Mr. Lahman F. Bower, principal of the Dickinson Preparatory school from 1884 to 1887, passed away shortly after becoming ill at the Carlisle hospital. Mr. Bower, along Mr. Erin Rittenhouse and Mr. Henry C. Whiting, was a charter member of the Pennsylvania Alpha chapter of Phi Beta Kappa on Dickinson's campus. Bower was the last surviving charter member.
Major Robert Y. Stuart, Dickinson alum, Board of Trustees member and Chief forester of the United States Forest Service, passes away. Major Stuart had previously received a honorary degree of doctor of science for his work in the forestry service. Major Stuart was responsible for the plan of campus planting created by his class. While, at Dickinson, Major Stuart played half-back on the football team, was a member of the Belles Lettres literacy society and Phi Delta Theta.
Fridtjof Nansen, a "special lecturer" at the college for the previous two years, passed away at his home in Oslo, Norway. Nansen, who received the Noble Peace Prize in 1922, was an explorer, statesman, and scientist. Nansen had delivered a lecture at Dickinson on February 12, 1930 on "Why the Arctic Call Me Again."
Former President George E. Reed passed away suddenly from a heart attack at Polyclinic Hospital in Harrisburg on February 14, 1930. Dr. Reed was president at Dickinson College from 1889 to 1911. During that time, Dr. Reed founded the Dickinson School of Law, rebuilt Denny Hall, and tripled the enrollment rate at Dickinson. Funeral services were held the following Monday at his son's, George L. Reed, house.
After suffering from lobar pneumonia for two week, Professor John F. Mohler passed away at the Carlisle Hospital. Dr. J. F. Mohler was head of the Physics department for 34 years and a member of the Class of 1887.
Former professor and chairman of the political science department, Donald W. Flaherty, died in a San Francisco hospital after suffering a heart attack at the age of 65. An authority on American constitutional law, Flaherty taught at Dickinson for 31 years, from 1952 to 1983, and was chosen by his colleagues to receive the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1978. Flaherty studied and taught extensively throughout Asia, where he served as an American specialist for the U.S. State Department and lectured on political theory.
Alan Coutts, a former Dickinson professor of speech and assistant swim coach, died of a fatal heart attack around midnight on Monday October 14, 1963. Coutts was 56 years old.
Fred Pierce Corson, president of the College from 1934 to 1944, and a member of the Board of Trustees from 1944 to 1967, died of a cerebral hemorrhage while on vacation in St. Petersburg, Florida. Corson was born in Millville, N.J. in 1896. He graduated from Dickinson in 1917 and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Drew University in 1920. He went on to serve as a pastor in several Methodist churches in New York and Connecticut before becoming superintendent of the Brooklyn South District of the Methodist Church, then president of the college. President Samuel A.
Chairman of the Chemistry Department, Dr. Ernest Albert Vuilleumier, was fatally struck while walking through the chemicals section of the main stockroom in Althouse Hall of Science on October 6, 1958. Vuilleumier had been part of the Dickinson community since 1920, when the president of the college, Dr. James H. Morgan, appointed him as chairman of the Chemistry department. While at Dickinson, Professor Vuilleumier also served as the Dean of the Junior and Freshmen Class as well as Dean of the College.
A memorial service was held for freshman Steven Butterworth who had passed away after falling from the third-story of a fraternity house in the Quads. The service was held on October 6th in the Allison United Methodist Church. Butterworth's family and friends all attended as did faculty members and other students on campus. Sophomore Lori Penkin organized an effort to show support for Butterworth's family by passing out yellow armbands for everyone to wear. She had everyone sign a list which she presented as a sign of love and support to the family at the end of the service.
On September 30th at 7:05 pm, freshman Steven Butterworth died due to "massive head injuries." Butterworth fell from the third story window of the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity house in the Quads at about 10:30 pm on Friday, September 29th. Butterworth was first taken the Carlisle hospital and then was air-lifted to the Hershey Medical Center where he passed away. The college hosted a memorial service on October 6th in Allison United Methodist Church.
President Cornelius William Prettyman, a member of the Class of 1891, died on August 9, 1946 at 74 years old. Prettyman, who joined the college faculty in 1900, was appointed President in June 1944 and held that position through June 1946.
Dickinson students and faculty hold a silent vigil called "Turn from Death to Life" as part of a nationwide time of observance as part of Easter and Passover weekend. It was also held in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the first anniversary of his death.
Dickinson took a campus wide ten minute period of mourning at noon on September 6th to honor the eleven Israeli athletes killed in Munich. Hillel Council also lead a memorial service at the same time as well as two memorial services on September 6th and 7th in the evenings. The College Church held a memorial service as part of their normal services on September 10th and the Catholic services on September 10th was a special memorial Mass.
Dickinson College held a memorial service for Michael L. Britton, Vice President and Treasurer of the College, at 12:15pm in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium. Dean Neil B. Weissman, President A. Lee Fritschler, and former Board of Trustees Chair Sidney D. Kline, Jr. presented an honorary degree and offered reflections.
James Fowler Rusling (Class of 1854) passed away on this date. Dr. Rusling had risen through the ranks during the American Civil War serving in the 5th New Jersey Infantry as well as in the Quartermaster Corps. He continued on in the military after the war and was an influential writer and lawyer. Rusling's publications included Across America; or, The Great West and the Pacific Coast (1875), European Days and Ways (1902), and Men and Things I Saw in Civil War Days (1914).
Jesse Bowman Young, class of 1868, died on this day. Young had served with distinction during the Civil War in the 4th Illinois Cavalry and later the 84th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was on the Staff of General Sickles, commander of the III Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg. Later in life he wrote several renowned works on his experiences in the Civil War. He died in Chicago and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Tragedy struck Carlisle on Oct. 23, 1886 as star defensive end E. Herbert Garrison suffered a head injury mid-game vs. Swarthmore and later passed away due to the severity of the injury. After being taken off of the field and to the hospital by an ambulance, the game continued and Dickinson ultimately lost 28-15.
The Music Department presented the Dickinson Collegium's performance of Giacomo Carissimi's oratorio Jephte and madrigals, canzonette, and scherzi of Claudio Monteverdi at 3:00pm in Rubendall Recital Hall. The Monteverdi pieces performed included "Sinfonia", "Amor che deggio far", "Dolci miei sospiri", "Damigella tutta bella", "Non havea Febo ancora", "Amor", "Si tra sdegnosi", "Chiome d'oro", "Tu ridi sempre mai", "O Rosetta", and "Ballo".
Dr. Montgomery P. Sellers, professor of rhetoric and English at Dickinson for fifty years, passed away on Friday, December 4, after suffering a sudden heart attack. He was the longest-serving faculty member to date.
After the Homecoming chapel service, President Fred Pierce Corson dedicated the Dickinson Service Flag, which had a star for each Dickinsonian known to be serving in the armed forces and three gold stars for those three known to have died in service. The flag was hung from a front window of Old West.
Dr. William Weidman Landis, professor of mathematics at Dickinson for 47 years, passed away due to a brain hemorrhage on April 8, 1942. He had been a patient at Carlisle Hospital since he suffered a stroke in November.
Dr. Paul H. Doney, chair of the English department, passed away on August 9, 1941. He suffered a fatal heart attack subsequent to rescuing his son from drowning.
Dr. Wilbur Harrington Norcross, head of the psychology department for twenty years, passed away after suffering a heart attack on June 11, 1941, two days after leading the academic ceremony at Commencement.
Jane C. Hill, professor of computer science, died from complications with cancer while on sabbatical. Plans to create an endowed scholarship fund in her name were announced.