Remembrances

Dear Students,

Nobody asked, but I’d like to offer a little advice. I’ll make it quick.

Look around at your college friends and try to predict which one or two will have the greatest impact on your life.

You’ll probably get it wrong.

I’m writing this now, in an admittedly emotional state, because my friend Bob Kazel ’86 died Wednesday (Sept. 17, 2025), and I didn’t treat him that well when we were students.

I didn’t recognize how important he was going to be to me 10, 20, 30, 40 years later. I didn’t recognize how wonderful he was (I wrote “how wonderful he is” and had to backspace to change it, and now I have an ache in my chest) until we’d left Evanston, gone our separate ways and then reconnected years later. I didn’t recognize how he was suffering as a student because people like me didn’t warm up to him right away, and how that made him feel isolated, unseen and lonely.

I mean, we were friendly. We worked together at The Daily. We went to a Sox game together once. But he lived off campus, with his mother, in north Chicago. He didn’t attend parties. He wasn’t there for the late-night bull sessions that cemented many of my other friendships. And, OK, he was sort of weird, too. He looked like a 6-foot-2 Muppet. He geeked out on Star Trek. He dressed like an old man. I might have teased him for being less than cool.

And then, after graduation, he wrote me a letter. He said he wasn’t going to take the job he’d been offered at The Miami Herald because he was in the hospital. He had what was then called manic-depressive illness.

As our letters traveled back and forth across the country, he explained what that meant, because I had never heard of it, and how it had been a part of his life for years, which was why he hadn’t lived on campus. I had never asked.

But now I could ask, so I did. And that’s when our real friendship began. Soon after that, he told me he was gay, which further explained why he’d felt isolated on campus.

Our friendship lasted 40 years. Through more manic episodes and bouts of depression and hospital stays than I can count. Through jobs that came and went.

There were more moments of joy than sadness. He danced at my wedding. He recorded his favorite karaoke songs for my daughter on the day she was born. He never missed a holiday dinner at our table unless he was sick. My kids called him Uncle Bob.

For the past few years, he lived in a nursing home. The medication he took all those years destroyed his kidneys, and he needed dialysis three times a week. Then came cancer. But he seldom complained.

He proudly shared his life story recently for a book called Profiles in Mental Health Courage. He served earlier this year as a judge for a high school newspaper journalism contest. He volunteered on a suicide hotline. When I saw him two weeks ago, he was full of jokes and almost as giggly as the 20-year-old Muppet I once knew.

He may have been the bravest person I ever met, and he was certainly one of the kindest. Kindness, it turns out, is much more important than coolness in a friend.

So, I guess that’s my advice. As you look around campus and try to guess which friends you’ll still love and need in your lives forty years from now, you will have a better chance of guessing correctly if you factor in kindness. If you’re lucky, you might even find a friend like Bob Kazel.

Written by Jonathan Eig ’86. This essay (“Eig: On Seeking Kindness and My Friend Bob Kazel”) originally appeared in The Daily Northwestern on Sept. 19, 2025. 

Photo caption: Bob Kazel celebrates his birthday in 2008 with Jonathan Eig and family in Chicago. Photo credit: Jennifer Tescher 

Cathy Smith Martin ’70 MS passed away on May 24, 2024, in West Des Moines, Iowa. She began working for Northwestern in 1967 in the registrar’s office, eventually retiring as the Associate Dean of Speech in what is now the School of Communication in 2002. She was born January 24, 1944, in Live Oak, Calif., and received her bachelor’s degree at Bemidji State University.

In her retirement, she enjoyed reading and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She remained a Northwestern fan, always watching the Wildcats on TV or reminiscing about the many illustrious students she knew during her time in the School of Communication, several of whom are now successful actors and entertainers.

She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Wayne, who also retired from Northwestern after ten years in the engineering department; her daughter Carolyn (John) and four grandchildren.  

Genevieve Tasha Dougherty ’83 passed away on May 6, 2024, in Alameda, California. Following Northwestern and her graduation from UC Berkeley School of Law, Genevieve (fondly known as Gigi and “the Vieve”) worked as a real estate attorney for Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, and American Stores, Albertsons and Safeway corporations until her retirement in 2017. She was born October 16, 1961, in New York City and raised in Westport, Conn.

Gigi was passionate about dogs, art, travel and the unusual. She had a brilliant mind and could surprise anyone with an idea of something fun to do, a geographic or historical anecdote or — after a cautious waiting period — an observation that was absolutely on point. She enjoyed her wonderful home in the Bay Area, spending time creating mixed-media art projects, traveling with friends and family in Africa, Asia, Europe, Russia and the U.S., and was game for anything that led to an adventure.

During retirement, Gigi enjoyed fostering dogs, not having to set morning alarms, and time with family and friends. Gigi is survived by Rosie, her foster-forever dog; her dear friends; and her cousins Catherine "Kate" Foster-Anderson and John Foster.

Henry “Hank” Stephen Bangser ’71 MS, ’77 PhD passed away on March 12, 2024. He is survived by his beloved wife, Sara; their three children, Jill Fioravanti (Marc), Marc (Gina), and Matt (Abby); and their seven grandchildren, ages 4 to 15 (Albert, Simon, Camilla, Jackson, Penelope, Elyse, and Margo). Sara, Jill, Marc, Matt, their spouses and their children will always remember the vibrance and warmth of “Grandpa Hank” and strive to exemplify his character and values.

Hank grew up in Westchester County, N.Y., and graduated from Mamaroneck High School in 1966. He received a bachelor of arts in economics from Williams College in 1970, a master of arts in teaching from Northwestern in 1971 and a PhD in educational leadership and administration from Northwestern in 1977. His educational career began at New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Ill., and spanned nearly five decades, including classroom teaching, educational leadership positions and superintendencies in six public school districts across New York, Illinois and California. Perhaps most noteworthy were his more than 20 years spent with New Trier High School District 203, where he worked first as a social studies teacher and assistant principal, and then returned to serve for 16 years as superintendent. Hank was inducted into the Mamaroneck High School Hall of Fame in 1999, and upon his retirement from New Trier in 2006, the administration building at the Northfield Campus was renamed the Henry S. Bangser Administration Building.

Hank’s legacy touched thousands of teachers, administrators, staff and students. One current superintendent said, “Hank was the single most important influence in my professional career, and there’s no way I would be where I am now without his guidance and support. The world just lost an incredible man.” A longtime former assistant for Hank added, “My heart is broken right now. Hank was just such an unbelievable person to me, professionally and personally — he will never know just how many people he has impacted along the way.”

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Hank reveled in playing, discussing and watching sports. He played varsity football and baseball in high school and collegiate football at Williams College, and coached New Trier football. For his entire adult life he was an avid golfer who carried a single-digit handicap, using his exceptional short game and silky-smooth putting stroke to tame some of the most challenging courses from coast to coast. 

Hank and Sara celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in April 2023, surrounded by family in a wonderful celebration of their milestone. He was immensely proud of his children and beamed whenever he talked about his grandchildren, and he went out of his way to attend soccer games, dance recitals and band and orchestra concerts, and loved every video and picture sent his way. “Grandpa Hank” fit him perfectly.

Hank will be dearly missed by all who had the good fortune to know him throughout his almost 75 years, and his family knows that the many memories shared with Hank will resonate for years and generations to come.

A graveside service took place on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Ridge Lawn Cemetery, 5736 N Pulaski Rd, Chicago, IL 60646.

Paul Nicholas “Nick” Pitz ’71 MA of Bettendorf, Iowa, born Feb. 2, 1947, in Indianapolis, died on Nov. 24, 2023.

Nick graduated in 1964 from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, where he placed first in an Exercise in Knowledge competition. He graduated from Wabash College in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in German and English after having studied abroad his junior year at the Philipps-Universität in Marburg, Germany.

After graduation, Nick entered the U.S. Army and ultimately served in a military position in Worms, Germany. After his discharge, he earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University and finished coursework and the qualifying exam for the PhD program. He met the love of his life, Barbara Waters, in August 1973, and they were married a year to the day after they met. A month later, they moved to Toronto and eventually to the Iowa Quad Cities. In the meantime, they welcomed daughter Megan and son Andrew.

In Toronto Nick discovered his love of teaching and was convinced that his most enduring and natural contribution to education would be as a high school teacher. He earned a teaching degree at the University of Toronto and spent the next 11 years teaching at high schools in and near Toronto as well as teaching Saturday German language classes. Nick also spent several years teaching skiing as a Canadian Level II instructor in Canada and Iowa and coached high school basketball in Canada.

Over the course of his more than 40-year teaching career, Nick was perhaps best known and loved for his 23 years at Moline High School, where he accompanied students to Germany every other year.

After retiring in 2014, he continued to teach part-time at various Quad City high schools until his second retirement in 2021. Never losing his interest in academic competition, he coached the Moline High School scholastic bowl team to the Illinois State Championship in 1999, and then Team Illinois to back-to-back National Championships in 2007 and 2008, eventually being inducted into the Illinois Scholastic Bowl Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

With his outgoing approach to life, Nick became involved at various levels of community affairs, serving on the Board of Directors of the German American Heritage Center, where he was an active volunteer and reading-group discussion leader. He took joy in his Stammtisch friends, who met once a week to speak German over a beer, and he and Barbara spent three weeks during the summer of 2023 driving through Germany.

Nick is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughter, Megan (Jake Viano); son, Andrew (Elora); brothers Mike Pitz (Fay) and John Pitz (Jill); sisters Janeann Pitz (Reinhard Pollach) and Marylynne Pitz (Mark Weitzman); granddaughters Addison Nicole Pitz and Annabelle Rebecca Nicole Viano; and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

Virginia “Ginny” Scott Park ’93, ’98 MBA of Mechanicsville, Va., passed away peacefully on October 24, 2023, at age 52, after a year-long battle with breast cancer that also spread to her brain. Although she left the earth too soon, it was all in God’s perfect timing.

The former Virginia Lorraine Scott was born on February 9, 1971, in Kansas City, Kan., to parents Louis and Shirley Scott. She worked hard to graduate as co-valedictorian from DeSoto High School in 1989, where she was also an all-state flute player and captain of the cheerleading team. She went on to study economics at Northwestern, where she was also a member of the marching band and the Kappa Delta sorority. It was in college where she had a life changing encounter with her Lord and Savior and became part of the University Christian Ministry. She also did a study abroad program at the University of Sussex in England. She subsequently earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in 1998.

Ginny spent most of her professional career at Jones Lang LaSalle, a multi-national real estate consulting firm, where she helped the U.S. military and other public institutions with critical housing needs and enabled public-private partnerships. She rose to the rank of managing director before eventually resigning to be a stay-at-home mom. She missed working with her outstanding and supportive colleagues, who she always considered as part of the family.

Ginny met her husband, Matt Park, at Cherrydale Baptist Church in Arlington, Va. They were married in the same church in March 2007 and went on to have a precious daughter named Vivian. Ginny followed her husband to multiple overseas assignments that included Malaysia, Singapore and Ecuador. She felt blessed to have lived overseas, which was a transformative experience for her.

Ginny loved serving and building relationships in her local churches and getting involved in her daughter’s schools. She was the treasurer on the board of directors of a Christian classical school and served on various local church committees, particularly those that leveraged her finance background. Besides her wanderlust for travel, she loved to read all types of books, was passionate about music education, enjoyed spoiling her family with delicious recipes and made spending quality time with people a priority in her life.

Ginny is survived by her husband, daughter, three siblings, and her father and mother, as well as numerous other extended family members. 

Peggy Walter Smith ’69 MS, Sequim, Wash., October 6, 2023, at age 92. 

Born in Virginia, Peggy spent her childhood on military bases, moving frequently. She met her beloved husband, Otis Leroy Walter, while attending Northwestern University as an undergraduate. Together they had four children, and lived in Palo Alto, Calif., before returning to Evanston, where Otis served as Dean of Men at Northwestern until his passing in 1966.  

Peggy went on to receive her master’s degree in education and to work as associate director of admissions at Northwestern, a role she loved and that took her across the country. In 1973 she married Edward Smith, and together they moved to Sequim, Wash. She became very active in the community, serving as a member of the local P.E.O. chapter, supporting educational opportunities for women; a devoted member of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and a supporter of the Port Angeles Symphony. She also owned and operated Foxgloves & Smith, a gift shop in downtown Sequim, a local favorite for more than ten years. 

Peggy will be remembered for her vivacious spirit, compassion, grace and ability to be a shining light in every room. A talented classical pianist, Peggy instilled in her children and grandchildren an appreciation and love for music and dance. Peggy always made the best of every situation, marching through life with strength and perseverance. Even in her final years, her gregarious nature, charm and delightful sense of humor won the hearts of those who cared for her. She adored and loved her family above all else.

She is preceded in death by her son Samuel Walter, and survived by her children Kathryn Walter, Mary Marcial (Narciso) and Joseph Walter (Lisa); five grandchildren; eight great grandchildren; and many dear friends. A memorial will be held in Port Angeles, Wash., in summer 2024.