Bardian SPRING 2011

Sally; three stepsons, Gregory, Glenn, and Christopher; seven grandchildren;
and several nieces and nephews.
James Casper Silvan died on December 3, 2009, after a long illness. He was
born in Toledo, Ohio, and studied at Bard before serving in the U.S. Army during
World War II. After the war, he received graduate degrees in biology from
Teacher’s College Graduate School of Education, Columbia University. He moved
to Baltimore in the mid-’60s to work as an editor for Johns Hopkins University
Press. After retiring, he founded York Press, and published scholarly books. His
only surviving relatives are a niece, a nephew, and first and second cousins.
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John Frank Goldsmith died on October 14, 2010. He graduated from Bronxville
High School in 1936, attended Bard for two years, and graduated from University
of Colorado in 1940. In World War II, he led an infantry platoon in Italy and
France. He was wounded in action and awarded a Purple Heart. He enjoyed a
long and successful writing and editorial career—he was on staff at Factory
magazine, managing editor of Fleet Owner, and chief editor of Housing magazine
(now House & Home). He maintained connection with Bard over the years, most
recently with the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program in New
York City. He was predeceased by his wife, Caroline Steinholz Lerner. His survivors
include his children, Katherine, Elizabeth, and John; a stepson, David;
three grandchildren; and his dear friend Margot Tallmer.
After a brief illness, Peter Hobbs died on January 2, 2011. Born in Etretat, France,
he was raised in New York City, and majored in drama at Bard. In World War II
he served as a sergeant in combat engineering and fought at the Battle of the
Bulge. After the war, he enjoyed a 50-year career as an actor, performing on
Broadway (notably, Teahouse of the August Moon and Billy Budd); on television
(from his role as Peter Ames in Secret Storm from 1954 to 1962, to Perry Mason,
The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Bonanza, All in the Family, The
Odd Couple, Streets of San Francisco, Barney Miller, Lou Grant, M*A*S*H, L.A. Law,
and dozens more); and in films (Sleeper, The Man with Two Brains, 9 to 5,
Andromeda Strain, and The Lady in Red). He is survived by his wife, Carolyn
Adams Hobbs; three daughters, Anna, Jennifer, and Nancy; two stepsons,
Mark and Adam; and six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Faculty
Beth A. Casey, 73, died on August 23, 2010, in Toledo, Ohio. She had been an
assistant professor of English at Bard from 1972 to 1973. Beginning in 1978, she
embarked upon a lengthy career at Bowling Green State University in Ohio,
serving as an instructor in literature and Canadian studies and later as an
administrator, creating and directing the university’s first general studies
curriculum. She also taught at the University of Rochester and Empire State
College, and was briefly an associate dean at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
She had a B.A. from Penn State University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees
from Columbia University.
Stephen Pace, 91, a noted second-generation Abstract Expressionist painter
who served as an assistant professor of art at Bard for one semester (1970–
71), died on September 23, 2010, in New Harmony, Indiana. A friend of Milton
Avery, whom he met in Mexico, Pace moved to New York in 1947 and studied
at the Art Students League and with Hans Hofmann. During the heyday of
Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s, he exhibited in several Whitney
Annuals, had his first New York show at the Artists Gallery in 1954, and was
represented by the Poindexter Gallery and later the A. M. Sachs Gallery. By
1963, he had “developed a broad-brushed representational style and a range
of subjects that celebrated everyday life and labor . . . [resulting in] a
magnified Fauvism or Post-Impressionism that takes inspiration from Avery,
Matisse, and Bonnard, as well as Chinese painting,” according to his obituary
in the New York Times. His wife of 61 years, Palmina Natalini, is his only
survivor.
Garry Reigenborn, 58, a dancer, choreographer, and teacher who taught at
Bard for nine years, died on March 10, 2011, in Pueblo, Colorado, his home
state. He was an assistant professor of dance at the College from the fall of
1998 through May 2004, after which he served as artist in residence in the
Dance Program from the fall of 2004 through the spring of 2007. Over a long
and distinguished career in modern dance, he was a principal dancer with
Andy De Groat and Dancers from 1977 to 1979; a member of the Lucinda
Childs Dance Company and its assistant choreographer from 1984 to 2000;
a faculty member at Merce Cunningham Dance Studio from 1995 to 2004;
and artistic director of Round 2 Dance in New York City for nearly 15 years,
beginning in 1996. His choreographic work was presented throughout the
United States and Europe, including several collaborations with Robert
Wilson, most recently in two revivals of Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach,
in 1984 and 1992. He had a B.F.A. from the University of Utah, and was the
recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Foundation
for Contemporary Performance Arts, and Jerome Robbins Foundation. He is
survived by his mother, Ellen Mae Reigenborn of Sterling, Colorado; a sister,
Carol Lauer; two brothers, Alan and Clarke; and many nieces and nephews.
Staff
Isabelle Clum, 90, a 20-year employee of Bard, died on December 14, 2010.
She worked in the housekeeping department, which was part of Bard’s
Buildings & Grounds (B&G), from 1969 through 1989. Her survivors include
two sons—Randy Clum Sr., assistant director of B&G, and Edwin Clum; three
daughters, Nancy Rose, Jeanette Bushnell, and Roberta Coons; 12 grandchildren;
and 15 great-grandchildren.
Shirley M. Minkler, 80, who worked in Bard’s Central Services Department for
more than 25 years until her retirement in 2006, died on January 28, 2011. A
lifelong resident of Tivoli, she served as a secretary for St. Sylvia’s Parish prior
to her employment at the College, and was a 62-year member of the Tivoli
Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary. Her survivors include a son, James, and his
wife, Linda; four sisters; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and
several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband of 47 years,
Gordon; and three sisters and two brothers.
Friends
Anne Botstein, M.D., 98, a distinguished pediatrician and the mother of
Bard president Leon Botstein, died on Sunday, October 17, 2010. Born Ania
Wyszewianska in Poland and educated at the University of Zurich, Dr.
Botstein was a pioneer in pediatrics, both in Switzerland and the United
States. During her studies in Switzerland as the chief resident of Guido
Fanconi, who discovered cystic fibrosis, she was the first to show that cystic
fibrosis is inherited. She spent most of her career in this country at
Montefiore Hospital, where she worked at one of the first HMOs in New York
and was chief of pediatrics for 25 years, and Albert Einstein College of
Medicine, where she was professor emerita. Since the death of her husband,
Dr. Charles Botstein, a professor at Albert Einstein, she lived on the Bard
College campus. In addition to her son Leon, she is survived by another son,
Dr. David Botstein; a daughter, Dr. Eva Griepp; and six grandchildren.
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