1960s
Robert Erwin Hollandt ’60
Robert Erwin Hollandt ’60, a retired surveyor, was born on Nov. 26, 1938, in Ilion, NY. The son of Erwin W. Hollandt ’29, a physician, and the former Marion R. Vail, a nurse and school teacher, his father died when “Bob” was young, and he was reared by his mother and step-father, Howard G. Hoffman. He came to College Hill from Ilion High School in 1956 but left by the end of his freshman year. He was later graduated from Syracuse University.
Employed for over 30 years as a surveyor for the New York State Department of Transportation, Bob Hollandt retired in 1998. The College has no additional information concerning his activities.
Long a resident of his hometown of Ilion and most recently of Thendara, near Old Forge, NY, Robert E. Hollandt died on Dec. 28, 2012, while hospitalized in Utica. He is survived by two daughters, Susan Simonelli and Sally Austin; a son, James E. Hollandt; and five grandchildren and a sister.
Charles Bartlett Travis III ’60
Charles Bartlett Travis III ’60, who, with remarkable determination and persistence, attained his goal of becoming a physician, was born on May 14, 1938, in Ogdensburg, NY. The future family practitioner and specialist in addiction medicine was a son of Charles B., Jr., an industrial production manager, and Myrtle Demo Travis, a public school teacher. He grew up in Massena, NY, not far from the Canadian border, and was graduated in 1956 from Massena High School. “Charlie” Travis entered Hamilton that fall under the 3-2 plan in preparation for an engineering career, following family tradition (both his father and grandfather were civil engineers). However, mathematics, especially calculus, proved daunting, and he decided to switch his major to Spanish. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he also went out for lacrosse. In early 1960, during his senior year, he broke a leg in a skiing accident and had to withdraw from the College to recuperate. The following spring, he returned to the campus for his final semester and received his A.B. degree in 1961.
Having earned a temporary teaching certificate as the result of courses taken the previous summer at St. Lawrence University, Charlie Travis took a job teaching Spanish for a year at Roxboro Road Junior High School in North Syracuse, NY. By that time he had definitely decided on medicine as his future career and began his long quest to acquire a medical education. In preparation, he took courses in biology and organic chemistry during summer sessions at Harvard University while continuing to teach. In 1964, following stints of teaching science at Framingham High School in Massachusetts and Gorham High School in New Hampshire, he furthered his career plans by serving as a laboratory technician in a hospital in Canton, NY, not far from his hometown of Massena. Having married Kathleen B. Glavin in Cambridge, MA, on Oct. 23, 1963, he was by that time a father but as tenaciously determined as ever to become a physician. He continued to take premedical courses at St. Lawrence University, which would earn him a B.S. in chemistry in 1966.
Charles Travis began applying for admission to medical schools, not only in the United States and Canada but also abroad. In 1966, he was accepted by the faculty of medicine at the University of Bologna in Italy, and he frantically studied Italian in preparation. In 1971, at the end of the five-year course at Bologna, he received his long sought-after M.D. degree. He subsequently returned to the United States and settled in Toledo, OH. In 1980, he completed his family practice residency at the Medical College of Ohio and set up his private practice in Toledo.
Beginning in 1990, Dr. Travis, known for his “deep respect for life and people,” taught and practiced family medicine at the MCO, from which he retired as an associate professor of medicine in 2005. He had developed a specialty in addiction medicine, and the curriculum he prepared for his MCO courses on drug and alcohol problems earned him an award in 2001 for creativity from the Lucas County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board.
During his leisure hours, Dr. Travis continued to pursue his lifelong passion for skiing and was a member of the Toledo Ski Club. Also, with his 24-foot sailboat, he enjoyed taking to the water. In retirement, he continued to cultivate his love of languages by adding the study of French and German to his Spanish and Italian.
Charles B. Travis III, a faithful alumnus, was still residing in Toledo when he died on Feb. 28, 2013, at the home of a friend in Largo, FL, of heart failure. In addition to his former wife, Kathleen Glavin Travis, he is survived by their four sons, Charles B. IV, Michael, Benjamin and Anthony Travis; three daughters, Theresa Travis-Arnold and Patricia and Susanna Travis; and five grandchildren as well as a sister and a brother.
John Sydney Randolph, Jr. ’62
John Sydney Randolph, Jr. ’62, a lawyer who specialized in commercial real estate and corporate law, was born on March 11, 1940, in New York City. The son of John S., an educator, and Jeanette Reusch Randolph, he grew up in Freeport on Long Island, where he was graduated in 1958 from Freeport High School. He arrived on College Hill that fall, joined Psi Upsilon and went out for track. As Psi U social chairman in his senior year, he received the plaudits of the brothers for keeping their house parties running smoothly. Having majored in history, he was awarded his diploma in 1962.
John Randolph went on to law school at Columbia University and earned his LL.B. degree in 1965. On June 12 of that year, he and Ann Kimble were married in New York City. Also that year, he obtained his first job, as an attorney for the real estate department of the Port of New York Authority. He soon became involved in the acquisition of the property in Lower Manhattan that was to become the site of the World Trade Center. From 1968 to 1972, he was the real estate counsel for Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and the College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF). Thereafter, until 1995, he was a partner and general counsel with K.S. Sweet Associates, real estate and mortgage investment advisors, headquartered in King of Prussia, PA. He subsequently engaged in solo law practice in Radnor, PA, and, most recently was in partnership with his daughter Meg.
John Randolph, long a resident of Radnor and most recently of Malvern, PA, served for eight years on the Radnor Township School Board and also on its Zoning Hearing Board. In addition, he was a warden of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. For relaxation he enjoyed reading history and listening to classical music, and he was an enthusiastic coin collector. Water sports, especially in an ocean setting, had a particular appeal to him, including swimming, fishing, snorkeling and boating, and his favorite vacation destination was Hawaii. For some 30 years he also enjoyed tennis, until his knees rebelled.
John S. Randolph, Jr., an ever loyal and supportive alumnus who was known to family and friends as “always a positive person with a great sense of humor,” died on Sept. 11, 2012. In addition to his wife of 47 years, he is survived by a son, John E. Randolph ’90; two daughters, Gail Kisare and Margaret “Meg” Joy; and six grandchildren and a sister.
David Beatty Parsell ’63
David Beatty Parsell ’63, professor of modern languages and literature emeritus at Furman University, was born on Dec. 4, 1941, in Charleston, SC. The son of Sidney I. Parsell, a career U.S. Army officer who retired as a colonel, and the former Jean W. Beatty, an art teacher, he grew up as an “Army brat” in Merrick on Long Island and in San Francisco, where he was graduated in 1959 from Lowell High School. He enrolled at Hamilton that fall, having chosen the College in part because of its then new Junior Year in France program. He had developed a great interest in the French language while studying it in high school.
On the Hill, David Parsell joined the Squires Club as well as the staffs of The Spectator and campus radio station WHC. He was also active in the Outing Club and served as assistant manager of the soccer and track teams. Majoring in French, he would later join the ranks of the many who, well prepared by Professors Marcel Moraud and Frank Hamlin, became teachers of that language. He was awarded his A.B. degree with honors in French in 1963.
David Parsell pursued graduate study at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where on April 7, 1967, he was married to a fellow graduate student, Sharon Youngblood. He acquired his M.A. in French in 1968 and his Ph.D. in 1970. In 1967, he had begun his teaching career as an instructor in French at Grinnell College in Iowa. He remained at Grinnell until 1969, when he returned to his native South Carolina to accept appointment as an instructor in modern foreign languages at Furman University in Greenville.
During his 39-year career at Furman, David Parsell not only taught 20th-century French literature but also laid the groundwork for the university’s foreign study program. He took the first group of Furman students to France in 1971 and often led other groups for study in that country in subsequent years. Students knew him as an exceptionally talented teacher and dedicated mentor.
Over the years, David Parsell contributed extensively to reference works focusing on 20th-century French and American authors, and was himself the author of Louis Auchincloss, a literary biography of the American novelist, published in 1988. In addition, he penned the first book-length study of the life and work of the Belgian avant-garde dramatist Michel de Ghelderode (1993). It was dedicated to Hamilton Professor Franklin G. Hamlin, “who first opened my eyes and ears to the possibilities of the French theater.”
David Parsell tried his own hand at theater as an actor in on- and off-campus productions, often in plays by Molière and Samuel Beckett. A sometime precinct officer for the local Democratic Party, he was also at one time a lay reader at St. James Episcopal Church. He retired from Furman’s faculty with the rank of full professor in 2008.
David B. Parsell, a faithful and ever supportive alumnus, had been planning to attend the 50th reunion of his class when he died unexpectedly at his home in Greenville on March 30, 2013. Predeceased by his wife in 2002, he is survived by a daughter, Margaret Dodson, and a son, John B. Parsell.
Lorin Marc Swagel ’63
Lorin Marc Swagel ’63, an ophthalmologist who practiced eye surgery for many years in Mesa, AZ, was born on Nov. 27, 1941, in New York City. A son of Harry R., who was in real estate sales, and Sah Belle Fisher Swagel, an interior designer, he grew up in Merrick on Long Island, where he attended Wellington Mepham High School. Lorin Swagel enrolled at Hamilton in 1959 and joined Theta Delta Chi. He lettered in swimming and was a member of the varsity team that went undefeated in 1961-62. Having majored in psychology, he was awarded his A.B. degree in 1963.
Intending a career in medicine, Lorin Swagel went on to Albany Medical College, where he earned his M.D. degree in 1967. On June 28, 1964, while in medical school, he wed Carol F. Goldsmith in New York City. They became the parents of two sons, Samuel and Eric. In 1971, after a year’s internship at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, and a three-year residency at New York Eye and Ear Hospital in New York City, Dr. Swagel entered the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He served in uniform for two years, became chief of ophthalmology at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and attained the rank of major.
Thereafter, Lorin Swagel settled permanently in Arizona, where he began his private practice of medicine and surgical ophthalmology. Initially affiliated with Eye Surgeons Ltd, he later co-founded the highly successful Swagel-Wootton Eye Center (later Swagel, Wootton, Hiatt) in Mesa. He was on the staffs of several local hospitals and, as a participant in Mission Cataract, USA, volunteered his surgical skills to aid the underprivileged. For relaxation he enjoyed theater and musicals as well as sports, including tennis, racquetball, swimming and sailing, but especially downhill skiing.
Lorin M. Swagel, a resident of Paradise Valley, AZ, and a loyal alumnus, died on Dec. 8, 2006, of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as only recently verified by the College. No information on survivors is available. Dr. Swagel was predeceased by his brother, Dennis L. Swagel ’68, in 1995.
Robert Edie Warner ’63
Robert Edie Warner ’63, a lawyer who practiced in Hawaii for many years, was born on Nov. 26, 1941, in Yonkers, NY. A son of Robert T., an insurance company administrator, and Jane Edie Warner, a school teacher, he grew up in Baldwinsville, NY, outside of Syracuse, and was graduated from Baldwinsville Academy in 1959. He enrolled at Hamilton that fall and joined Theta Delta Chi. Fond of water sports, including swimming, sailing and water-skiing, he became a member of the swimming team, specializing in free style. He was co-captain of the 1961-62 team that compiled a perfect record of 9-0, becoming the first team to be undefeated in Hamilton’s varsity swimming history. In the final meet of that year, he set the then College and pool record in the 100-yard free style with a time of 51.7.
The winner of the Babcock Prize in Philosophy and Pedagogy, Robert Warner received his A.B. degree with honors in philosophy in 1963. He entered the University of Virginia School of Law that year. On Feb. 8, 1964, while in law school, he was married to Patricia Anne Wilson in Charlottesville, VA.
After obtaining his LL.B. degree in 1966, Robert Warner went on active duty with the U.S. Navy. Assigned to Pearl Harbor the following year, he would remain in Hawaii after his discharge in 1970, and for the rest of his life. He established his practice in Honolulu, specializing in business and real estate law. The College has no additional information about his activities.
Robert E. Warner died in Honolulu on Jan. 10, 2012, as verified by a brief newspaper obituary. In addition to his companion, Tuyet Hoa Tran, he was survived by two sons, Robert T. and Michael P. Warner; two daughters, Susan Warner and Amy Tran; and two grandchildren.
Donald Cameron Stuart III ’65
Donald Cameron Stuart III ’65, associate professor of English emeritus and former vice president for academic affairs at Longwood University in Virginia, was born in Tampa, FL, on Aug. 25, 1943. The elder son of Donald C., Jr., a research biologist, and Jean Preston Stuart, a secretary, he spent most of his childhood in Upstate New York. He prepared for college at Kent School in Connecticut and came to Hamilton in 1961 from Baltimore, where his parents were then employed at the Johns Hopkins University. An intensely scholarly student, interested in science as well as literature, music and art, he supplemented scholarship aid by waiting on tables in Commons. A member of Theta Delta Chi, he majored in English and was graduated in 1965.
Donald Stuart, who was married on Sept. 12, 1965, to Martha Saenz in New York City, obtained an M.A. degree in English literature from Duke University in 1966. That year, he began his long tenure at Longwood University (then College) as an instructor. While teaching, he also pursued a Ph.D. in English literature at the University of Virginia. With a dissertation focusing on James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, he was awarded his doctorate in 1975. He would maintain a passionate interest in Joycean studies throughout his life.
At Longwood, Donald Stuart rose through the professorial ranks and for a time chaired the department of English and modern languages. He also took on administrative responsibilities, including dean of the College of Business and Economics as well as vice president for academic affairs. He played a key role in the creation of Longwoods’s Faculty Senate, its Learning Center and the Longwood Seminar. He retired after 30 years at Longwood in 1997.
As a teacher and scholar, Donald Stuart was known for his commitment to excellence. His interests encompassed history, politics and religion, especially religious history, which was a motivating factor in his constancy of membership in the Episcopal Church. He was also avidly interested in the history and genealogy of the Stuart family, and did considerable research in that regard.
In addition, Donald Stuart enjoyed vacation travels with his family that took in the American Southwest and Canada as well as Europe. And they all looked forward to their annual camping trips to Maine. But Donald Stuart’s most savored moments were quiet times “sitting on the porch of a lake house, with a stack of books, a mug of hot tea and classical music as accompaniment.” His books would be drawn from an impressively large collection, which accompanied him without fail on every one of his moves.
Donald C. Stuart III, an ever loyal and supportive Hamiltonian, was residing in Poughkeepsie, NY, when he died of a heart attack at his home on Dec. 25, 2012. In addition to his former wife, Martha Saenz, he is survived by their daughter and son, Diana Sinton and Kevin J. Stuart. Also surviving are his second former wife, Sue Ann Saunders, and their son, Charles C. Stuart, as well as three grandchildren and a sister and a brother.
