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Obituaries: Fall 2022

Dec 01, 2022   |   Dartmouth Engineer

Foster J. DeGiacomo '48, a longtime Concord, NH, resident, died February 16, 2022. After service in the Marine Corps, he earned his engineering sciences degree before concentrating on aerospace studies at Boston University's College of Engineering. He spent the next 25 years with Raytheon in the Boston area, designing and building missiles, before moving to California with North American Aviation to work on the Apollo space program. He returned to the Boston area with Raytheon and then worked with the Army-Air Force Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (STARS) for another 18 years. He was predeceased by his first wife, Nancy, but is survived by his second wife, Christine, and four children.

Andrew S. Beres Jr. '55 Tu'56 Th'56 died on May 12, 2022, at his home in Avon, Connecticut. In Hanover he studied engineering and was a member of Gamma Delta Chi and the Forensic Union. After earning his master's in the joint Thayer-Tuck program, he began a 30-year career with IBM as a systems engineer that included years spent living and working in Beijing and Hong Kong. After retirement he circumnavigated the Caribbean on his Sea Voyager for 13 winters. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Patricia, daughter Nancy, and grandson Rainer. He was predeceased by son Daniel in 2004.

Weston E. Bruner '55 Tu'56 Th'56 died in Greenville, SC, on March 22, 2022. A native of Washington, DC, he came to Dartmouth from Wilson High School. He was a member of the Dartmouth Christian Union, Delta Upsilon, WDBS, and Air Force ROTC. He earned a joint MS-MBA degree from Thayer and Tuck and then served as a captain in the Air Force. He joined Westinghouse Electric Corp. and spent his career as a supervising engineer. He is survived by children Elizabeth and Terrence.

Charles A. Schneider Jr. '57 Tu'58 Th'58 of Charlotte, NC, died on April 27, 2022, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At Dartmouth he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, Newman Club, and Army ROTC (drill team), then completed six months of active Army duty. He began a 23-year career at Union Carbide, rising through the sales and marketing ranks with the company. In 1983 he joined Potters Industries, a leading manufacturer of engineered glass materials. As vice president he ran the domestic and international business units until retirement in 1996. He was predeceased by his wife, Jane, and is survived by sons Scott '85 and Kurt '87 and grandson Walker '19.

John B. McCloskey '58 Tu'59 Th'59 of Westfield, NJ, died July 18, 2022. He was a brother at Foley House and received MBA and MS degrees in the Tuck-Thayer five-year program. After three years as a lieutenant in the US Army in Indiana, he worked in management for New Jersey Bell Telephone (now Bell Atlantic) until retiring in 1989. Drawing on his experience in finance and at Bell Labs, Dave enjoyed a number of years as an independent consultant and also taught math at a local school. He is survived by his wife, Linda, one daughter, and four sons.

William C. Tindal III '58 Th'59 died in Yallingup, Australia, on March 7, 2022. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and Sphinx, and rowed crew. After earning his AB in engineering sciences and master's in civil engineering, he worked in construction management in Cairo, Tehran, Jeddah, Singapore, and western Australia, retiring in 1998 as vice president of Asia infrastructure for Fluor Corp. He is survived by his wife, Karen, and children Annalise, Guy, and William.

Daniel A. Paradis '61 Th'62 of Bristol, NH, died May 7, 2022, after a long illness. In Hanover he was active in the Dartmouth Outing Club and rowed crew. After earning his AB in engineering sciences and BE in electrical engineering, he received a master's in mathematics from the College of William & Mary. He went on to a career in the US Public Health Service in Washington, DC, receiving his discharge with the rank of admiral. He then taught at the New Hampton School and Plymouth State University and was active on the Bristol planning and zoning boards. For many years he was responsible for testing the water quality of the Pemigewasset River.

Richard J. Kornblum '66 Th'67 Th'68 of Cotuit, Mass., died on February 23, 2022, from complications after a lengthy cardiac surgery. Kornblum earned an AB in engineering sciences and then his BE and master's from Thayer with a focus on computer science and industrial automation. He spent his career as an executive engineer, managing the development of international state-of-the-art process control systems at the Foxboro Co., GTE Telenet, and POMS (later Raytheon and Honeywell) and consulted with pharmaceutical and startup technology companies. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and children Jacqueline, Robert '91, Katherine, and Christopher and their families.

Raymond Glenn Sansouci '73 Th'74 died on February 4, 2022, after a four-and-a-half-year battle with pancreatic cancer. At the College he majored in engineering sciences, played varsity basketball, was a brother of Kappa Sigma, and served as president of Dragon. He went on to earn his BE from Thayer and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He enjoyed a long career in high-tech factory automation, bringing his skills and leadership to several technology companies, including Westinghouse, Siemens, Schneider Automation, Texas Instruments, Micro E, and GSI. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Nancy, and daughters Jenny and Lisa.

Mary Collins McDougall '77 of Burlingame, Calif., died on August 31, 2022, of multiple system atrophy. She was a serial entrepreneur and a leader in public companies and early-stage ventures with innovation and software technology at the core. As one of the first females to graduate with an engineering sciences degree from Dartmouth, she was a pioneer in her field and worked to promote opportunities for women in business. In recent years, she mentored other female entrepreneurs as an advisor at Astia, a venture fund that invests in women-owned companies. She is survived by her husband, Don; sons Colin, Ryan, and Michael; and six grandchildren.

Todd Thayer '90 Th'91 of Rochester, NY, died August 21, 2022, from lung cancer. In Hanover he was involved with The Dartmouth and Zeta Psi, competed on the wrestling team, and participated in a Spanish language study abroad. He earned his BE in computer engineering and worked at Xerox for many years and most recently with L3Harris. He loved traveling and spending time with family at Loon Lake. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Ellen; children Kaitlyn, Allison, and Owen; father Norman; and brother John.

Moriah "Mo" Wilson '19—a dedicated member of the women's alpine ski team, a creative engineer, and a sister of Kappa Delta Epsilon—died May 11, 2022, in a homicide. After earning her AB in engineering sciences, she moved to San Francisco, began work as a demand planner at Specialized Bicycles, and started bike racing competitively. Her exceptional athleticism, work ethic, and passion for the sport allowed her to quickly rise through the ranks and establish herself as a leader on the circuit. She is survived by parents Karen and Eric and brother Matt.

Camelia Galos Th'00 died from cancer on October 26, 2022, in Rome, Italy, surrounded by husband Paul, son Kyle, and parents. She came to Hanover from Romania in 1997 to seek her PhD under the guidance of Professor Benoit Cushman-Roisin. "The heat of the dot-com boom at the time was irresistible to her, and she decided to downswitch to the MSc in order to graduate earlier to join a hot startup," he says. She worked in the industry for a few years, then earned her MBA from Georgetown in 2007. This was followed by a distinguished career at Pratt & Whitney before she left in 2020 to freelance as a strategy and business development consultant based in Rome.

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