Rehwaldt, Charles Arthur, Jr. (“Chad”) (10/16/1937–10/20/1995). Chad Rehwaldt of Muscatine, Iowa was a student at M.I.T. from 1955 to 1958 and at Grinnell from 1959 to 1961, but did not receive a degree from either institution. At Grinnell he was a Philosophy major, a photographer for the College annual (1960 Cyclone), and a member of the Camera Club. He lived in Dibble Hall. Chad served in the

U.S. Army, 1961-63. He was a self-employed photographer, 1964-69, and later he worked with a photography marketing firm. Chad was survived by his wife, Helen Frances (Burland) Rehwaldt.

 

Rikkers, Robert Frederick (12/30/1939–01/02/1979). Bob Rikkers from Milwaukee, Wisconsin received a B.A. degree in Physics from Grinnell in 1961. He was a member of the Math Club, and Bob Richburg, a classmate and one of his Langan Hall roommates, testifies that Bob was really bright, especially in math and the sciences, and he seemed to be able to earn top grades without the study time required for most of us. (Rikkers’ widow thinks this is an overstatement; she said Bob did plenty of hair pulling and worked VERY hard to earn top grades, but that was in grad school.)

Bob also was a star of the Grinnell football team and its co-captain his senior year; he and the other co-captain, Jim Simmons, interviewed the candidates for the new head football coach, and their recommended candidate, Ed Bowers, got the job. Coach Bowers later said he owed his job to Bob and Jim. Bob also participated on the track team and was a member and officer of the men’s honorary athletic club (Honor G). Richburg observed that Bob was remarkable in the breadth of his interests and abilities while not talking about his many accomplishments. He just went out and did what had to be done. Bob was all around the most popular and respected guy in Langan Hall as evidenced by his being on its governing body (House Council).

In 1959, Bob and a high school friend spent the summer traveling throughout Europe. They happened to go to the beach at Scheveningen, Holland, where they met a group of young Germans. One was an attractive woman named “Renate.” She recalls meeting these “two good-looking guys and giving them my address in Germany and inviting them to visit should they come through the Rhineland. A few weeks later they appeared at my family’s door and stayed for a week. They were well fed by my mother and slept on the floor in our living room. Then Bob and I corresponded for a year or so before I arrived in the U.S.–my family didn’t even have a phone at that time, so everything took place on paper.” In 1962 Bob and Renate were married at her home in Germany.

They started their married life in Evanston, Illinois, where Bob was in graduate school at Northwestern University from 1961 to1965. There he obtained an M.S. degree in industrial engineering and a Ph.D. degree in operations research.

Bob then joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he became Professor of Industrial Operations and Engineering and the author of a book and articles in his field. The University In his honor maintains The Robert Rikkers Garden near one of its engineering buildings.

Bob died on Jan. 2, 1979, at age 39 after a five-year battle with lympho-sarcoma. Bob was survived by Renate and their two sons, Mark and Scott, who were then only 14 and 12 years old. Renate reports, “Both sons have settled in Southwestern Colorado. Scott studied furniture design and is a successful furniture builder in the Telluride area. He and his wife, a blacksmith, are the owners of the Coal Creek Wood and Iron Works and are raising two great kids. Mark received his M.S. degree in snow physics at Boulder and leads an adventuresome life in avalanche forecasting and heli-ski guiding. Mark, who also has a M.B.A., lives in Ophir, Colorado at 10,000 feet with his wife and young daughter. Bob would be immensely proud of his sons who are living creative, athletic, and intellectually stimulating lives and carry many of his great physical and character traits.”

 

Priess, William Gerald

May 31, 1940–October 7, 2008

Bill Priess of Schenectady, New York attended Grinnell for the first semester of his freshman year. He also attended Union College and Boston University and served in the U.S. Navy.

Real estate and securities sales were his endeavors in New York and Massachusetts before moving to Arizona in 1977. In Scottsdale, Bill continued these pursuits. He also became involved in the petroleum industry and was the author of Understanding the oil business: A layman’s guide to the petroleum industry and personal investing (Lincoln Petroleum Corp., Scottsdale, AZ 1981).

While working in Massachusetts, he met and married Brenda “Bunny” Goode, but they were divorced in 1989. She still remembers the excellent meals he loved to cook.

Bill died at age 68 after a long period of poor health. He was survived by two sons, William Matthew and Erich.

Powers, John Foster (05/30/1938–06/08/1984).

John Powers started life on Maui, where he was born, and then in Hawaii, where his family lived for two and a half years near the edge of the crater of Kilauea volcano. John became a Coloradan in fifth grade, when his dad, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, was transferred to Denver in late 1948.

After serving in the U.S. Army in 1956, John started at Grinnell in 1957. He received a B.A. degree in History from the College in 1961. He was on the freshman swimming team and the staff of the annual yearbook. John lived in Cowles Hall.

Immediately after Grinnell, John was a lab and pilot plant operator in Denver for the Gates Rubber Company. He then started a graduate program in history at Colorado State College, where he obtained a

M.A. degree in 1968. As a graduate student he also taught history at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado. Sometime after this, John worked as a supervisor of a crew building the Eisenhower Tunnel through the mountains west of Denver. Later on, John worked in the U.S. Geological Survey’s personnel department.

John in 1963 married Linda Lucille Huntoon, and after their divorce, he was married in 1971 to Mary Susann Wheeler. He and Susie had their only child, William Wheeler Powers, in 1981.

In June 1984, after a year-long illness, John died of cancer. He was survived by his wife, their three-year-old son, John’s parents and a sister (Margaret (Powers) Bogle).

One of his friends remembered a trip with John and Susie to Hawaii in 1980. “There cannot be a better companion for a trip to Hawaii than John. He knew where all the best snorkeling and beaches were. He knew the volcanoes by name, and which ones had recently erupted. He knew which plants were native and which were not, as well as what they were called in Hawaiian. He helped Susie to wake us up in the middle of the night to see the fluorescent tide and the night blooming cereus. He tirelessly drove us around three islands, knowing to prepare to eat lunch where there were no restaurants, although we, of course, also ate sushi at the famous Monkey Bar in Honolulu.”

This friend also talked about the annual New Year’s Eve party he and his wife started with John and Susie. They “met at the Japanese market in downtown Denver on New Year’s Eve, where we bought all the ingredients, and then returned to John and Susie’s home to make and eat sushi and sashimi courses until midnight. John blew the Hawaiian conch to welcome in the New Year.”

John’s family also fondly treasures John for being a proud father, for discussions about history, for games of bridge, and for being a Broncos fan. Nor can they forget his wonderful mimicking talent (he did great, funny imitations of Jonathan Winters and the U.S. Army Master Sergeant at Ft. Leonard Wood where John served after high school). John loved music, especially Hawaiian music and that of The Weavers folk singers. Unfortunately, his death prevented him from fulfilling his dream of participating in the community Messiah sing the Christmas of 1984.

 

POUSH, Kenneth Dean (August 7, 1939—October 4, 2017)

Ken Poush from Nevada, Iowa was a resident of Dibble Hall and Union Headwaiter, 1958-60 and Student Librarian, 1960-61. In Fall 1959 he hosted shows (“Sound Ideas” and “Good Listening”) on the campus radio station (KGRW). He obtained his B.A. in Psychology from the College with our class in June 1961.

Ken worked as a credit analyst for Dun & Bradstreet and then as a sales representative for Fostoria Glass Co. Our class member, Jack Swenson, recalls bumping into Ken at a huge American Housewares Show in

Chicago around 1980. Ken apparently lived in California until his death in Hot Springs, CA.

Duane W. Krohnke

 

Pois, Robert August (04/24/1940–01/18/2004). Bob Pois had a stellar academic record as a history major at Grinnell College. He ranked first in the class of 1961 (Andrew W. Archibald Prize for Highest Scholarship), was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (Fall 1960) and was awarded his B.A. in history with Honors. He was a resident of North Younker Hall and was on the Student Council, 1959-60.

He continued his history studies as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in 1962 and 1965 respectively.

Bob then joined the history faculty of the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he taught for the next 38 years with the exception of one year at UCLA in 1977-78. His specialty was modern German and European history. He received nearly every teaching award offered by Colorado, including its two most prestigious: Presidential Teaching Scholar and Distinguished Professor of History. According to one of his colleagues, Pois was known for “his droll, witty classroom style, his mastery of the telling anecdote, and his deep concern with the moral dimension of historical events.” One of his students said Pois’ classes “were symphonies that would take you from a moment of elation and wonder, to tears, to uproarious laughter, all in the same lecture.”

He published seven books and over 30 articles and essays on a wide variety of topics, including historiography, 20th-century Europe, World War I, Weimar Germany, German Expressionism, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. A related interest was “psychohistory,” the use of psychology to understand history. For example, he taught about the importance of disappointment as a human motivation. An example he used was Adolph Hitler’s disappointments: failure at school and as an artist, the death of his beloved mother and the loss of World War I and the lebensraum Germany had gained in that war. Students came to realize that such a person could grab onto some ideology or system as a source of comfort or rationalization for the bitterness engendered by these losses. This, of course, did not justify the things that Hitler did. (Gross, In Memoriam: Robert A. Pois, Am. Historical Ass’n Perspectives (Dec. 2004), http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2004/0412/0412mem2.cfm; Obituary, Robert August Pois, Silver & Gold (Jan. 29, 2004), https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/3287.html; Paul Elovitz, Obituary: Robert Pois (1940-2004), Clio’s Psyche http://www.cliospsyche.org/obituaries_rp.html; Robert Pois, Using Disappointments in Teaching the Holocaust, Clio’s Psyche http://www.cliospsyche.org/articles_tih.html.)

Pois was born on April 24, 1940, in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Chicago. He died on January 18, 2004, of pneumonia. He was survived by his wife, Anne Marie Pois, three daughters and a brother.

 

Otto, Kathleen (Bailey) (01/18/1941–05/18/1998). Kathy Bailey from St. Louis, Missouri received her B.A. from Grinnell in June 1961 as an English-Journalism major. She was a member of the national women’s journalism society (Theta Sigma Phi) along with the College’s Union and Social Coordinating Committees. After her first year in James Hall, she was a resident of Loose Hall. After college, Kathy worked in

New York City and Chicago for several magazines. Then with publisher Harcourt, Brace and World she was instrumental in the publication of the book Children and Books.

Kathy was survived by her husband (Dr. William R. Otto) and their two daughters, Dr. Jane Otto and Ms. Mary Otto, both of St. Louis, Missouri.

 

Palmer, Charles (“Chuck”) Milner (February 3, 1939—November 7, 2021)

After graduating from East High School in Des Moines, Chuck came to Grinnell for an enriching four years and being awarded the B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology in June 1961.

He was an active resident in Rawson Hall and was elected its President by hall mates for our senior year, thus entitling him to membership that year on the Council of House Presidents (CofHP). He also was on the varsity track and football teams and the Hall’s intramural swimming team.

Soon after graduating from Grinnell, he and Karen Ann Heise, his high-school sweet-heart and fellow Grinnell classmate in 1957-58, started a life-long, loving marriage on September 3, 1961. Their first stops were back in Des Moines for his one-year at Drake University Law School and then in Chicago for two years at the University of Chicago as a graduate student in Social Service Administration, leading to a Master of Social Work degree in 1964.

Chuck and Karen returned to Des Moines in May 1964 after the birth of their first child, Diane Elizabeth, on May 27. Thus began Chuck’s 57 year career dedicated to the mental health and wellbeing of children and families in Iowa..

The capstones of that career were two gubernatorial appointments as Director of the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS), 1989-99 and 2011-17. In his first appointment he was well-known for the expansion of Medicaid health-care coverage and revamping Iowa’s welfare programs. In his second stint he oversaw the reorganization of Iowa‘s mental health services from a county-by-county hodgepodge into a statewide system coordinated by 14 regional authorities , the consolidation of state mental hospitals and transferring the administration of Iowa’s Medicaid health care program to private companies.

Upon his death, this public service was recognized by the current DHS Director, who stated, “Director Palmer was a great public servant, leader and friend. I’m grateful and thankful for his kind words of encouragement and partnership over the last two years. I was fortunate to have known him. He has a tremendous passion for those we serve and for supporting the team at DHS. His work and passion continued up to his passing. He will deeply be missed.” Similar words were uttered by former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who made those appointments: Palmer’s acceptance of the second appointment was “really far and above the call of duty. He really loved human services and serving people. He always was accessible to people and was thoughtful and caring.”

Between those two appointments, Chuck served for 11 years as President of Institute for Social and Economic Development, a statewide nonprofit provider of a variety of asset development services for low-income Iowans Before the first appointment, Palmer was engaged as Chief Psychiatric Social Worker for the Des Moines Child Guidance Center, Director of the Community Planning Division for United Way of Greater Des Moines and leading the Department’s division of mental health and developmental disabilities. Somehow he found time to serve as an adjunct professor at Drake and the University of Iowa and volunteer for various community organizations, including the American Red Cross and the National Association of Social Workers.

Chuck loved fishing at the family cabin near Nisswa, Minnesota and in Canada every summer with his cousin and friends. He also was a noted lover of reading books.

Chuck and Karen are the proud parents of Diane Elizabeth Sanders and Michael Richard Palmer (born March 6, 1968), all of whom survive Chuck along with Diane’s partner Mark Carpenter and daughter-in-law Chrissy Palmer and grandchildren Max Sanders and Sophie Palmer.

 

Patton, William Bradford (“Bill”) (February 12, 1939 –April 5, 2016)

Bill Patton from Mason City, Iowa became a beloved and valuable member of our class. Residing in South Younker Hall, Bill lettered in wrestling, track and cross-county and was a member of Honor G. Described by a coach as “small, tough and wiry,” Bill wrestled in the 130-pound category and was captain of the team his senior year when he received the John Teget Most Valuable Wrestler award. He received the B.A. degree in biology in June 1961. Bill treasured the small-college experience, saying he would have been lost as a student and athlete at a much larger school.

After graduating from Grinnell, he decided to abandon his plan to become a physician and instead entered the insurance business as an agent in his hometown. That was interrupted by three-and-a half-years of active duty (1962-1965) with the U.S. Navy as Communications Officer and Assistant Operations Officer in the Western Pacific. For this service Bill was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.

Bill then began a distinguished career in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In 1978, for example, he was in command of a Reserve telecommunications station in Greece and successfully developed a plan to integrate his reserve unit into an active-duty counterpart demonstrating that the “One Navy Total Force” concept worked. Bill retired as a Captain, USNR.

After his naval active duty, he returned to the insurance business, this time for several years in Des Moines with Aetna Life and Casualty as a senior claims representative. He then joined a Des Moines electrical products distributor, Stitzell Electric Supply Company, where he became a vice president, director and shareholder.

After his early retirement, Bill was able to “enjoy the other things in life—family, grandkids, sports activities, and travel.” His sports activities included being a timer for the Drake Relays for over 20 years and an avid University of Iowa (“Hawkeye”) sports fan. He also was an elder and active member of Covenant Presbyterian Church of West Des Moines as well as the Downtown Rotary Club. He said, “Grinnell provided me with an education, skills, and ability to continue to learn to accomplish the things that I have.”

Bill died April 5, 2016, at UnityPoint Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Sally Montgomery Patton; sons Scott (Angie) and David (LeAnn); step-son Shawn (Brenda) Shearer; step-daughter Heidi Koch, 15 grandchildren and a former wife, Mary Lou Beach Patton Fitch. Duane W. Krohnke

 

Pitts, John (“Jack”) Bost, III (December 2, 1939—May 13, 2019)

From Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he played varsity football and tennis, Jack Pitts reprised those endeavors on the freshman football and tennis teams at the College, and in 1958 he was “Honorable Mention” for its All Star IM Football Team. This interest in sports inspired him to be an S&B sports columnist (“Animal House” and “The Sanity of Stones”). In addition, he was in the College’s cast for a production of “Camino Real” by Tennessee Williams. At the same time he was an active member of Cowles Hall.

Jack spent the 1959-60 academic year at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and graduated from Grinnell in June 1961 with a History major.

After Grinnell, circa 1961-62, he was a representative for Bunge Corp. on the floor of the New York Produce Exchange. Thereafter he lived in Phoenix, AZ; then In San Antonio, TX while attending Trinity University and earning a M.A. degree in history in 1968. After that he moved to California, where he lived for the rest of his life. Circa 1984 he was a floral designer and the owner of “Blossoms,” a flower shop in Santa Rosa, CA.

Jack is survived by a daughter (Ketama A. Pitts), three sons (Zachary F., Blake Edward and Logan Kardon Pitts) and three former wives (Zara C. Graham, Susan P. Kardon and Kathleen Doran).

Duane W. Krohnke