Ruth Clement Bond

Ruth Clement Bond (WCAS25, G30), 101, Manhattan, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2005. An educator and civic leader, Ms. Bond designed quilts that transformed the common bedspread into a work of art and social commentary.

Ms. Bond created quilt designs for the wives of African American workers who were building dams in Alabama for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Many of the quilts depict bold silhouetted images of African Americans.

Ms. Bond was also a world-traveling educator. After her husband joined the Foreign Service, she taught at universities in Haiti, Liberia and Malawi.

Ms. Bond is survived by three children, Jane, J. Max and George; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and a sister, Emma.

Lester H. Brownlee

Lester H. Brownlee (J47, GJ51), 90, Evanston, Nov. 21, 2005. The first commissioned African American artillery officer in World War II, Mr. Brownlee also broke the color barrier as the first African American reporter to work at a major Chicago daily newspaper when he joined the staff of the Chicago Daily News.

Mr. Brownlee later worked as a street reporter for WLS-TV, where he won a local Emmy for his on-air editorials in 1975, and taught journalism at Columbia College.

He received a lifetime achievement award from the Chicago Journalists Association in September 2005.

He is survived by his wife, Priscilla; four adopted sons, Laird, Ray, Gerick and Curtis; and a sister, Maxine.

William J. Eaton

William J. Eaton (J51, GJ52), 74, Potomac, Md., Aug. 23, 2005. Described as knowing “more than a little about just about everything,” Mr. Eaton won a Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his reporting on President Nixon’s unsuccessful Supreme Court nomination of Clement J. Haynsworth Jr. Mr. Eaton later wound up on Nixon’s “enemies list.”

A former president of the National Press Club, Mr. Eaton served as Moscow bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times in the mid-1980s. He won a Northwestern Alumni Association Merit Award in 1973.

Mr. Eaton is survived by his wife, Carole, a daughter from his first marriage, Sally Misare, and two grandchildren. His first marriage to Marilyn Myers Eaton (J51, GJ52) ended in divorce.

Virginia Landwehr

Virginia Landwehr (C54), 73, Evanston, Dec. 6, 2005. Extremely devoted to the University, Ms. Landwehr served as dean of students at Northwestern from 1975 until her retirement in 1992.

An active member of the Northwestern Alumni Association, Ms. Landwehr served as co-chair of her 50th reunion in 2004. (See “A Time to Celebrate, Reunite and Reminisce,” fall 2004.) An avid traveler, she frequently participated in the NAA’s travel programs and represented Northwestern on more than 20 trips, including two to Antarctica.

Prior to joining Northwestern as an associate dean in 1972, Landwehr taught in Glencoe, Ill., and held various administrative positions with the Niles Township (Ill.) High Schools.

Harold D. Shapiro

Harold D. Shapiro (EB49, L52), 78, Wilmette, Ill., Dec. 1, 2005. As partner and chair, Mr. Shapiro led the national and international expansion of the law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, where he practiced for more than 50 years. While with the firm he handled the sale of the Sears Tower, the largest real estate transaction for a single property at the time, and represented Allstate Insurance Co.

Mr. Shapiro had been an adjunct professor at the School of Law since 1959, and he received a Northwestern Alumni Association Merit Award in 1988.

He is survived by his wife, Beatrice Cahn Shapiro (Mu49); a daughter, Michael Ann Shapiro (Mu81); two sons, Matthew and Nicholas; a sister, Barbara; and three grandchildren.

Kenneth Viste Jr.

Kenneth Viste Jr. (FSM66, GFSM70), 63, Rochester, Minn., Aug. 21. A doctor who made house calls until his retirement, Dr. Viste was known for his commitment to patient care and the overall development of medicine.

Dr. Viste served as president of the American Academy of Neurology and on a presidential advisory council in the 1990s.

A former president of the Northwestern Medical Alumni Association, Dr. Viste is a Northwestern Alumni Association Merit and Service Award and Feinberg Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.

He is survived by his wife, Jan; children, Doran, Kenneth and Kari; their mother, Jane; stepchildren Elliott and Shayna; his mother, Edith; his brother, George; and sisters Carol and Mary.