1970s
Byron Harold Chesbro ’72
Byron Harold Chesbro ’72, an oncologist of El Paso, Texas, was born on Dec. 4, 1949, in Utica, N.Y., the son of the former Ruth Coats and Harold Chesbro, a businessman. He graduated from New Hartford High School.
At Hamilton, Chesbro focused his studies in premed while majoring in history. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and the College Choir. For his 25th class reunion yearbook, Chesbro shared this Hill memory: “Mandatory chapel meetings (not always received as welcome at the time) which promoted a feeling of community — which we lack in our present fast-paced lives.”
After graduation he attended SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse where he earned his medical degree in 1976. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the Medical University of Ohio in Toledo.
Chesbro specialized in oncology at the National Cancer Institute of the National Health Institute in Bethesda, Md., and in 1981 moved to El Paso to begin his 37-year medical practice. He joined Texas Oncology, where he worked until the day he left for the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix for heart surgery. He was also a medical director for the CIMA Hospice.
Chesbro was an avid reader and history buff with a curiosity for world happenings, according to a published obituary. He had a passion for aviation and at 16 received his pilot’s license; he never outgrew his love for flying. He also was involved in Boy Scouts in his youth and enjoyed the great outdoors. In January 2007, he participated in a Hamilton-sponsored trip to Antarctica with fellow classmates.
Byron H. Chesbro died on Feb. 21, 2018, following complications from heart surgery. He was 68 years old. Chesbro is survived by his wife, Melissa Samaniego-Chesbro, two daughters, a stepson, two stepdaughters, and four grandchildren. An earlier marriage to Violet Gilson had ended in divorce.
Lars Nielsen ’77
Lars Nielsen ’77, a college official and teacher, and a writer, poet, and playwright of Northfield, Vt., was born in Greenport, N.Y., on April 3, 1955, to the former Florence Lovell and Francis Nielsen. He was raised in Canaan, N.Y.
A member of the College Choir, Nielsen majored in history and creative writing at Hamilton. It was also on College Hill where, as a student, he was first introduced to his future wife, Isabel Weinger-Nielsen K’76. The couple would reconnect a few years after graduation at an alumni event at Kirkland as they sat next to each other on “the swing.”
As part of a “Love Stories from Hamilton and Kirkland Alumni Couples” series produced in 2010, Weinger-Nielsen recalled the couple’s years at Hamilton and Kirkland: “One of the foundations of the relationship is our shared undergraduate experience; we delight in our memories of instructors, classmates, and events. We have gone back to a number of reunions, and such experiences are all the more special because we each bring an equal amount of excitement when we return to ‘The Hill.’”
In addition to working as an associate program director for the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Norwich University, Nielsen was a prolific writer. He crafted hundreds of poems, including “The Hockey Game” and “Walking Hubbardton Battlefield” published by the Poetry Society of Vermont. According to a published obituary, “His most prominent work was the verse used in collaboration with his brother, Vermont composer Erik Nielsen, in the composition ‘The Falling of Trees,’ in honor of their oldest brother, Karl, who died of brain cancer in 1998.”
Best known for his drama, three of his plays, The Aspirants, Naming Opportunities, and The Night Letter, were performed in the annual TenFest Productions sponsored by the Vermont Playwrights Circle and Valley Players in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The Night Letter was also performed at Hamilton College. He also wrote novels and short stories as well as commercials for radio stations WSNO and WORK in Barre, Vt.
Nielsen, who taught political science and history at Norwich University, earned a master’s degree in international diplomacy there in 2006. He also devoted time to working on the capital campaign for the Vermont Historical Society.
Lars Nielsen died on June 29, 2018, also of brain cancer, at the age of 63. He is survived by his wife of 36 years and two sons.
Gavin Edward Townsend ’78
Gavin Edward Townsend ’78, a professor of art history of Hixson, Tenn., was born on June 16, 1956, in Santa Monica, Calif., a son of Ruth and Richard Townsend, a high school English teacher and a vice president of a California winery. The family moved to Mount Kisco, N.Y., where Townsend was raised.
At Hamilton, Townsend graduated magna cum laude, majoring in art history and European history. He was a member of the Hamiltonian, the Tenure Committee, and Delta Phi. It was also on College Hill that he met his future wife, Bonnie Bickford ’80.
After graduation, Townsend attended the University of Santa Barbara in California where he received a master’s degree in 1981 and a Ph.D. in 1986, both in art history. He then began a long career on the faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Townsend’s research interests focused on the history of English and American architecture, especially the American South. During his tenure as professor of art history at UTC, he served as faculty senate president (2006-08), faculty senate representative (2012-18), director and assistant director of the UTC Honors Program (1992-2003), and coordinator for the George Ayers Cress Gallery of Art (1987-92), according to a published obituary.
Townsend was also a member of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. He was active with the Chattanooga historic preservation organization Cornerstones (1998-2003) and the Historic Zoning Commission.
Gavin E. Townsend died on June 3, 2018. He was 61 years old and is survived by his wife and a son.
