Obituaries

Todd H. Wasserman, MD, professor emeritus of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, after a prolonged illness. He was 66. An obituary will appear in an upcoming issue of the Record.

Rita Levi-Montalcini, PhD, a Nobel Prize-winning neurologist who performed the majority of her research at Washington University in St. Louis from 1947-1977, died Sunday, Dec. 30, at her home in Rome. She was 103.

Frances “Fran” (nee Maric) Winker, a patient-service representative in orthopedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in an accident on Interstate 44 in Oakland. She was 49.

Otha L. Overholt, 71, who worked at Washington University for nearly 37 years, died at her home in Kirkwood, Mo., on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. Overholt began as a technical specialist in the Office of Computing and Communications in 1971 and retired in 2008 as associate director of Computing and Communications.

Merl M. Huntsinger (BU 47), who retired from Washington University in 1981 as treasurer and secretary, died Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, in a New Orleans hospital. He was 97. 

Sandra Brennan, longtime assistant to the dean of the Sam Fox School Design & Visual Arts, died at her home in Webster Groves Monday, Oct. 29, following a long illness. She was 73. 

David L. Straight, 57, who worked for Washington University Libraries for more than 30 years, died Saturday, Oct. 13, after suffering a stroke. Straight began working for University Libraries in 1978 as an audiovisual assistant and retired in 2010 as West Campus librarian, managing that facility.

Helen E. Nash, MD, professor emerita (clinical) in pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, died Oct. 4, 2012, at Clermont Manor in Creve Coeur. She was 91.

Barry Commoner, a biologist at WUSTL from 1947-1981, died Sept. 30, 2012, in Manhattan. He was 95. Commoner was a professor of plant physiology and of environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences. According to The New York Times, Commoner was “a founder of modern ecology and one of its most provocative thinkers and mobilizers in making environmentalism a people’s political cause.”

Edward R. Fickenscher, director of business development in the Office of Technology Management (OTM), died suddenly Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. He was 68.