Obituaries
Jack Kolbert (B.A., French,
’49), 78, died last September. A professor of modern and classical
languages, Kolbert spoke French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Over
his career, he was a college professor or department chair on 13
American and French campuses. While teaching at the University of New Mexico, Kolbert also served as
the first president of the Albuquerque City Council during the
transition to a districted City Council mayor system.
While at UNM, Kolbert met Elie Wiesel, the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
recipient. Their 30-year-plus friendship resulted in Kolbert writing The Worlds of Elie Wiesel: An Overview of His Career and His Major Themes (Associated University Presses, 2001).
According to Kolbert, Wiesel ought to be regarded as the most
representative voice of the Jewish people of the world today as well as
the most articulate voice of the Holocaust survivors from the Nazi era.
Kolbert escorted his Susquehanna University honor students to Wiesel’s
home in New York for one-on-one discussions.
In addition to 10 books, Kolbert wrote hundreds of essays on French
literature, culture and civilization and received the French Knight of
the National Order of Merit on three occasions.
Alexander Nye Campbell (B.A.,
physics, ’36), 93, passed away on Feb. 12 after a short illness. After
graduation Campbell, known as “Bud” to his close family and friends,
worked as a petroleum geologist analyzing drilling logs for companies
searching for oil.
In 1938, he started writing a financial column for the Herald-Express
and became the financial editor in the late 1960s. Campbell, along with
a group of partners, bought the Cotton Goff Volkswagen dealership in
1965. Over the next 30 years, the dealership expanded into Campbell
Automotive Group.
Campbell was a member of the California Club, Wilshire Country Club,
Beach Club and Los Angeles Tennis Club. He is survived by his wife of
67 years, Maurine, two sons and five grandchildren.
George Lewis Strobel (Ph.D., physics, ’65) died March 1 from pancreatic cancer. He was 68.
From 1967 until his recent retirement, Strobel taught at the University
of Georgia at Athens. At various points in his career, he worked at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Labs,
University of Tubingen and German National Laboratory in Julich,
Germany.
Publishing over 100 articles, Strobel was an expert in astrophysics,
solid-state physics, quantum physics and theoretical physics. Most
recently, he was working with researchers mathematically analyzing
genes in different organisms to identify genes most critical to
sustaining life.
He is survived by his wife, Caroline Davis Strobel, two children and three grandchildren.
Silva Krikor Bezdikian, 49,
founder and president of S.B. Fine Art, passed away on March 28. As an
active member of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies’ steering
committee, Bezdikian was instrumental in the institute’s establishment
in 2005 and its continuing success.
Deeply committed to the Armenian community, she served as a board
member of Junior Achievement of Armenia and was a member of the
Armenian Relief Society, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian
Assembly of America and Armenian International Women’s Association,
among other organizations. She organized numerous fund-raisers and
events to help raise awareness of Armenian causes and often used her
art gallery to help raise money for the children of Armenia.
Bezdikian graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a B.A. in history
and art history. She is survived by her husband, Krikor, and sons,
Vatche and Raffi.
|
|
|
