In Memoriam

Tom Myers ’65, Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 3, 2024, at age 81. One of the greatest quarterbacks in Northwestern football history, Myers held or shared 15 Wildcats passing records by the time he graduated. In his very first game at Northwestern in 1962, he completed 15 consecutive passes against South Carolina, setting an NCAA record at the time. He led the Wildcats to a 7-2 record that season, including a 6-0 start and a midseason No. 1 national ranking. Myers earned All-American honors following the season. After graduating he was drafted in the fourth round by the Detroit Lions, where he played for two seasons. Following his NFL career, Myers spent 30 years as a commercial pilot with Sears, Roebuck and Co., where he was chief pilot and president of the Corporate Pilots National Association. He was inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991. Myers is survived by his wife, Letitia; son, Robb; brother, Michael; and grandchildren Riley, Lily and Brady. 

Photo Credit: University Archives 

Andre A. Moenssens ’67 LLM, Richmond, Va., July 28, 2024, at age 94. A trailblazing forensic sciences expert, Moenssens dedicated his life to fingerprint analysis and criminal identification. Born in Belgium during World War II, Moenssens ran a private detective business and wrote his first book on forensic evidence at the age of 19. He spent four years in Los Angeles as a press photographer and fingerprint artist and then became head instructor for fingerprint analysis at the Institute of Applied Science in Chicago. He earned his law degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law and his master of laws from Northwestern. He went on to teach for several universities, including for 22 years at the University of Richmond. A sought-after consultant, Moenssens wrote several books and chapters on scientific evidence in criminal cases and co-edited the Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science. He was named a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 2005. He is survived by his wife, Ann C. Smith; children Monique, Jacqueline, Michele, Suzanne and Mark; and nine grandchildren. 

Peter Ernest Holmes ’61, Southern Pines, N.C., June 21, 2024, at age 85. During his nearly four-decade career on Capitol Hill, Holmes worked for the U.S. Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), now known as the Department of Health and Human Services. As director of HEW from 1973 to 1975, he led the dismantling of the segregated elementary and secondary school systems in 17 Southern and border states. Holmes also worked to develop the regulatory and enforcement program for the newly enacted Title IX program. In 1974 President Richard Nixon named Holmes a U.S. representative at the United Nations Human Rights Conference in Ohrid, Yugoslavia. Earlier in his career, Holmes was a writer and editor for the weekly news magazine Congressional Quarterly and also served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Robert Griffin. After leaving the federal government, Holmes worked for General Electric and the Puerto Rico-USA Foundation. Holmes is survived by his wife, Anne; children James, Robert, Michael, Lammot, Ridgely, Bill and Stuart; and 13 grandchildren. 

David William Scott ’67 MA, ’69 PhD, Springfield, Ill., March 16, 2024, at age 87. Born in Evanston, Scott was a community-oriented educator who was deeply passionate about preserving Illinois heritage and histories. He taught American government courses at Northern Illinois University and six other Illinois colleges. In 1974 he joined the Illinois State Board of Education as a senior policy analyst and managed the school district reorganization program. Scott served as vice president and president of the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) from 2001 to 2005 and earned its Lifetime Achievement award in 2018. He edited a 2018 book for the ISHS on the bicentennial of Illinois statehood and also wrote a book tracing his own family history back to the 1700s. Scott was a board member of the World Affairs Council of Central Illinois and a volunteer docent at the Old State Capitol. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Virginia Riser; daughters Margaret and Elizabeth; grandchildren Katherine, Jonathan, Molly and Will; nine nieces and nephews; sister-in-law Joan; and brother-in-law William.

Jeannie Peterson ’62 ’63 MS, Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., Feb. 19, 2024, at age 84. Peterson was best known for her contributions to reducing the risk of global nuclear war. As editor of Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment from 1972 to 1983, she commissioned and published research by scientist Paul Crutzen that explored the negative effects of nuclear war on the environment. That research inspired Carl Sagan and other scientists to develop “nuclear winter” theory which describes the potentially disastrous effects of nuclear war on the atmosphere. In 1995 Mikhail Gorbachev, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, said nuclear winter theory convinced him to pursue peaceful relations with the United States. Peterson became director of the Public Information Center for the Consequences of Nuclear War in Washington, D.C. In 2022 she won a Future of Life Award for lessening the risk of nuclear war. Peterson worked for the United Nations in various roles across Europe from 1986 to 2001 before moving to Vermont. There she served as a member of the Vermont Council on World Affairs while pursuing her passion for photography. She exhibited her nature photographs across the state before moving to California. She is survived by her brothers, Mark and Paul, and their families.

Roger Thomas Ward ’68, ’70 MS, Evanston, Dec. 15, 2023, at age 76. A skilled biomedical engineer and researcher at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, Ward investigated biochemical factors for individuals with sickle cell anemia. Earlier in his career, Ward was recruited by IBM and also worked as an aerospace engineer intern at the Rand Corp., Jet Propulsion Lab and Hughes Aircraft. He received a football scholarship to Northwestern, where he studied math and physics and participated in the 1968 Bursar’s Office Takeover. He earned his doctoral degree in engineering from UCLA in 1978. Ward is survived by his brother, Guy; his former wife, Devyanne Ward; four children, Jocelynn Harrod Ridley ’03 MS, Jeffrey, Sarah and Amber; his former wife, Vivian; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and additional relatives and friends. 

George Cohon ’61 JD, Toronto, Nov. 24, 2023, at age 86. Cohon was best known for introducing the McDonald’s Big Mac to Russia. Born on the South Side of Chicago, Cohon received a bachelor’s degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, then earned his law degree at Northwestern in 1961. Cohon borrowed $70,000 to purchase the rights to operate his first McDonald’s franchise, which he opened in London, Ontario, in 1968. He eventually became the chairman of McDonald’s in Canada and Russia. In 1997, Cohon, with co-author David Macfarlane, published his memoir, To Russia with Fries: My Journey From Chicago’s South Side to Russia’s Red Square — Having Fun Along the Way. He was awarded Northwestern's Alumni Merit Award in 1987 and the Alumni Medal in 1992. Cohon is survived by his wife, Susan Cohon ’60; sons Mark Cohon ’89 and Craig; sister, Sandy Raizes; and three grandchildren, including Amber Cohon ’23.

Photo Credit: Getty Images