N.Y.; sons Warren S. Hoskins of Miami, Fla., and Walter B. Hoskins of Tallahassee, Fla.; and sister-in-law, Etta Ruth Weigl of Oberlin. She was preceded in death by her husband, American composer and fellow Conservatory graduate, William Barnes Hoskins; parents, Francis Jr. and Julia Frances Snyder; and sister, Ruth Krzewski.

A memorial service was held yesterday at Kendal at Oberlin. Private family burial will be at Weston, W.Va. at a later date.

Cowling Funeral Home handled local arrangements.

Richard Louis

Ashbrook

Richard Louis Ashbrook of Oberlin died peacefully on Friday, March 28, 2008, at his home, of kidney failure following his decision to end more than two years of dialysis treatments. He was 87.

Born Jan. 11, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pa., he graduated from the Friends Select School in Philadelphia. He graduated from Leheigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. with a degree in metallurgical engineering, after serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

He earned his master's degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, and his doctorate in metallurgy from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland.

While working for the Armour Research Foundation of Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, he married his wife, Mary. After employment in a series of investment casing foundaries in Philadelphia, Dover, N.J., LaPorte, Ind. and Cleveland, he joined the NASA Lewis Research Center, where he did research on high-temperature alloys and ceramics as a section head in the materials and structures division for 20 years.

He worked as a consultant to Brush Wellman for several years after retiring from NASA.

To house his family, he spent much of his time maintaining and improving the century-old homes they enjoyed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, and Ohio.

He was active in civil rights and fair housing through the Berea Area Council on Human Relations during the 40 years he lived in Berea and Brook Park.

In order to learn to read music, he took piano lessons at age 45. He was an early member and long-time manager and roadie for the Cleveland-area contradance band Mud In Yer Eye, in which he played concertina, bones, and other rhythm instruments.

He enjoyed repairing concertinas, china, old furniture, and old books. He learned the art of hand bookbinding, and volunteered in the mending lab of the Oberlin College library.

He moved to Kendal in 2001, and was an active member of SPINACH (Senior People Interested in Nutrition and Community Health), as well as the diversity and food committees. He was also a volunteer at the Second Harvest warehouse.

He was a foster parent to four with Social Services of Cuyahoga County, and a host parent of many through Youth Emergency Aid. He also hosted interns from Bulgaria, Japan, and other countries through the Cleveland International Program.

Mr. Ashbrook is survived by his wife, Mary (nee Hemphill); daughters Anna Fitzpatrick and her husband, Tom, and Nico Ashe and her husband Andrew Poltzer, both of Albuquerque, N.M.; Connie Ashbrook, and her partner, Martha Landowne, of Portland, Ore.; Peggy Ashbrook and her husband, Darryl François, of Alexandria, Va.; Janet Ashbrook and her husband, John Dunn, of Avon Lake; and Ellen Ashbrook and her partner Ann Adams, of Tajique, N.M; and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, James Ashbrook and Elsa Norton.

He donated his body to the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

The family plans a celebration of his life at Kendal on June 21.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Friends Service Committee, ASFC Development, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102; or to the Universal Health Care Action Network, 2800 Euclid Ave., Suite 520, Cleveland, OH 44115-2418.

Mavis A.

Clark

Mavis A. Clark of Oberlin died peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 1, 2008, following a long battle with cancer. She was 80.

Born May 17, 1927, she grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Deerfield Academy and Allegheny College.

She began her creative career in Cleveland at the advertising firm of McCann Erickson. She later joined Little, Brown Publishers in Boston, where she worked with literary giants like John O'Hara.

Her home in Pigeon Cove provided writing shelter for Lincoln Barnett while he worked on his series "The World We Live In."

In the late 1950s, she moved to New York City and joined Conde Nast magazine publishers. She also served as a promotion writer for Vogue, Glamour, and House and Garden magazines.

She became the editor in chief of Vogue Patterns Magazine, and enjoyed fashion shoots in Aruba, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, and Jamaica. Always the champion of starving artist types, she tried valiantly, though unsuccessfully, to market the rather weird photographs of one of her shoot photographers named Andy Warhol.

Leaving the world of fashion giants, she moved to Oberlin in the mid-1980s. She was engaged for several years in creative promotions at NACSCorp, and later became assistant editor of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine until her retirement in 2001.

Although she did not have formal training in interior design, she was noted for her capacity to blend color, fabric, designs, and objects to delight the eye and soothe the spirit. In the last week of her life, although she was bed-ridden, she took delight in directing extensive changes to make her room more pleasant and cheerful for visiting friends and family.

Miss Clark is survived by her two adopted sons, Christopher Nadel of Atlanta, Ga., and Geoffrey Nadel of Plainfield, Vt.; two grandchildren; brother, David Clark of Oberlin; sister, Silvia Clark of Oberlin; and two nephews and two nieces. She was preceded in death by her brother, Lester Clark of Stoney Point, N.Y.

A gathering in celebration of her life will be held on the anniversary of her birth, May 17, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Nantucket Circle in the Oberlin Reserve subdivision. A toast to her memory will be offered at 3:30 p.m.

Fenner

Douglass

Fenner Douglass, a former Oberlin College professor whose scholarship, teaching, and concert performances earned him a place of great distinction among organists, died of prostate cancer on April 5, 2008, in Naples, Fla., at the age of 86.

Known first as a teacher and performer, Mr. Douglass was also a pioneer in performance practices on early pipe organs, and published two books on organ-building traditions in France.

Born in 1921 in New London, Conn., Mr. Douglass was already an accomplished organist as a teenager. At age 17, he began to study organ at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. It was the beginning of a long relationship with the school.

Studying with Arthur Poister, Mr. Douglass earned a B.A. in 1942. After spending four years as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, at the urging of his father, he applied to Harvard Law School. But his love of music led him to set aside the acceptance letter and return to Oberlin, where he earned B.Mus. and M.Mus. degrees and became a faculty member in 1949.

He taught organ and harpsichord at Oberlin for 28 years, and was a founding member of the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble. In 2001, Oberlin College awarded him with an honorary doctorate degree and in 2007 dedicated its 200th Steinway piano to him and his beloved wife Jane.

In 1974, Mr. Douglass accepted a position as University Organist and Professor at Duke University, where he had been consultant for the installation of the large Flentrop organ in the Duke Chapel. Mr. Douglass later served as chairman of Duke's Music Department. After retiring from Duke, he taught at Stanford University for a brief period.

Mr. Douglass was a close friend and supporter of several modern organ builders committed to historic traditions, and either served as a consultant or helped arrange financing for some of the most highly regarded pipe organs installed in the United States since the early 1960s. In recent years, he was also involved with the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative at the Eastman School of Music. A Taylor and Boody organ in Naples, Fla., was named in his honor in 2006.

Soon after joining the Oberlin faculty, he fell in love with his student, Jane Fetherlin. They were married in 1952. This was the beginning of a remarkable personal and professional partership that would continue for more than 50 years until her death in 2005. Fenner Douglass is survived by three children and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held May 17 at 11 a.m. at the Bower Chapel, at Moorings Park in Naples, Fla. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either the Bower Chapel Endowment Fund, or to the Oberlin Conservatory Scholarship Fund.

Victoria Lynne

Davis

Victoria Lynne Davis (nee Willbond) of Vermilion, formerly of Oberlin, died Sunday, April 6, 2008, at New Life Hospice, following a long illness. She was 50.

Born Dec. 21, 1957, in Oberlin, she lived in the Vermilion area since 1989.

She enjoyed traveling, golf, fishing, and gardening.

Mrs. Willbond is survived by her husband, Larry R. Davis; daughter, Jamie L. Davis of Vermilion; son, Trevor Davis of Vermilion; brother William Willbond of Wellington; and sisters Laurel Clapp of Elyria, Marilyn Clapp of Newark, Ohio, and Karen Kaiser of Ft. Wayne, Ind. She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Elizabeth (nee Gunning) Willbond.

Services were Wednesday at Cowling Funeral Home, the Rev. David Johnson, pastor of the Vermilion Church of the Nazarene, officiating. Burial was at Westwood Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to New Life Hospice, 5255 N. Abbe Rd., Elyria, OH 44035.