System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!
SHAO LEE SOO, S.D. '51, died October 19, 1998, in Urbana, Ill. He was professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and research professor at the University of Washington University, where he taught for more than 30 years and served as department chairman for 10. Internationally known for his pioneering work in perceptual development in humans and animals, he invented the concept of the "visual cliff," which is widely used in the study of depth perception. He was the author of Perceptual Development and the coeditor, with Herbert L. Pick, of Perception and Experience and Intersensory Perception and Sensory Integration. He served in the army during World War II and the Korean conflict. He leaves his wife, Lois (MacDonald), two daughters, Joan Scharf and Elizabeth Robbins, and a son, Richard.
KENNETH ALAN JOHNSON, Ph.D. '55, died February 9 in Cambridge. He was a physics professor at MIT for 40 years and a leading expert on quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory. He leaves his wife, Gladys (Diaz de los Arcos), A.M. '53, and a son, Keith.
FREDERICK LEHR NIEMANN, Ph.D. '55, of Lexington, Mass., died February 13. A research physicist, he was former assistant director for technical programs at the NASA Electronics Research Laboratory in Cambridge. Previously, while working at MIT's Radiation and Lincoln Laboratories, he collaborated on the early development of microwave radar. He designed the frequency modulation system for the Harvard Synchrocyclotron and was the first to postulate, in his doctoral dissertation, the existence of the "di-nuclon," a high-energy elementary-particle interaction, a variant of which was confirmed 20 years later by the University of Chicago's Argonne Lab. He leaves his wife, Deirdre, and two sons, Arthur and Christopher.
CLARENCE HENRY BROLEY JR., M.C.P. '58, died September 9, 1998, in Massachusetts state legislature. For the past 13 years he worked as a consultant to the telecommunications industry. He leaves his wife, Sarah (Edmonds) '60, and a daughter, Eleanor.
PETER BENJAMIN FIELD, Ph.D. '61, of Baltimore, died June 2, 1998. He was a clinical psychologist who had been affiliated with hospitals and clinics in New York Drama Desk Award and a lifetime achievement award from the American Repertory Theatre. He leaves a half-brother, Vincent Allfrey.
VERN COUNTRYMAN, Royall professor of law emeritus, died May 2 in Cambridge. He taught at Harvard Law School from 1963 to 1987. A specialist in commercial and bankruptcy law, he clerked for Justice William O. Douglas, who became a lifelong friend. He served in Army Air Corps in World War II. In the 1950s he became a fierce opponent of McCarthyism. He was a founding trustee of the National Consumer Law Center, which presents an annual award in his name honoring attorneys for their contributions to the rights and welfare of low-income consumers. Among books he wrote or cowrote are The Lawyer in Modern Society, Commercial Law, Debtors' and Creditors' Rights, The Judicial Record of Justice William O. Douglas, and Un-American Activities in the State of New York City. He spent his career as medical director for several Florida with orders to blow up production and transportation targets. (He lost.) He leaves his wife, Jane (Colwell), and two sons, Harlan, A.M. '58, and Peter '59, Ph.D. '64.
SIDNEY HOFFMAN JR. '26 died November 9 in Venice, Fla. He owned and operated a flower shop in Boston for 45 years. He leaves a son, Paul.
JOHN BROOKE DURANT '27 died October 17, 1999, in Mt. Dora, Fla. A news editor, he enjoyed a 40-year career with Time and the Associated Press. In retirement he became a skilled lawn bowler. He leaves a son, David '63; his wife, Ruth (Holmes), and another son, Brooke, predeceased him.
HARRIET A. WHITE '27, A.M. '32, of Dedham, Mass., died September 30, 1999.
MARY E. BOWLER '28, of Newtonville, Mass., died December 3. She leaves her longtime friend and companion, Kathleen Shreeve.
WALTER JOHN HALLIDAY '28, LL.B. '31, died October 31, 1999, in Rockville Centre, Long Island, N.Y. She worked as a secretary on Wall Street and at Madison Square Garden early on; after her husband, Edward '30, M.B.A. '32, died in 1950, she went to work in the guidance office at the Hackley School, in Tarrytown. In retirement she divided her time between family, volunteer work, and travel. She leaves her sons, William '58 and Stephen.
JOHN BENSON JR. '30, of Ridgefield, Conn., died December 18, 1998. He was an accountant with a strong interest in genealogy. Committed involuntarily to mental institutions for eight years in early adulthood, he spent many years afterwards in litigation over his confinement. He leaves no immediate survivors.
JAKWAYS DAVIS KESLING '30, of Fort Pierre, S.D., died February 27, 1999. He was a licensed commercial pilot and longtime funeral director in Mobridge. His mortuary, located on the edge of two Native American reservations, served largely a Sioux population.
CHARLES BEAMAN LAKIN '30, M.B.A. '32, died August 1, 1999, in Hilton Head, S.C. He was a retired coal executive who served as vice president of Berwind Corp. and president of Berwind-White Coal Mining Co. He enjoyed building reproductions of antique tables and relished summers on Burnt Island in Penobscot Bay, in Maine. His wife, Mary (Wight), predeceased him.
