Hardy Thrasher (d. 2022)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Hardy Thrasher on March 31, 2022. Thrasher came to the College in 1991 as a second cook in Dining Services and worked in that position until his retirement in 2021. 
 
An obituary will be linked here when it becomes available.

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Lorraine Martinelli (1936-2022)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Lorraine Martinelli on March 2, 2022. Martinelli came to the College in 1994 and worked in the salad prep area of Dining Services until her retirement in 2000. She continued to work at Dining Services in a casual capacity for an additional 10 years.
 
Please see this brief obituary for more information.

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Sophie Rajter (1927-2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Sophie Rajter on Dec. 28, 2021. Rajter came to the College in 1949 and worked for several years as a secretary in the Health Office. She returned in 1968 and worked as a research assistant in the biology lab. In 1988, Rajter moved to Frost Library as an assistant in the audiovisual department. She retired in 1993.
 
Please see this obituary for more information.

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Robert W. Derynck (1943-2021)

Amherst mourns the passing of Robert W. Derynck on Dec. 14, 2021. He came to the College in 1976 as assistant equipment manager in the athletics department and worked in the position through his retirement in 2009. 
 
Please see this obituary for more information.

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David Reck (d. 2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of David Reck, professor emeritus of music and Asian languages and civilizations, on Sept. 30, 2021. Reck was a member of the Amherst faculty between 1975 and 2006.

Provost and Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein wrote the following in an Oct. 7 email to faculty and staff:

David’s departmental colleagues describe him as a generous, passionate teacher who embodied the spirit of music in the liberal arts, a colleague and mentor of exceptional warmth, and a musician and scholar whose gifts, curiosity, and accomplishments transcended boundaries.

The professor’s family is planning a memorial service for early 2022; more information will be provided, as will a link to an obituary, when it becomes available.

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Joel Gordon (1930-2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Joel E. Gordon, the Stone Professor of Natural Science (Physics), Emeritus, on Aug. 10, 2021. Joel taught at Amherst between 1957 and 2000.

Provost and Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein wrote the following in an Aug. 13 email to faculty and staff:

Joel’s departmental colleagues describe him as “a kind and dedicated teacher who also maintained an active research program at Amherst and lively collaborations around the world for five decades in condensed matter physics. In addition, he was a generous guide and mentor to generations of faculty, staff, and students.”

No information is available at present about services for Joel, but if we learn more, we will post this information on the college’s In Memoriam page.

Please consult this obituary for further details.

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Stanley Mieczkowski (1934–2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Stanley Mieczkowski on June 12, 2021. Mieczkowski came to the College in 1985 as a carpenter and cabinet maker and worked in that profession through his retirement in 2006.

Please see this brief obituary for more information.

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Marjorie Farrell (1928–2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Marjorie Farrell on April 23, 2021. Farrell came to the College in 1971 as a clerk/typist in the Dean of the Faculty's Office. In 1980, she became the secretary in Financial Aid. She became the fellowship assistant in 1989 and worked in that position until her retirement in 1991. 

Please see this brief obituary for more information.

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Donald O. Martin (1926-2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Donald O. Martin on Jan. 8, 2021. Martin came to the College in 1966 as a research machinist in the physics department. In 1983, he became head of the Machine Shop, a position he held until his retirement in 1996.

Please see this obituary for more information.

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Jon A. Sanborn (d. 2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Jon A. Sanborn on March 19, 2021. Sanborn came to the College in 1994 as a lab coordinator, senior research fellow and chemical hygiene officer. In the ensuing years, he also served on several occasions as a visiting lecturer. He retired from the College in 2007.

Please see this obituary for more information.

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Lois Hill (1930-2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Lois Hill on March 15, 2021. Hill came to the College in 1971 as a secretary in the Registrar's office. In 1974, she was promoted to executive secretary, and in 1978 she became the administrative assistant for Institutional Research. She remained in that position until her retirement in 1992.

Please see this obituary for more information.

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David Armacost (d. 2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of David Armacost, professor emeritus of mathematics, on March 10, 2021. He taught at Amherst between 1969 and 2012.

Upon his retirement, Armacost's department commented that he was “a gifted teacher who has inspired students in the classroom and greatly enjoyed extended conversations in his office. These conversations would touch on math but more often on larger issues of life and learning. He has always cared deeply for his students, and for many of them, that caring is one of their strongest memories of Amherst. He will be missed.”

An obituary with more information will be linked here when it becomes available.

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Robert R. May (1940-2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Robert R. May on Jan. 20, 2021. May came to the College in 1971 as a clinical psychologist. By 1984, he was director of the Counseling Center. He retired in 2006.

Please see this obituary for more information.

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Philip K. Barr (1947–2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Philip K. Barr on Jan. 15, 2021. Barr came to the College in 1987 and worked as a network and telecommunications technician until his retirement in 2013.

Please see this obituary for more information.

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Mary Catherine Bateson (1939-2021)

Amherst College mourns the passing of Mary Catherine Bateson on Jan. 2, 2021. Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein wrote the following about her in a Jan. 5 email to faculty and staff:

... Bateson served as dean of the faculty at Amherst from 1980 to 1983, the first woman to take on this role. Trained in linguistics and Middle Eastern studies, Dean Bateson taught at Harvard and Northeastern, as well as in the Philippines and Iran, before coming to Amherst as dean.
 
Dean Bateson wrote several compelling autobiographies, including With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead & Gregory Bateson (1984) and Composing a Life (2001). The latter volume included some discussion of her experiences at Amherst. These were not easy times for a woman to be in administration at the college. As Bateson wrote of her experience here, "Amherst was still caught in the set of inherited attitudes that defined any woman as an outsider..."
 
Dean Bateson was professor of Anthropology at Amherst until 1987. She then served as Clarence J. Robinson Professor in Anthropology and English at George Mason University until her retirement in 2002, when she moved to New Hampshire. In recent years she published work on how men and women adapt to culture change, and about longevity and lifelong learning....
 
The podcast On Being recently re-aired Bateson's 2015 interview with host Krista Tippett about "Living as an Improvisational Art."
 
Please see this obituary, as well as this one, for more information.
 
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