In Memoriam

James T. Kolbe ’65, Washington, D.C., Dec. 3, 2022, at age 80. A U.S. Navy veteran, Kolbe represented Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 until his retirement in 2007. He was the second openly gay Republican to serve in Congress. At Northwestern, he majored in political science and participated in student government, the Young Republicans and the Navy ROTC. He earned an MBA from Stanford University in 1967 and served in Vietnam that same year, earning a congressional medal for valor. Kolbe came out as gay in 1996, gaining national recognition. He became an advocate for gay rights, supporting legislation to eliminate the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. He also worked to stop employment discrimination and advocated for federal recognition of same-sex marriage. After retiring, he became a fellow at the German Marshall Fund. He taught at the University of Arizona’s law school and was active in Northwestern’s Career Treks program and the Northwestern Alumni Association Mentorship Program. In 1993 he received a Northwestern Alumni Association Merit Award. Kolbe is survived by his husband, Hector Alfonso; sisters Beth Kolbe and Ginny Rousseau; and many extended family members.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Chris Maddaloni 

William J. Kunkle Jr. ’63, ’69 JD, Indian Head Park, Ill., Nov. 19, 2022, at age 81. A longtime prosecutor, Kunkle is most prominently remembered for his work on several high-profile cases in Illinois, including the 1980 trial of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, for whom he secured the death penalty, and the 1999 DuPage 7 case, which accused sevenofficers of manipulating evidence to incriminate a man wrongly accused of murder. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern, Kunkle began working as an assistant public defender for Cook County in 1970. A few years later,he returned to Northwestern to earn his law degree and then was hired as an assistant state’s attorney in Illinois, a job that would land him the Gacy case. Kunkle held several roles in the state attorney’s office for nearly 13 years. In 1985, he left the office to work in private practice. He also served on the Illinois Gaming Board, then served as a Cook County judge before retiring in 2014. He is remembered by his family as a stern yet empathetic man and was a devoted grandfather to his grandson, C.J.

Photo Credit: Sally Good, Chicago Tribune

Ned Rorem ’44, ’77 H, New York City, Nov. 18, 2022, at age 99. A Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, Rorem wrote more than 500 art songs and orchestral pieces over his lifetime. Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, he began composing music at a young age. He was known for composing pieces to accompany classic poetry as well as dramatic orchestral arrangements, for which he drew inspiration from the natural world. After graduating from Northwestern, he attended the Curtis Institute of Music and earned his master’s degree from the Juilliard School. He received a Fulbright Fellowship in 1951, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1957 and the Pulitzer Prize for his orchestral concerto Air Music in 1976. He also received an honorary doctorate from Northwestern in 1977. In addition to composing, Rorem kept a journal for most of his life and published 15 books of his diaries. He served as president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters from 2000 to 2003 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. His art songs continue to be studied by voice students at the Bienen School of Music. Rorem outlived all of his immediate family members. 

Curtis “Curt” Gentry ’77 MA/MS, Durham, N.C., Oct. 29, 2022, at age 85. After several years in the military, Gentry played four varsity sports — basketball, baseball, football and track — as a student-athlete at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, then called Maryland State College, while serving as student body president. After graduating, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1965 and at age 29 become one the oldest rookies to make an NFL roster. A defensive back, he played for the Bears from 1966 to 1968 and once recorded three interceptions in one game, a Bears record. After the NFL, he coached football at several universities, including Northwestern. Gentry also played minor league baseball in the Detroit Tigers organization. After his coaching career, Gentry was a physical education professor at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill. He is survived by three sons, Chris, Jimmy and Edward; one daughter, Julia; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; nephew and caregiver Thomas; and two sisters, Mary Hamilton and Mary Campbell.

Photo Credit: UMES Sports Information

Virginia “Ginny” Ristow Harris ’54, St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 3, 2022, at age 90. From education to local reporting to government service, Harris was passionate about her community involvement. After graduating from Northwestern, she taught at St. Richard’s Elementary School while raising her family before moving to Victoria, Minn., where she worked as a reporter, then editor, for the Sun Newspaper system. Her reporting on civic matters caught the attention of the local city council, and she was hired as Victoria’s first city administrator, becoming the first woman to be hired for the position in Carver County. After a successful tenure as city administrator, she became Carver County’s director of planning and zoning, a position that she held for almost 20 years. She served in many land-use planning organizations and committees, always making an effort to preserve agricultural land for farming. Harris also served as a director of the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District. She is survived by her children, Larry, Michael, Teresa, Rich, Tom, Patricia and KC; 14 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.

Robert J. Werner ’53, ’54 MMus, ’67 DMA, Roanoke, Va., Aug. 31, 2022, at age 90. Werner was a passionate advocate for a comprehensive arts education. As dean of the University of Cincinnati’s College–Conservatory of Music for 15 years, he oversaw the construction of the $93.2 million CCM Village that enhanced the  conservatory’s teaching and performance capabilities and advanced the school’s reputation as a leading center for performing and media arts. The 250-seat Robert J. Werner Recital Hall in the CCM Village honors his legacy. Werner served as president of both the International Society for Music Education and the National Association of Schools of Music. He supported publications for community education programs as well as developmental frameworks for music education at elementary and secondary levels. He received a Northwestern Alumni Association Alumni Merit Award in 1991. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Sharon Mohrfeld Werner ’57; children Mark, Kurt and Erik; grandchildren Elisa, Kristen, Haley and Sydney; and great-grandchildren Claire, Caleb and Dylan.

Edmund W. Chang ’80, West Newton, Mass., Aug. 18, 2022, at age 64. Whether it was work, independent projects, design competitions or teaching, Chang never lost his passion for architecture and design. After graduating from Northwestern with a degree in American studies, he worked as a designer for an architectural firm before attending the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He later moved to Los Angeles and worked as an architect while also teaching at the University of Southern California. In 1990 he and his then partner, former Harvard classmate Roger Sherman, won a design competition for the West Hollywood Civic Center in Los Angeles. In 1992 he started Chang and Sylligardos Architects with his wife, Susan Sylligardos. They relocated to the Boston area and worked on residential and institutional projects for Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In Newton, Mass., Chang designed City Hall’s Millennium Park and worked on an urban design committee for the area. Chang, who retired in 2021, is survived by his wife; his son, Alexander; his mother, Edith; his sister, Phyllis; and his brother, Laurence.