Obituaries

Zishan (Simoner) Zhao, a rising junior in the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died June 2, 2018, from injuries after being hit by a car while attempting to cross a street in Wilmington, N.C. He was 19.

Owen J. Sexton, professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died May 31 at his home in St. Louis County from complications of dementia, which he had battled for years. He was 91. Sexton was a key advocate for the purchase of the 2,000-acre Tyson Research Center property in 1963.

Jared Crane, a senior studying architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, died May 20 following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 22.

Peter Riesenberg, professor emeritus of history at Washington University in St. Louis, died in his sleep May 14, 2018, in Maine. He was 92. A beloved member of the faculty from 1960 until his retirement in 1993, Riesenberg was the mainstay of “History 101,” the history of Western civilization, for generations of students.

Gerry Rohde, stockroom manager and laboratory safety officer in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has died. He was 55. Outside of the biology department, Rohde also was known across the region as the evening host of St. Louis Public Radio.

Christine Floss, research professor in the Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died April 19, 2018, in St. Louis. She was 56. Floss was a leader in the university’s Laboratory for Space Sciences.

James Lee, coordinator of international scholars and patients in the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine, died April 7 in St. Louis following a brief illness. He was 59. A memorial celebration will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, in Connor Auditorium on the Medical Campus.

John Weller Hanley, former trustee of Washington University in St. Louis, died Thursday, March 15, 2018, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 96.

Margaret “Maggie” M. Watkins, former coordinator of the Olin Fellowship Program and assistant to the dean of the Graduate School at Washington University in St. Louis, died Feb. 22, 2018, at Arkansas Hospice in Little Rock. She was 89.

Ari Nachum Berlin, MD, a pediatric intern at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and a 2017 graduate of the School of Medicine, died Feb. 23 in St. Louis after a 2 ½-year battle with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. He was 27. A memorial service is planned Tuesday, March 6, on the Medical Campus.