In Memoriam: 1980s

Notices sorted by graduation date

Phyllis Franzek (Grad ’82) of Los Angeles died Jan. 3, 2016. Early in her career, she spent time working at Yellowstone National Park and in an Alaskan cannery. She began her teaching career at St. Peter Roman Catholic School in Lewiston, New York. She later earned several graduate degrees and worked as a professor in the writing program at the University of Southern California, Dornsife, from 1997 until the time of her death. She was also a visiting professor at Doğuş University in Turkey from 2004 to 2006. Ms. Franzek had many research interests, including Niagara Falls as a force in American literature and the national imagination, 20th- and 21st-century American poetry, and the art and mythology of the Tuscarora Native American tribe. She published articles on Charles Wright and Adrienne Rich and edited Technology, Scholarship, and the Humanities: The Implications of Electronic Information, a collection of scholarly articles. She was a good listener with a wicked sense of humor. Survivors include two sisters and three brothers.

Louise Anne Milder (Arch ’82) of Falls Church, Virginia, died Feb. 15, 2016. She held a number of jobs throughout her life, including working as a computer programmer and a private consultant on real estate and implementing housing policy. At the time of her retirement, she was associate director of real estate finance for the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development. Ms. Milder advocated for affordable housing and voted in every election, often volunteering at the polls. She participated in two regular bridge groups and loved traveling, going out to eat and reading. She also cared deeply about family and helped put together a biennial family reunion. Survivors include her husband, two sons, a sister and a brother.

Elizabeth Garrett (Law ’88) of New York City and Ithaca, New York, died March 6, 2016. Over the course of her career, she was a visiting professor at the University of Virginia School of Law; a member of President George W. Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform; and a professor and administrator at the University of Southern California and the University of Chicago. In 2015, she became the first woman president of Cornell University. Ms. Garrett received the 2016 UVA Distinguished Alumna Award in January, in recognition of her record of public service and her commitment to higher education. In a February 2016 interview, she told UVA Lawyer, “I am very aware of my special role as a ‘first woman’—and it’s a responsibility I take seriously. I see it as an opportunity to emphasize that these roles are not gendered; a woman can be a good leader of a top research university just as men have been for a long time … Our male students will be working side by side with women, and working for women. We should all celebrate that.” Survivors include her husband, her parents and a sister.