CLASS NOTES
68
FALL 2012 | St. Lawrence University Magazine
society. She was a Faculty Scholar and received a
Moving-Up Day award. She also was a stand-out
on the women’s ice hockey team. She earned her
Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa in
2005
and worked as an assistant crown attorney.
1998
Harald Knudsen
passed away May
9, 2012.
Originally from Kristiansand, Norway,
Harald and his family immigrated to New Jersey,
where he graduated from high school and began
work as a carpenter. To realize his dream of be-
coming a teacher, he later took courses at SUNY
Canton and then studied English literature and
sociology at St. Lawrence. He joined the Peace
Corps, teaching English in Estonia and the Czech
Republic. Those remembering him are his sister,
Bjorg Knudsen Cunningham ’75, ’88M, P’90, who
is married to Tom Cunningham P’90, professor
emeritus of psychology, and nephew, Sean Cun-
ningham ’90.
We have also learned of the deaths of these Lau-
rentians; memorial notices may appear in future
issues:
Burke Smith ’36
,
April 19, 2012
JohnW. Joa ’46
,
May 30, 2012
Ann Stryker Traylor ’48
,
June 3, 2012
Theda Bittenbender Samies ’49
,
May 23, 2012
Warren Forsythe ’50
,
May 7, 2012
Laura Schultz Grimes ’50
,
June 1, 2012
Asher Atkinson ’53
,
April 6, 2012
Hugh J.“Joe”Donohue ’57,
February 8, 2012
Thomas L. Holtkamp ’57
,
March 15, 2012
Beatrice Snyder Baxter M’66
,
June 1, 2012
John E. Barker ’69
,
May 23, 2012
Henry M.“Mike”Naylon IV ’78
,
March 26, 2012
Mary L. Bucher M’82
,
June 6, 2012
Joanne Stark Bigwarfe M’06
,
May 29, 2012
Faculty and Staff
“
St. Lawrence has lost one of our most respected
scholars, one of our most inspirational teachers,
and one of our most cherished friends with the
death (June 19) of Professor of Anthropology
Alice Pomponio
,”
wrote President William L. Fox
’75
in a campus announcement. A faculty mem-
ber since 1983, “Ali” studied and published in the
fields of linguistics, psychological anthropology
and the anthropology of religion, sex and gender,
education and culture in Papua New Guinea, Af-
rica and Italy. She was the author of two books,
SeagullsDon'tFlyIntotheBush:CulturalIdentityand
Development in Melanesia
and, as senior editor,
Children of Kilibob: Creation, Cosmos, and Culture in
NortheastNewGuinea
.
She alsoworked, witha stu-
dent research assistant, on a long-term project to
write an encyclopedic dictionary and grammar of
an endangered Austronesian language from the
Siassi Islands region of Papua New Guinea.
Professor Pomponio also studied in Africa and
developed St. Lawrence courses from those
extensive travels. She co-directed the Univer-
sity's Kenya semester
program, relished her
teaching in the First-
Year Program, and was a
loyal mentor to students
who became McNair
Scholars. In 2007-2008,
she received a Fulbright
Award to teach at the
University of Siena in or-
der to study the ethno-
history of the Palio, a
centuries-old, bare-back
horse race. She earned
her bachelor's degree from SUNY Geneseo and
her master’s and doctoral degrees from Bryn
Mawr. Survivors include her husband, Emeritus
Professor of Anthropology Richard Perry, and
their son, Gregory.
Professor Emerita of
Education
Judith S.
Mearig
died on May 14,
2012,
in Ithaca, N.Y. She
graduated from Oberlin
College, and earned her
master’s degree and her
Ph.D. from the University
of Michigan. After com-
pleting her doctorate in
1964,
she immediately
joined the St. Lawrence
faculty, becoming the
founder/coordinator of the graduate program in
school psychology. A fellow in the American Psy-
chological Association and the American Ortho-
psychiatric Association, she had a great passion
for the welfare of children with disabilities and
published widely on subjects related to ethical
issues and dilemmas facing psychologists and
other professionals working with children. She
also had a long relationshipwith the International
Center for Cognitive Development in Jerusalem,
Israel. Closer to home, she chaired Potsdam’s Bos-
nian Refugee Resettlement Task Force between
1992
and 1997. In 1998, she retired after 34 years
of creative and dedicated scholarship and service
to the graduate students of S. Lawrence.
Retired facilities operations colleague
Floyd
Congdon
, 80,
died at his home on April 23, 2012.
He served St. Lawrence for 40 years, as a grounds
worker, boiler tender and heating plant leader.
He was promoted to heating plant supervisor in
1984,
a position from which he retired in 1995 to
pursue his many hobbies.
Retired dining services staff member
Stella R.
Tamblin
died at her home on April 28, 2012, at
age 88. She worked at St. Lawrence from 1969 to
1986,
when she retired to a life of travel and ser-
vice to her community.
St. Lawrence
welcomes submissions for
Final Thought
;
they
should be no more than 500 words long and should in
some way reflect upon the writer’s St. Lawrence experience
and what it has meant —
nburdick@stlawu.edu
.
In Memory Policy
We will publish in “In Memory”
detailed memorial notices of the
passing of Laurentians if we receive
the information from a family
member or friend in the form of a
previously published notice (typically
from a newspaper). Please send such
notices to Shayla Snyder Witherell ’11,
Advancement Services, St. Lawrence
University, Canton, NY 13617 or
switherell@stlawu.edu.
We will pro-
vide the name and, if available, date
of death of others of whose passing
we learn, and the complete list of
recent deaths can be found on the
University’s Web site at
alumni.stlawu.edu.
*
The designation “n”with class
numerals indicates that the individual
did not graduate from St. Lawrence.
*
The designation “M”with class
numerals indicates that the individual
earned a master’s degree from
St. Lawrence in the year given.
Laurentian• ia
Answer
This is Richardson Hall (originally
College Hall), the oldest building on campus,
built in 1856-57 when the Italian influence was
strong in America. Herring-Cole, St. Lawrence’s
second building, also shows elements of Ital-
ian styles. This information comes from a doc-
ument by Daniel Reiff, architecture authority
and son of the fabled St. Lawrence Professor
Harry Reiff. —NSB
1975