In Memoriam

Helen “Meg” Bennett ’70, Los Angeles, April 11, 2024, at age 75. A former Northwestern Homecoming queen and Miss America contestant, Bennett moved to New York City after graduation and earned roles in productions of Grease on Broadway and Godspell off-Broadway. In 1975 she began a long and successful soap opera career as the ingenue Liza on Search for Tomorrow. Bennett went on to play Julia Newman in The Young and the Restless beginning in 1980. She began scriptwriting for The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Santa Barbara and Sunset Beach and received five Daytime Emmy nominations for writing, with a win for General Hospital in 1995. She also received five Writers Guild of America nominations, with wins for General Hospital and Sunset Beach. Bennett is survived by her husband, Robert Guza Jr.; two stepdaughters; four grandchildren; two siblings; and many nieces and nephews.

Photo Credit: Getty/CBS Photo Archive

Henry Wadsworth McGee Jr. ’54, Seattle, March 17, 2024, at age 91. A distinguished law professor, civil rights activist and housing advocate, McGee worked as a government prosecutor, private firm litigator and regional director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity’s Legal Services Program. McGee earned his law degree from DePaul University in 1957. As a National Lawyers Guild volunteer, he traveled to Mississippi in 1964 to defend Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee members who were arrested for assisting with Black voter registration. Part of a pioneering cohort of Black law professors, McGee held tenured and emeritus positions at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law and the Seattle University School of Law. He received two Fulbright Fellowships, was a visiting fellow at Oxford University and served as a fellow of the Mexican Academy of Private International and Comparative Law. An accomplished violinist, McGee played with the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra and other community music groups. He was a board member of the Seattle Low Income Housing Institute, the Museum Development Board for the Seattle Art Museum and other organizations. He is survived by his wife, Victoria; sons Henry, P. Byron, Kevin, Gregory and Erik; daughters by marriage Kristin and Melanie; nephews Paul and Alan; and many grandchildren and great-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.

Henry “Hank” Stephen Bangser ’71 MS, ’77 PhD, North Potomac, Md., March 12, 2024, at age 74. Bangser touched the lives of many during his nearly 50-year career in education. He earned his master’s in teaching in 1971 and a doctorate in educational leadership and administration in 1977, both from Northwestern. Bangser then spent the next several decades teaching and taking on educational leadership positions, including superintendencies, in six public school districts across Illinois, New York and California. He spent more than 20 years with New Trier Township High School District 203 in the Chicago suburbs, first as a social studies teacher and football coach in the 1970s, then as an assistant principal. He then served as superintendent of the district for 16 years. Upon his retirement in 2006, the administration building at the Northfield, Ill., campus was renamed in his honor. Bangser served as vice president of the Northwestern Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1994 to 1997 and as president of the School of Education and Social Policy Alumni Board from 1994 to 1996. He was awarded the Alumni Merit Award in 1998. Bangser is survived by his wife, Sara; children Jill, Marc and Matt; and seven grandchildren.

Pierson “Sandy” Grieve ’50, Naples, Fla., Feb. 24, 2024, at age 96. A Minnesota businessman and civic leader, Grieve began his career at Caterpillar Tractor and worked as a management consultant for A.T. Kearney, Rap-In-Wax and AP Parts. Grieve later became CEO of Economics Laboratory, now known as Ecolab, a sanitization and cleaning products company. During his tenure, sales grew from under $500 million to over $2 billion. Grieve chaired the Minnesota Metropolitan Airport Commission and headed the Minnesota Business Partnership. He received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2004, the Kappa Sigma Man of the Year award in 1997 and the University of Minnesota’s Regents Award. Grieve enlisted in the U.S. Navy after high school and served at the Naval Station Great Lakes in northern Illinois before majoring in business at Northwestern. He served on a Kellogg School of Management advisory council, among other roles. Grieve is survived by his children Peggy, Scott and Bruce; five grandchildren; and a great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his wife of more than 60 years, Florence Brogan Grieve ’51.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Ecolab

Patricia M. Logue ’86 JD, Chicago, Feb. 23, 2024, at age 64. Logue spent her law career advocating for LGBTQ+ justice. She opened the Midwest regional office of Lambda Legal as its managing attorney in 1993 and spent 14 years with the organization. As part of Lambda Legal’s team, she won several landmark cases, including Nabozny v. Podelsny, which held that schools have an obligation to protect students from anti-gay harassment, and Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down sodomy laws nationwide. She argued on behalf of military service members who were discharged for violating the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, as well as those banned from service for being transgender or living with HIV. She also argued a series of cases ensuring legal protections for LGBTQ+ parents. In 2007 Logue joined the Circuit Court of Cook County as an associate judge, serving in the domestic relations division. Logue earned several awards for her work and was inducted into Chicago’s LGBT Hall of Fame in 2003. She is survived by her wife, Marcia Festen; daughters Ruby and Ella; a granddaughter, Hazel; siblings Elizabeth, Anne Martha, Michael and Tim; and many nieces and nephews.

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.