Obituaries

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of long-time WHOI volunteer Francis “Frank” H. Taylor on February 23 at the Meadow Green Nursing Home in Waltham, Mass. He was 86. Born in Quincy, Mass., Frank was the son of the late Francis and Mary (Krowski) Taylor. Frank worked for 36 years…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Kendall (Ken) B. Bohr on February 11 in Rockton, Illinois.  He was 80. Born in Ossian, Iowa, Ken was the son of Henry and Bette Bohr. He was graduated from East High School in Iowa in 1957. He married Karin A.…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of Scientist Emeritus Elazar Uchupi on February 4 in Gorliz, Spain.  He was 91. Elazar was born in Brooklyn, NY, on Halloween, October 31, 1928. He received his PhD in Geology in 1962 from University of Southern California. Elazar began his career at WHOI in…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of Edward Spiegel on January 2, 2020.  He was a founding member of the summer Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (GFD) program. He was 88. Edward was a member of the GFD program upon its founding in 1959 and until his death. He was also a…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Thomas Fox O’Brien on January 3, 2020 surrounded by his family. He was 73. Tom was born in Waltham, Mass., a son of the late Ambrose O’Brien and Barbara Lynch. He was the former husband of Jo-Anne (Choate) D’Amico. A veteran…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Aganoris “Aggie” Collins on November 13.  He was 83. Aganoris “Aggie” was born in Akron, Alabama and lived all of his young life in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He came from humble beginnings, making incredible accomplishments in his life. Master Sergeant (MSGT) Collins…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Lee Calvin Davis, at the age of 94. Lee worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) from 1949 to 1960. He died peacefully on Sunday, October 20, 2019, the Lord’s Day. He was predeceased by his wife Priscilla Knott Davis. Lee…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Eli Katz on October 17.  He was 82. Eli received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1962. Eli began his career at WHOI as an assistant scientist in 1966.  In 1968, he was promoted to an associate scientist.  He…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former MIT-WHOI Joint Program Student Douglas R. Mook of Hollis, NH, on October 18, after a long battle with a rare neurological disorder. He was 67. Doug was  born on July 17, 1952 in Englewood, NJ, son of Bob and Connie (Verheyden) Mook.…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Rochelle “Shelley” A. (Ugstad) Reardon on October 1 from complications of renal cell carcinoma at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was 44. Shelley began her career at WHOI in 1997 as a research assistant in G&G.  In 1999, she was promoted…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of Barbara Luksanen Gill on September 28 at her home in Sandwich.  She was 86. Barbara was born in Sandwich on November 8, 1932 to the late John and Mabel (Fish) Luksanen. She was a member of the Sandwich High School graduating class of…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Calvert F. Eck on September 28 in Boston after a long illness.  He was 81. Calvert was born on September 20, 1938 in Pittsfield, MA, to Ethel Ruth Decker of Pittsfield and Frank Edmund Eck of New York City. He grew…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Carolyn Henrietta (Pautke) Winn on September 21.  She was 92. Carolyn was born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 5, 1927. She was the daughter of Benno Edgar and Caroline Amelia (Milatz) Pautke. Carolyn obtained her Master of Library Science (MLS) at…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorry the death of former WHOI Volunteer Ellen Claire (Scarry) Doucette on September 6.  She was 85. Ellen was born in Needham, Mass., in 1934, the second of three daughters. She graduated from Newton High School in 1951, followed by work at John Hancock in Boston and…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has received word of the death of former Joint Program Student Joy Ann Geiselman on May 16, 2019.  She was 67. Joy was born March 30, 1952 in Elmhurst, Illinois to Esther Osburg Geiselman and Roy Henry Geiselman. Her father died when she was 3 years old and her mother…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of Scientist Emeritus Rudolf (Rudi) Scheltema on August 5 at home with generations of his family in his presence.  He had many years of increasing dementia but otherwise remained healthy and happy under the home care of both sons’ families. He was 93. Rudi…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death on June 30 of GFD Founding Director George Veronis of Hatchville, Mass., and New Haven, CT, whose career accomplishments had a focus on mathematics and geophysics. He was 93. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he was the son of Nicholas and Angeliki Veronis.…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Barbara Allen Bunker on June 12. She was 97. Barbara was a longtime West Falmouth resident, a preservationist, an archivist, and a civic volunteer. She was the daughter of Georgiana A. Allen and Harry V. Allen. Barbara was a graduate of…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of retiree Beecher Wooding on June 1 while windsurfing at Kanaha Beach Park on Maui, HI. He was 77. Beecher was born September 1941 in Meriden, CT, to Frank and Ella Wooding. He started his long career in oceanography in 1961 doing ocean-bottom photography…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of former employee Edmund (Ed) “The Duck Man” Zmuda on May 21 at the Royal of Cotuit.  He was 86. Ed worked for Empire Clothing in the Falmouth Plaza from 1962-68, then enlisted with the US Army and was honorably discharged in 1974. He…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of retiree Barbara J. (Jensen) Martineau of North Falmouth on April 28 at the Royal of Cotuit, after a courageous 12 year battle with cancer. She was 78. Barbara was the beloved wife of Gerard H. Martineau for 58 years. Born in Hartford, CT,…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of retiree Mary Schumacher on April 24 after a very rapid advancement of medical problems she had been dealing with for many months, but that had not slowed her down significantly until the past few months. She was the fourth child and only daughter…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of retiree Ralph F. Vaccaro on April 16, two weeks shy of his 100th birthday and after days of visits from his vast and adoring family. The world has lost a World War II medic, a concert violinist, an accomplished marine biologist, and, according…

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorry the death of retiree Judith (Judy) Oster Cushman in Bradenton, Fl, on March 26 after a short illness. She was 83. Born in Boston, Judy was the daughter of Muriel Healey Oster and Dr. Robert H. Oster. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, graduated from The…