045B2EAC-656A-41F0-97A3406961592A52
158544CE-3951-4836-A0B3FEC4D368A7A2

Richard Stanley Johnson ’70

Richard Stanley Johnson ’70, an attorney, was born the son of the former Helen Renkainen and Frederick Johnson on Oct. 6, 1948, in Hartford, Conn. He grew up in nearby Rocky Hill where he attended the public high school.

After graduating from Hamilton in 1972, he earned his J.D. degree from the University of Connecticut in 1978 and entered the practice of law, specializing in real estate title work for almost 45 years. He was president of Lawyers Concern for Lawyers from its early years in Connecticut.

Outside of work, his interests were diverse. According to a published obituary, he loved Cape Cod, kayaking, clamming, riding his bike, hiking, climbing Mt. Washington (which he did 15 times over the years), bird-watching, beekeeping, nature, dancing, all kinds of music, collecting early American art pottery, St. Martin and puttering around his five acres.

Richard S. Johnson died on May 26, 2017, at the age of 69. He is survived by his wife of more than 47 years, the former Dorothea Zariphes, two sisters and many nieces and nephews.

Mårten Nils Håkansson Liander ’73

Mårten Nils Håkansson Liander ’73, a lecturer and administrator at Harvard University, was born on Jan. 23, 1951, in Örebro, Sweden, the son of the former Kerstin Glimstedt and Jarlerik Bertil Liander, a professor. He left Sweden as a child to live in Paris and Rome before moving to the United States. Liander attended Princeton (N.J.) High School from 1965 to 1968 and graduated from Amherst (Mass.) Regional High School in 1969.

On College Hill, Liander majored in history and government and was a member of the Root-Jessup Council. He graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Ever the quiet scholar, he left an impression on his peers. “The first time I spoke with Mårten, as freshmen in our Dunham dorm rooms, I was struck by the fact that he was sporting a tobacco pipe. I knew right then that I had met an intellectual — and a sophisticate,” Jorge Hernández ’72 recalled.

Liander received an M.A. in history in 1974 and a Ph.D. in French history in 1981, both from Harvard. He remained at the university as a lecturer in French history and literature and subsequently worked in the Office of Governing Boards as assistant and associate secretary from 1986 to 2013. He married the former Johanna Damgaard, who taught Spanish at Harvard, in 1984.

In a moment of self-reflection, Liander noted in his Hamilton 25th reunion yearbook that he “continue(d) to read a lot, though fewer scholarly tomes and more fiction than in my 20s.” As to the political scene, “Politics in America have changed since my undergraduate days, but mine have not. If anything I find myself in middle age even more left-wing than at 22.”

Liander divided his time between university administrative work, reading and research, and life with his family. He touched many with his modesty, understated erudition, quiet charm and sense of humor. Boston was his home, yet France was the country he most admired, noted a published obituary. “God spoke Swedish,” Liander was fond of saying, and he lived 50 years in the U.S. before expanding his citizenship and voting in elections.

Mårten N.H. Liander died at home in Belmont, Mass., on Aug. 31, 2016, after a long illness. He was 65. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Richard Elwood Bryson ’75

Richard Elwood Bryson ’75, a banker and financier, was the son of the former Helen Collins and Elwood Bryson. A native of Rochester, N.Y., and a proud Eagle Scout, he graduated from Greece Arcadia High School.

Bryson remained on College Hill from 1971 though the spring of 1974 with a declared major in economics. A member of the Emerson Literary Society, his love of books and learning continued throughout his life, according to a published obituary. He eventually earned a master’s degree in finance and international economics from the University of Rochester’s William Simon School of Business.

Scouting’s leadership skills and ethical standards provided Bryson with values that he carried throughout his professional career, which began at E.I. DuPont managing the financial and currency positions of DuPont’s overseas subsidiaries. He then moved to Chicago, working at Citibank International as a senior vice president in the bank’s Mezzanine Fund, investing in growth businesses. In 1982, he moved with Citibank to its San Francisco office.

In 1983, Bryson married Susan and settled in Larkspur, Calif. He then joined Bank of America as a managing director and served as CFO for a public telecom company before starting Biras Ventures, a business strategy and consulting company.

Bryson volunteered for many years on the St. Patrick’s School Board in Larkspur and was passionate about all types of music, a legacy that continues with his children. His incredible memory, along with a sense of humor, made him a wonderful storyteller, according to the obituary. Bryson enjoyed fishing, hiking and sailing with his family.

Richard E. Bryson died on March 5, 2017. He was 63. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and one son.

David Cantor ’76

David Cantor ’76, a photo editor, educator and mentor, was born in Staten Island, N.Y., the son of Marilyn and Daniel Cantor ’45. He lived most of his early childhood in New York City, with a stint in Boston.

At Hamilton, Cantor majored in Asian studies and art history and worked as the photo editor for The Spectator. He was preceded at the College by his father and an uncle, Allen Carter ’38. He also served as a firefighter with the Clinton, N.Y., Volunteer Fire Department.

By 1979, Cantor had moved back to Manhattan, where he met Jeanne Gatoura, whom he married in 1990. Throughout his photography career, he worked for the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and The New York Times. He moved on to the Toledo, Ohio, Blade as picture editor in 1996, where he spent 12 years until staff cuts ended his career at the newspaper in 2008. At the Blade, Cantor edited historical photographs that accompanied stories on atrocities in the Vietnam War, a series that won the newspaper its first Pulitzer Prize in 2004, according to a published memorial article in a National Press Photographers Association periodical.

After his layoff, Cantor became an adjunct instructor at Owens Community College in Toledo and also served as the lab manager for the college’s darkrooms and camera equipment room. His love of photography, history and passion for teaching were keystone characteristics. For a dozen years, he was a noted adviser to young photographers in the group’s mentor program.

Cantor loved photography, but he was also passionate about jazz. He had a large music collection and had shot album covers for guitarist and composer Pat Metheny. He also had hundreds of books at home, including a wide-ranging collection of photography titles. Cantor was also an avid fan of the AAA baseball team the Toledo Mud Hens.

David Cantor died on Sept. 6, 2016, at the age of 61. He is survived by his wife.

Steven Louis Hargrove ’77

Steven Louis Hargrove ’77, a librarian with a passion for photographing nature, was born a son of Judge John Hargrove, Sr. and Shirley Hargrove, a teacher and guidance counselor. Judge Hargrove was the first black federal prosecutor in Baltimore and the first black deputy U.S. attorney.

Raised in Northwest Baltimore, Hargrove attended the Gilman School where he was active as an athlete and participated in music and theatre groups. At Hamilton, he focused his studies in history before returning to his hometown. There he continued to pursue his diverse interests and talents, including posts in the city court system, at a publishing company where he produced two books of poetry and as a percussionist in two bands in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In the late 1990s, Hargrove left a management position at a bookstore to pursue a career as a librarian; he earned an M.A. in library science at the University of Maryland in 2002. His library career spanned more than 19 years at the Towson and Woodlawn libraries in Baltimore County. He retired in 2013.

Throughout his life, Hargrove loved art, literature, sports and music, and seemed to know a little about everything, according to his family. “He was the original free spirit in the truest, loveliest sense of the word,” his older brother John said in a published obituary.

Janet Ryczko, Hargrove’s sister, said that for her brother, meditation and photography went hand in hand, allowing him to immerse himself in the peacefulness of nature. The family cherished his photographs that often featured sun-lit reflections in rippling water, abstract close-ups of volcanic rocks and beach scenes. Hargrove’s spirituality shone through a decade of battling fibroblastic sarcoma. Even after repeated bad news about his illness, he focused on the next positive event of his journey, his family noted.

Steven L. Hargrove died on Jan. 23, 2017, at his mother’s home in Pikesville, Md. He was 61. He is survived by his mother, a brother and two sisters.

Claudia Sue Steinberg K’77

Claudia Sue Steinberg K’77, an artist, graphic designer and teacher, was born on May 10, 1955, the daughter of Shirley and Robert Steinberg, a dentist. She graduated from Scarsdale High School in New York.

At Kirkland College, Steinberg immersed herself in the studio arts and, upon graduation, went to work as a graphic designer in print and television in New York City. In 1996, she moved to Hastings and became an active and valued member in the art community. For many years she taught art workshops and conducted residencies in schools and community centers throughout the Hudson River towns.

In an obituary notice published in The New York Times, her family observed that Steinberg was thrilled by life. “She was an inspiring mentor, a compassionate listener, and a strong and thoughtful confidant.” She took joy in bringing people together and in helping them be themselves as fully as possible, they noted. Steinberg taught generations of youth to find beauty in the most unexpected places, to be courageous (as she was as her illness progressed) and to grasp things naturally and with confidence. And she did this all effortlessly, they said.

Those sentiments were echoed by friends she met on the Hill. “I remember Claudia as a warm, gregarious, talented, fun woman with a smile as wide as her heart, which was considerably wide,” recalled Marty Blake K’77. “Claudia meant a huge amount to all of us,” added Robert Pelz ’76.

Claudia S. Steinberg died on Dec. 13, 2016, in the Bronx, N.Y., at the age of 61. She is survived by her husband, George Engelbrecht, and two daughters.

Alexander Duncan Williams ’77

Alexander Duncan Williams ’77, a real estate agent and stock and mortgage broker, was born on June 10, 1954, in Bethesda, Md., the son of Ellen and John Williams, owner of the Williams Gold Refining Co. in Buffalo, N.Y.

Known as “Chip,” Williams was raised in Buffalo and attended the Nichols School, graduating in 1973. He worked at his father’s smelting and refining business during the summers and was a player on the Buffalo Shamrocks hockey team that won numerous state championships.

Williams, who remained at Hamilton until his senior year, was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. Also known as “Chappy,” he played varsity soccer and hockey, distinguishing himself as the soccer team’s leading scorer and captain. After he left the College, Williams’ passion for hockey propelled him to balance time on the ice with work in Aspen, Colo.

After a time back in Buffalo where he worked for E.F. Hutton as a stock broker, Williams returned to the Roaring Fork Valley in Aspen in 1989. There he pursued a career as a real estate agent for Mason & Morse before transitioning to mortgage origination with Mountain Mortgage Center.

When news of his death spread, Williams’ classmates and team members rallied through dozens of emails with memories of their beloved friend who seemed always to be wearing an “eyes-closed smile.” “The news of his passing came hard and suddenly,” noted one writer. “It was a wake-up call to everyone that we cannot take those special times at Hamilton for granted, and reunions…must occur again and often.”

Alexander D. Williams died on April 14, 2016, at his home in the Rocky Mountains. He was 61. He is survived by his father and stepmother, a son, a daughter and an expected grandchild.

John Barrett Hickman ’78

John Barrett Hickman ’78, an attorney, was born on Nov. 30, 1956, in Ithaca, N.Y., a son of the former Ruth Hewitt and S. Barrett Hickman ’51, a county judge. He spent his childhood in Mahopac, N.Y., where he attended a year of high school before transferring to the Kent School in Connecticut.

A history major, Hickman served on the staff of The Spectator and as president of the Class of 1978. He was also a member of Sigma Phi. A graduate of Fordham University Law School, he worked for several companies throughout his career in commercial real estate, including Barnes & Noble, Sony IMAX Theatres and Federal Realty, and operated Merchants Realty LLC.

Growing up on Lake Mahopac, Hickman learned to water-ski and loved to slalom, according to a published obituary, which also noted this anecdote: “His most famous boating experience was when he went down to the lake to start the family Correct Craft, only to have it promptly explode. He escaped with nothing more than a few singed hairs. The legal settlement bought him his first car, a Chevy Nova with a Hearst Shift.”

Known for his love of reading, his Labrador retrievers (Brax, Buck #1 and Buck #2) and beaches, he drove several Jeeps and many Porsches throughout the years, always with great abandon.

John B. Hickman died on April 8, 2017, at his home in Largo, Fla. He was 60 years old.
He is survived by two sisters, a brother and several nieces and nephews.

Randa Roen Nachbar K’78

Randa Roen Nachbar K’78, an early childhood educator, was born in Oklahoma on July 7, 1956, the daughter of the former Selma Pollets and Sheldon Roan, a publisher. As early as her time on College Hill, Nachbar was deeply committed to early childhood education. “Kirkland encouraged me to be independent, to question and to guide my own college education,” she wrote in her class’ 25th reunion yearbook. “I was able to achieve an excellent liberal arts education, become certified to teach elementary school and study off-campus three semesters (independent study in Cambridge, attend NYU, study abroad).”

Following graduation with a special degree in child development, she earned a master’s degree in early childhood education at Bank Street College of Education and spent a decade teaching pre-K through fourth grade in several New York City schools (primarily PS 11). Later, when her family moved to Amherst, Mass., she served as an educational development consultant in South Hadley, a parent educator in the Parents as Teachers program and coordinator of the Amherst Family Center. She also created and led the Excursions Program, a series of walking-tour parent/child field trips, and co-founded the Amherst Toy Library. 

A former editor of Day Care and Early Education magazine, Nachbar taught early childhood educators at both the graduate and undergraduate levels at Wheelock College, Westfield State College and Greenfield Community College. 

Outside of her professional life, her primary focus was the Pioneer Valley Cohousing Community in Amherst where she was one of the initial residents from its inception in 1994. In addition to traveling widely, including visits to China, Kenya and New Zealand, Nachbar was active in her community, participating in Round the World Women, Amherst Town Meeting and the Jones Library Burnett Gallery Committee.

Randa Roen Nachbar died on May 29, 2017, at the age of 60. She is survived by her husband, Daniel, to whom she was married in 1986; two children; and, of course, the children, parents and fellow teachers she both taught and inspired.

Help us provide an accessible education, offer innovative resources and programs, and foster intellectual exploration.

Site Search