In Memoriam

Ken Kraft ’57, ’59 MS, Evanston, Oct. 27, 2020, at age 85. A national wrestling icon, Kraft spent decades helping guide Northwestern athletics. A member of the Wildcat wrestling team from 1955 to 1957, he won a Big Ten championship as a senior. He then became the University’s head wrestling coach. During his 22-year tenure, he coached 14 All-Americans and two national champions, including his brother, Art Kraft ’60, ’61 MS. Ken Kraft stepped down as head coach in 1979 and served as associate athletic director until 2004. The University’s Ken Kraft Wrestling Complex is named in his honor. Kraft founded the prestigious Midlands Championships for amateur wrestling. Named USA Wrestling Man of the Year in 1976, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. He is survived by his wife, Marjo; a daughter, Sherry; and a sister, Diana.

Photo Credit: Northwestern University Archives

Joseph Ruklick ’59, ’90 MS, Evanston, Sept. 17, age 82. A Northwestern basketball star from 1956 to 1959, the 6-foot-10 Ruklick broke 16 school records while earning All-America honors in his senior year. He then spent three seasons with the Philadelphia Warriors and played alongside Wilt Chamberlain. Ruklick became part of NBA history when he assisted on the basket that gave Chamberlain 100 points in a single game, a record that still stands. Ruklick left the NBA in 1962 and began a 28-year stint at the National Merit Scholarship Corp. He later pursued graduate education in literature and journalism. In 1999 Ruklick joined the Chicago Defender as a reporter and became the Black paper’s only white editorial staff member. He was inducted into the Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 as a charter member. Ruklick is survived by his sons, Grant and Charles. (See “Baskets and Bylines.”)

Credit: Lauren Pond ’09

James R. Thompson ’59 JD, ’79 H, Chicago, Aug. 14, age 84. A tireless campaigner, Thompson served a record four terms as Illinois governor, from 1977 to 1991. After graduating with his law degree from Northwestern, he worked as a prosecutor in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and also taught as an associate professor at the law school, where he co-wrote four textbooks on criminal law. In 1971 he was appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, where he prosecuted anti- corruption cases. A moderate Republican, Thompson ran for governor in 1976, winning by the largest margin in state history. He pushed for enhanced infrastructure with the Build Illinois plan, created the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and helped keep the Chicago White Sox in Illinois by advocating for the construction of a new stadium. After serving as governor, Thompson joined the law firm Winston & Strawn as partner. He also served on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which investigated the 9/11 attacks. He is survived by his wife, Jayne; a daughter, Samantha; and a granddaughter.

Credit: Courtesy of Northwestern University Archives

Charles Snorf ’58 MD, ’63 GME, Carmel, Calif., July 30, age 90. A longtime surgeon, Snorf was also a generous benefactor to the Northwestern community. He started his 33-year career in health care in the early ’60s with a private orthopedic practice and work at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Snorf and his wife, Leslie, made significant philanthropic contributions to Northwestern, including creating the Snorf Medical Student Scholarship Fund at the Feinberg School of Medicine in 1997. They also established both the Dr. Charles and Leslie Snorf Professorship in Orthopedic Surgery and the Dr. Charles and Leslie Snorf Research and Education Fund. Snorf is survived by his wife; daughters Susan, Cynthia and Carolyn; stepsons Kevin and David; 13 grandchildren; and his first wife, Roberta.

Les Crystal ’56, ’57 MS, Manhattan, N.Y., June 24, 2020, age 85. Known as a kind and reassuring leader, Crystal oversaw network news at both NBC and PBS. After college he began writing for TV and radio station KDAL in Duluth, Minn., then joined NBC’s Chicago affiliate in 1963 as a producer for its nightly news program and Dateline Chicago documentary series. He served as executive producer for NBC Nightly News from 1973 to 1976 and as president of the network’s news division from 1977 to 1979. One of his most influential roles began in 1983 when he took over as executive producer of what became known as The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, guiding its efforts to deliver in-depth reporting as the country’s first hourlong newscast. Crystal led the program for more than 20 years, before becoming president of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions in 2005. He retired in 2010. Crystal is survived by his wife, Toby Lee; three children, Bradley, Alan and Elizabeth; three grandchildren; and a sister, Elaine.

Photo: Courtesy of PBS NewsHour Productions

Michael Heuer ’56 DDS, Naperville, Ill., June 4, age 88. As dean of the Northwestern University Dental School from 1993 to 1998, Heuer restructured its curriculum and added programs in oral pathology, general dentistry and geriatric dentistry. After beginning his career in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps, Heuer returned to his dental school alma mater in 1960 as an assistant professor. Following a stint on the Loyola University Chicago faculty, he rejoined Northwestern as chair of endodontics. He went on to become associate dean of academic affairs in 1983 and senior associate dean in 1988 before serving as the dental school’s pen- ultimate dean. In that role Heuer was tasked with announcing the school’s closure, which occurred in 2001, the same year he was honored with the Northwestern Alumni Association’s Alumni Merit Award. He is survived by two daughters, Kristan and Katrina; seven grandchildren; and two sisters.

Ray Farley ’51, ’62 CERT, Racine, Wis., May 2, 2020, age 95. Awarded a Bronze Star for heroism on the Italian front in World War II, he went on to play football at Northwestern. After graduation he joined the sales staff at S.C. Johnson & Son, beginning a 39-year career that culminated in his 1988–90 tenure as president and CEO. He was only the second CEO in the company’s history from outside its namesake family. Elected director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1984, Farley chaired its Spirit of Enterprise Fund capital campaign and was a U.S. chair of its Canada-U.S. Relations Committee. For his alma mater, Farley endowed the S.C. Johnson & Son Chair in International Marketing, served on the Kellogg Graduate School of Management Advisory Council and was a life trustee on the University’s Board of Trustees. In 2007 he received the Northwestern Alumni Medal. Farley is survived by his sister, Helen; daughter, Gwen; son-in-law, Jason; and two grandchildren. 

Photo: Mark Hertzberg, (Racine, Wis.) Journal Times file photo