In memoriam: Remembering extraordinary Rochester lives
One was a woman who flew planes during World War II and lived to be 100. Two others set records, one giving blood, the other running marathons. Two broke racial barriers, another was a poet celebrated worldwide. All of them made a difference.
It’s difficult to sum up their lives in a few brief sentences, but here, from oldest to youngest, is the roll call of people on our list of Remarkable Rochesterians who died this year:
Vernice Warfield (born 1915): She came to Rochester in 1944 by way of her native Texas and a stint during World War II working in a Seattle airplane factory. She was one of a small number of African-American students at the University of Rochester and went on to become a minister and an advocate for adoptive children and children in foster care. She died at age 102.
More:Vernice Warfield, local civil rights and church icon, dies at 102
Vern Thayer (1916): A retired Eastman Kodak Co. employee who died this month at age 101, he was one of the most prolific blood donors in the Rochester area. Beginning in 1942, he contributed 510 whole blood and platelet donations, approximately 75 gallons. He was active in the Lake Avenue Baptist Church and the Rochester chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America.
More:A prodigious giver is celebrated on his 100th birthday
Margaret Thirtle (1916): For several decades she was the face of the Sibley’s department store in downtown Rochester. As a senior vice president, she oversaw the department store’s window displays, annual Christmas events and many, many fashion shows. After retirement in 1985, she volunteered at Strong Memorial Hospital and a wide variety of other groups. She was 101 when she died.
More:Jim Memmott: Margaret Thirtle, a fashion guru and volunteer extraordinaire, dies at 101
Dawn Rochow Balden Seymour (1917): In her own words, she “always liked to be above.” A Rochester native who died a few days after her 100th birthday, she learned to fly at Cornell University and was a member of Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II, flying military planes throughout the U.S. She later wrote a book in memory of the 38 WASP pilots who died while serving in the program.
Don McNelly (1920): The Ohio native and longtime Irondequoit resident, who died at age 96, completed 744 marathons, the most for anyone older than 80. He served on a destroyer in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He went on to become an executive for a paper company, was a president of the Seneca Park Zoo Society and volunteered in many other organizations.
More:Remembering Don McNelly, a marathoner and generous spirit
John Ashbery (1927): Winner of the Pulitizer Prize for poetry in 1976, he published more than 20 volumes of poetry and received numerous awards. He grew up on his family's farm in Sodus, Wayne County, but also lived in Rochester with his grandparents and took art lessons at the Memorial Art Gallery. After his death at age 90, The New York Times called him a “major figure in American literature."
More:John Ashbery, renowned poet and Rochester-area native, dies
Joanne VanZandt, (1927): The first woman to be elected president of the Monroe County Legislature, she was a Republican member of that body from 1977 to 1992, representing parts of Pittsford, Brighton and Henrietta. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania who was 89 when she died, she also led efforts to install bike trails along the Erie Canal.
Edward “Ted” Curtis Jr. (1929): A fifth-generation Rochesterian, who was 87 when he died, he was one of the founders of the group that launched the Sam Patch, a replica packet boat that has taken thousands of people on tours of the Erie Canal and the Genesee River. He was in the CIA, worked at Kodak, was Rochester city manager and served in public affairs at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
More:Edward 'Ted' Curtis, co-founder of Corn Hill Navigation, dies
Elizabeth Brayer (1933): Her 637-page biography of George Eastman, a work that was 15 years in the making, is an invaluable account of the industrialist’s life. A native of Delaware who was 84 when she died, she was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and a resident of Brighton who also wrote histories of the Memorial Art Gallery, the Eastman Dental Center and the Eastman Theatre.
More:Elizabeth Brayer, Eastman’s biographer, dies at 84
Daniel E. Gill (1936): The chairman and chief executive officer of Bausch & Lomb from 1981 to 1995, he guided the optics company through a period of significant expansion. A native of Illinois who died at age 81, he led the efforts to complete construction of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Rochester, and he was instrumental in the creation of the Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building.
More:Daniel Gill, former B+L CEO, dies at 81
Wyoma Best (1943): In 1970, she became the first African-American woman elected to the board of the Rochester school district. The Virginia native died at age 74. She was the first African-American woman to be a television reporter in Rochester, appearing on WHEC-TV (Channel 10) for several years. She went on to became vice president for communications for the Greater Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce.
More:Wyoma Best, a woman of firsts, dies
So there you have it, 11 extraordinary Rochesterians. Sadly lost this past year, they left a legacy of good works.
On Remarkable Rochester
Retired Senior Editor Jim Memmott reflects on what makes Rochester distinctively Rochester, its history, its habits, its people. Since 2010, he has also been compiling a list of Remarkable Rochesterians. Contact him at: (585) 278-8012 or jmemmott@DemocratandChronicle.com or Remarkable Rochester, Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.