Abierunt ad maiores
Necrology, 2022
Many of these obituaries of departed CAMWS members were written by Ward Briggs, the CAMWS historian.
Rosamond Kent Sprague
Professor Sprague was known for her work in ancient Greek philosophy, writing mainly on works by Plato and Aristotle, and occasionally other figures. Her interests in the ancients were broad, ranging from logic to literary form to causation to education, and she had a talent for finding particularly interesting topics to write about, such as the metaphysics of multiple births, the metaphysics of sleep, and Aristotle's "red mirrors." She is the author of Plato's Use of Fallacy: A Study of the Euthydemus and some other Dialogues and Plato's Philosopher-King: A study of the Theoretical Background, as well as several translations, such as Plato's Laches, Charmides, and Euthydemus, and the Dissoi-Logoi, an anonymous sophistic treatise. You can view a list of some of her works here.
Professor Sprague joined the faculty at the University of South Carolina in 1965, retiring in 2008. She also had taught at Sophie Newcomb College, the University of Pennsylvania, Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, and the University of Birmingham. She earned her undergraduate degree, MA, and PhD from Bryn Mawr. In 1953 she co-founded the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy.
In 1993 the Department of Philosophy at South Carolina created a lecture series in her honor, and over the years many luminaries in ancient philosophy delivered the annual Rosamond Kent Sprague Lecture in Ancient Philosophy.
Rosamond was a colleague of mine at South Carolina. Owing to her retirement, I did not see her much, and I did not know her well, but we did talk occasionally (usually in regard to the lecture series). She was generous and kind and smart, and combined these qualities with high philosophical standards and a surprisingly sharp sense of humor. She will be missed.
In 1947, at the meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, she gave a lecture (later published in 1949 in The Personalist, the predecessor of Pacific Philosophical Quarterly) entitled, "Must Philosophers Be Obscure?" She answered "no," and lamented, in a way that will sound familiar to contemporary readers, the norms of the philosophical writing of her day. It begins:
A good style is not always considered a virtue in serious philosophical writing. To say that a philosopher writes well is oftentimes to imply that he is not much of a philosopher. There is a tendency to look down on the readability of Nietzsche; an inclination to regard the lucidity of James as evidence of philosophical levity. The grace of Bergson is something to be pardoned rather than praised, while Schopenhauer will be commended as a stylist in one breath and classified as a second-rate metaphysician in the next… Yet philosophy, because it is, after all, attempting to communicate something through the medium of language, should be as much concerned with style as any of the literary arts.
Gertrude (Trudy) R. Harrington Becker
Gertrude "Trudy" R. Harrington Becker, 61, of Blacksburg, VA, passed away peacefully on August 26, 2022 of complications from lung cancer. She is preceded in death by her parents, John T. Harrington, M.D., and Gertrude Rose Harrington. She leaves behind her husband, Andrew Becker, her children and their spouses, Matt and Sarah Becker of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tim and Elizabeth Becker of Fort Worth, TX, and Trudy Becker of Minneapolis, MN, and three, soon to be four, granddaughters. In addition, she leaves her brothers and sisters and their families, Kathleen and Andrew Clark of Houston, TX, Daniel Harrington of West Roxbury, MA, Ann and Mike Murphy of Westwood, MA, John and Bethany Harrington of Little Compton, RI, Mark and Deanna Harrington of Houston, TX, and Tim and Kelly Harrington of West Roxbury, MA.
Born in Fall River, MA in 1961 and raised in Boston, Trudy was the oldest of seven children. She attended the historic Boston Latin School (Class of 1979) and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross (Class of 1983). Trudy then moved to Chapel Hill, NC, where she earned an M.A. in Classics from UNC Chapel Hill and met Andrew Becker. The two married in the summer of 1987 and moved to Blacksburg, VA, where Trudy earned another M.A., this one in History, from Virginia Tech, and the pair had their three children. Trudy and Andy both joined the Classics program at Virginia Tech and settled in Blacksburg permanently.
A deep commitment to education was a throughline of Trudy's life. She returned to her own education, even after multiple graduate degrees, to earn a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Florida in 2008 with a dissertation on fragmentary Roman historians. But her scholastic commitment wasn't centered on herself alone. She was dedicated to the education of her three children, and her passion for educational stewardship was displayed over and over in her relationships with her VT students. For them, Trudy was often more than a teacher: she was an advocate, champion, and true mentor. She took her students on, especially first-generation college students or those struggling in their academic and personal lives, and made it her mission to guide them with a stern but supportive hand. Her students felt Trudy's impact long after graduating. Trudy's excellent work in teaching and advising also led to major awards, including Virginia Tech's Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching, Alumni Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising, and Alumni Award for Excellence in International Education.
Any of Trudy's relatives can attest that her love for her family was fierce and relentless. As the oldest of seven, she developed a skill for taking care of others from her earliest years and she was intensely protective of anyone she took under her wing. Trudy's tenacious love drove her marriage of 35 years with Andy—he was always her favorite person and best teammate, both at home and in teaching together. She'd say that being with Andy allowed her to be who she wanted to be. And no issue faced by Trudy's three kids was too big or too small for her to take on, to tackle, to try to fix. She was their rock and their inspiration, and her love enabled all three children to flourish.
Trudy's home base was Blacksburg, but over the course of her life she traveled extensively, including visiting more than 20 countries. She'd joke that she wasn't interested in seeing anywhere the Romans didn't go—but still loved visiting places like Myanmar or South Korea. She returned again and again to the Hummocks in Rhode Island where the Harrington family swam, sailed, tossed rocks, ate chowder, and spent hours talking on the porch every summer of Trudy's life. Across all her travels, her most beloved place was always Rome—the site of her scholastic research and countless meaningful moments with her students, adult tour groups, and her beloved family. A slice of potato pizza, an Aperol spritz, or a short walk to the Colosseum could always bring her a smile.
Trudy loved reading—a trait passed down from her parents. She usually had a mystery novel on hand, and if anyone sent her an article on a topic they loved, there was a good chance she'd have already read it. As an avid sports fan, she rooted fiercely for her teams, from the Hokies and Tar Heels to the Patriots and Red Sox. She was also a dedicated supporter of her kids' favorite teams; visitors to the house on a Saturday morning could invariably find English Premier League games on the TV as Trudy watched intently and utilized every superstition to bring luck to Arsenal and Liverpool. In all these ways she spent her time, Trudy's curiosity, ferocity, tenacity, and humor found ways to burst through.
Ernest J. Ament
Ernest Joseph Ament, Wayne State University associate professor emeritus and former chair of the university's Classics Department, died peacefully in the care of his family on Aug. 19, having recently celebrated his 93rd birthday and 56th wedding anniversary. A 50-year resident of Grosse Pointe Park, he moved in 2019 to Dearborn where he remained active until a one-year battle with cancer.
With his expansive intellect, boundless curiosity, and potent sense of humor, Ernest was a magnetic, effortless teacher whose immense impact on students was equaled by an incalculable influence on family and friends. A rare and dynamic generalist, he was a lifelong student of the humanities and sciences, reading extensively in virtually every discipline and consuming arts and culture wherever he lived. He shared all that he learned, eager to discuss and debate ideas with young and old.
The third of four children, Ernest was born to Albert and Laura (Murray) Ament on Aug. 6, 1929, in Anamosa, Iowa. The sociable, industrious owners of the town general store, Ament's Dry Goods, Albert and Laura raised their children in a loving, playful home and instilled in them devotion to family, hard work, the Catholic faith, and education. Despite having had limited schooling themselves, Albert and Laura prioritized learning and dedicated their resources to the education of their children.
At age 14, Ernest left Iowa to attend Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisc. It was a formative experience that introduced Ernest to his closest friends and lifelong passion, classical studies. After graduating from Campion, Ernest continued his Jesuit education at John Carroll University in Cleveland, where he set university track and field records in shot put and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classics in 1951, and then at Saint Louis University in Missouri, where he earned a Master of Arts in Classics in 1953.
The Korean War interrupted Ernest's graduate studies: From 1952-54 he served in the United States Army, which assigned him to the Counterintelligence Corps and stationed him in Stuttgart, Germany, where he forged friendships with German relatives on his father's side. After several weeks of post-discharge travel throughout northern Africa and Europe – his most significant stops being the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome – Ernest returned to Saint Louis University and earned a Ph.D. in Classics in 1958.
He then embarked on a 40-year career teaching Classics, first at the University of Ottawa in Canada (1958-61), then at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (1961-66). Ernest found California exhilarating – honing his craft in the classroom and exploring the city – but his bachelor days would not last long. A young English woman named Beryl Parsons, fresh from undergraduate studies at the University of London, arrived at USC to pursue a master's in Classics. Beautiful, brilliant and witty, she proved to be Ernest's match in Classics and in life. They married in 1966 and were parted only by his death 56 years later.
Martin Helzle
From Paul Iversen (paul.iversen@cwru.edu):
Martin Helzle, former professor of Classics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest at his home in Gartow, Germany just two days shy of his 61st birthday. From 1971-1980 Professor Helzle attended Hölderlingymnasium in his native Nürtingen, in southwest Germany. After his Abitur, he attended the University of Leeds from 1980 to 1983, where he earned BAs in both English and Latin. From 1983 to 1988 he earned his PhD in Classics from St. John's College, Cambridge, where he served as a Teaching Assistant and wrote a dissertation entitled P. Ovidii Nasonis Epistularum ex Ponto liber IV: A Commentary on Poems 1-7 and 16. During this time he was also a Lecturer in Classics at University of Bristol (1986-7) and at the University of Wales, Bangor (1987-88). In 1988 he moved to Cleveland, and in the spring of 1989 taught part-time at both Cleveland State University and nearby John Carroll University and at the same published his dissertation with Olms Verlag. Then he was hired as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University for the 1989-90 school year, and in the next year was promoted to Assistant Professor, where he earned tenure in 1996 with the publication of Der Stil ist der Mensch. Redner und Reden im römischen Epos (Teubner). In 1999 he began to serve as the Department Chair, and in 2004 he was promoted to Full Professor after the publication of Ovid. Epistulae ex Ponto. Buch I-II. Kommentar (Universitätsverlag Winter, 2002). He was very active in both the OCC and CAMWS (hosting the 95th meeting of the latter at CWRU in the spring of 1999) and was an extremely popular teacher at CWRU. In the summer of 2005, however, he attended his Gymnasium's 25th reunion, and there he reconnected with his beloved Birgit Hartmann-Puk. The two would strike up a long-distance relationship, in 2009 they married, and at the end of the 2009- 10 year he resigned from CWRU and moved back to his native Germany to be with Birgit full time. There in Wertheim am Main he taught Latin and English at a local Gymnasium, and in 2015 he and Birgit moved to Gartow, Germany where he again taught Latin and English at a Gymnasium. In all this time he remained connected to many of us in the Department. He was an excellent colleague and friend and will be sorely missed. Requiescas in pace, amice magne.
Virginia Hellenga
Dr. W.W. "Bill" de Grummond
George A. Kennedy
Martha (Putnam) Simons
Martha was born December 21, 1921 in Warren County Illinois to Daniel E. and Cuba (Kishline) Fravil and died July 28, 2022 at her home in Colorado Springs. She was 100 years, 7 months, and 7 days old. Martha grew up in Little York, Illinois, and graduated from Little York High School in 1939. She graduated from Western Illinois State Normal College with a major in English and minor in Latin for secondary education in 1944 and received her Master's degree in 1973 from Colorado College.
Martha married Leigh Putnam July 22, 1945 and they moved their young family to Colorado Springs in 1956 where she continued her teaching career with School district 11 at Colorado Springs Main High School Palmer. In 1959 Wasson High School opened and she was part of the staff who opened the school in the fall. She taught English and Latin there until her retirement in 1982.
After her retirement, she married Bob Simons and together they enjoyed travel, live theater, symphony, entertaining family and friends, and many other shared interests.
She is survived by her son Lewis Putnam of Seaton, Il and daughter Crystal Putnam of Greenville, Fl, daughter-in-law Penny Putnam; grandchildren, Michael & Kelly Putnam, Birdie & William McDermott, Brandy Doyle, Patricia Putnam, and Bryan Putnam; 9 great grandchildren and 4 great, great grandchildren. She is also survived by extended family, friends, formercolleagues and students.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother Jules Fravil; husband Leigh Putnam; husband Lt Col Robert Simons, Ret; son Michael D. Putnam; son in law Jim Miller; and granddaughter Virginia (Ginny) Dampier. Inurnment will be in Little York, Illinois.
In lieu of flowers, Martha's desire was for contributions to her sorority's scholarship fund.
Corinne Ondine Pache
Corinne Ondine Pache, Ph.D., professor of classical studies, died on July 20, 2022 from cancer. Pache was an accomplished scholar, revered teacher and mentor, and terrific friend to many all over the globe.
By her own account, Pache was, in some ways, an accidental classicist. Originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, she enrolled in her twenties as a first-generation undergraduate at Hunter College in New York City and, like so many others before her, took a classics course on a whim. At Hunter, she fell in love with the classical languages, especially ancient Greek. Her intellectual pursuits then took her to Harvard for a doctorate, with research on archaic Greek poetry and religion. Her first professorship, at Yale University, saw the publication of her book on child heroes in ancient Greece; from Yale she moved to Trinity and published her second major work on Greek religion on the complex topic of "nympholepsy"—the assault of mortal men by goddesses. For much of the 2010s, Pache labored on what would be her magnum opus: the monumental and invaluable Cambridge Guide to Homer (2020), the result of many years of editing, people-wrangling, and sheer scholarship. Throughout these volumes and her many articles—including such far-flung topics as Virgilian echoes in Battlestar Galactica—Pache brought to bear her customary acumen, literary sensibility, and graceful style.
Since her arrival at Trinity in 2009, Pache seemed somehow ubiquitous, with stints as acting chair, as Senator, as a First-Year Experience coordinator, and more: Pache never shied from heavy lifting, and colleagues found her a delight to work with in all of her administrative capacities. Students adored her—she innovated several courses, including the popular social history course "Daily Life in Ancient Greece." She was also instrumental in setting up one of Trinity's first Humanities Labs, dedicated to the early manuscript tradition of Homer, while often sending students for additional training at Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies, where she was a frequent collaborator. It was in her two upper-division courses that Pache worked in her most comparative vein: "Epic Journeys" examined narratives of travel and growth from a variety of cultures, while "The Homeric Odyssey" plumbed the influence of Homer's epic on subsequent artists, from James Joyce to Alison Bechdel and Derek Walcott. Pache overflowed with a love of books—not unlike her office and home!—and that passion overflowed into her classroom as well. A student once gushed: "I want to take a class with Dr. Pache every semester for my entire college career!" It's a sentiment shared by many (and for a lucky few, a wish come true).
Pache was an amazing friend and colleague. She took the Epicurean exhortation of "carpe diem" (seize the day) more seriously than anyone since Horace, and she made certain that her friends did too. Her passion for travel and adventure, for cuisine, for long walks in beautiful places, for summer afternoons at the pool, for a wide range of music and art, for tending her olive and lemon trees, and quiet evenings at home with her cats: all of these were part of her, and to spend time with Pache was to spend time with a soul deeply attuned to the beauty and joy the world has to offer. Pache never ceased wanting to learn, from Spanish irregular verbs to challenging piano pieces to a meditation technique that was new to her. She was a vibrant and beloved member of diverse social circles, meeting regularly with friends to taste wine, read and discuss great books, eat and discuss great meals, hike and explore new corners of her adopted Texas home, watch movies, cycle, practice yoga, lift weights, and dance Zumba. She was also profoundly concerned with helping others in the community, volunteering her language skills to help welcome Congolese asylum seekers. And she was a devoted friend to any feline lucky enough to cross her path, working enthusiastically with the Trinity Cat Alliance and her own brood of kitties, Oliver, Lenny and Jo.
Pache is survived by family in Switzerland, including her mother, Mireille Dolay, and her brother, Phillipe Pache, as well as her nephew and niece, Bryan and Lea Pache. She was rich in her vast circle of loving friends, including Kathryn Slanski; George Syrimis; Tom Jenkins; Anna Stavrakopoulou; Adele Haft and Jordan Zinovich; Judith Norman; Lisa Jasinski and Patrick Keating; Tim O'Sullivan and Anadelia Romo; Bill and Barbara Sullivan; David Rando and Shannon Mariotti; Andrew Kania and Julie Post; Patti Hale; Julie LeBrun; Nicolle Hirschfeld; Alexander Beecroft and David Greven; Alison Marek; Sulochana Asirvatham; Stephen Colvin; Susanna Braund; Ronnie Ancona; Nicole Durish Gauthier; Corinne Béguin ; Katherine Wasdin; and many, many others.
A celebration of Pache's life is planned for later this fall in San Antonio. In lieu of flowers, those who wish to donate in Pache's honor may consider The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), which provides aid and support to immigrant families; or the San Antonio Humane Society.
Erling B. (Jack) Holtsmark
James P. Sandrock
James P. Sandrock, 93, of Iowa City passed away peacefully at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City on Monday, June 6, 2022.
Born March 5, 1929, in Waterloo, Iowa, the son of Rev. Wilfred P. and Janet (Townsley) Sandrock, Jim grew up in Dubuque and graduated from Dubuque Senior High School. He came to the University of Iowa on a Nile Kinnick football scholarship and discovered Latin, Greek, and the Classics Department. After graduating with a BA in classics in 1951, he entered the US Air Force; during officer training, he studied German and was subsequently stationed in Germany. Jim returned to the University of Iowa to get his M.A. and Ph.D. in German language and literature; he spent his 40-year career as a professor in that department, serving as chair of the department and assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His professional publications were in the fields of German pedagogy, literature, and folklore.
Jim married Donna Gow on August 8, 1951, in Fairfield, Iowa, and together they raised their daughter, Johanna. Donna died in 2000. He married Jean Cutler Prior on May 4, 2003, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They enjoyed extensive travels together and collaborated on two publications: The Iowa Nature Calendar and The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest. On June 4, Jim and Jean celebrated 229 months of marriage.
Jim was an active birder with special expertise in southeast Iowa and an interest in yellow-throated warblers and Henslow's sparrows. He edited the text for The Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas. Among his other interests were a love of cowboys, the art of Charlie Russell, the lives and works of Willa Cather and Eudora Welty, the game of baseball, playing the mandolin, manuscript studies, and regional literature as embodied by Mark Twain and his German-speaking counterparts, Ludwig Thoma and Peter Rosegger.
Jim's quiet public presence belied his quick wit, marvelous memory, biblical sense of fairness, and strong sense of duty and self-discipline; he was a wicked devil's advocate with a charitable spirit and a sustaining Christian faith born of his childhood in a Lutheran parsonage. Always the teacher, those whose lives he touched will carry on his lessons of faith and learning.
He is survived by his wife, Jean, of Iowa City; daughter Johanna "Joey" Sandrock of Vienna, Austria; niece Ellen (Bill) Mackey of Red Wing, MN; and nephews Fred (Stephanie) Koch of Eau Claire, WI, and Jim (Laura) Koch of Panora, Iowa. Jim was preceded in death by his first wife, Donna, and a sister, Joan Koch.
Joy K. King
Professor King - Joy - was an extremely distinguished Classicist, an inspirational teacher, a visionary leader, and a critical contributor to the department and the University.
Joy received her degrees from Knox College (BA 1947), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA 1952), and the University of Colorado Boulder (PhD 1969). She taught at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1968 to 1994, serving as Chair of the Classics Department from 1982 to 1986. She published widely on Roman poetry, focusing especially on Propertius, Catullus, and Lucretius. At CU she coordinated the beginning and intermediate Latin programs and supervised graduate instructors, taught Latin Teaching Methods, and helped prepare Classics majors who were planning to dedicate themselves to secondary Latin teaching. Beyond CU, she was the preeminent voice of Colorado Latin, devoting herself to supporting all Colorado Latin teachers with advice, training, and a frequent newsletter. She served as co-chair of the Women's Classical Caucus (1983-1984) and president of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (1991-1992).
A volume in her honor, Woman's Power, Man's Game: Essays on Classical Antiquity, edited by Mary DeForest, was published in 1993 by Bolchazy Carducci Publishers. The title captures a salient feature of Joy's career, for she navigated the academy and the field of Classics in a period when it was largely closed to female faculty, and she did so in a way that commanded respect and authority even while pushing the rules of the game in the direction of civility and warmth. On her birthday in 2012, the department held a symposium to recognize and pay tribute to her many contributions. The Department established an award to commemorate the work of Joy alongside her longtime friend and fellow department member Barbara Hill. The Joy King-Barbara Hill fellowship in the Teaching of Latin, first awarded in 2015, continues to play a role in fostering the love of Latin among emerging generations at CU that Joy herself kindled and fostered for 26 years. Her many contributions to the field were recognized by the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
Joy remained an active presence in Classics and at CU deep into her retirement. You can watch her talk in 2019 about her distinguished career here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Y_uswmHYU and here: https://vimeo.com/355111233
--Dimitri Nakassis, Professor and Chair of Classics, University of Colorado - Boulder
Emily Batinski
Emily Elisabeth Batinski passed away peacefully at her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on April 22, 2022, at the age of 73. She was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 29,1948. Emily obtained her PhD at the University of Colorado in 1983 and became an Associate Professor of Classics at Louisiana State University, where she also served for 15 years as Chair of Foreign Languages. Her love of languages and literature combined with her affinity for teaching made her a favorite with students.
She is survived by her loving husband, Charles (Chuck) Hickey, with whom she shared a love of MGB cars, Jazz Fest in New Orleans, watching movies, and beach vacations in Destin, Florida. Also survived by her brother, Michael Batinski, and nephews, Jason Crane and Peter Batinski.
Emily is preceded in death by her parents Stanley C. Batinski and Virginia L. Clemant.
Herbert W. Benario
A tribute written by Sandy Blakely, Emory Classics Department Chair
Imago virtutis: a celebration of Herbert Benario
The Classics Department joins in celebrating the life of Professor Emeritus Herbert Benario, who passed away on February 22, 2022, at age 92. Professor Benario was a mentor, a model, a towering figure in Tacitean studies, and a friend: it is difficult to imagine the department without his stentorian tones, still carrying that New York accent, coming down the hall as he inquires into our research, our courses, our readings and our contributions that day to the wellbeing of the classical enterprise. Herb's career reflects the discipline and pace of the long distance runner he was. He graduated from City College of New York in 1948, earned his MA from Columbia in 1949, and completed his doctorate at Johns Hopkins in just two years, under the redoubtable Henry Rowell. He then served in the Army in Germany from 1951 to 1953 before returning to Columbia to teach for five more years. After a brief sojourn at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, he arrived at Emory in 1960, where he taught, researched, and served in leadership positions until his retirement in 1987. Herb saw the Classics Department grow from three to nine faculty; he recalled with pride the 'youngsters' who went on to PhD programs at Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Cincinnati and Stanford, and took satisfaction in the report from a senior member of the Harvard faculty that one of these students was among the three best he had worked with in his career.
Herb's career is a model of generosity to the discipline as well as to the university, in his service, his scholarship, and his patronage. He served as president of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South from 1971 to 1972, becoming the second Emory faculty member to occupy the position (preceded by Edward Turner in 1941- 1942). Herb focused his scholarship especially on Tacitus, orator, consul, historian, and one of the greatest prose stylists of the Latin language. Between 1953 and 2008, Herb produced 285 published items, including 125 scholarly reviews, ten monographs, over 100 articles, and a steady flow of invited lectures. Retirement did nothing to slow this productivity. He published sixty works subsequent to his retirement, including five books, made nearly 50 trips to Europe, taught at Brigham Young University and at Emory's Center for Lifelong Learning. His contributions to the field were recognized with professional awards at every level, beginning with Phi Beta Kappa, through an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship in Passau, and a Heilbrun Emeritus Fellowship in 2001- 2002. Herb's passion for the life of the mind and the voice of the Romans translated as well into patronage to the institutions of Classical study. Herb and his wife Janice founded the Janice and Herbert Benario Award, administered through the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. This fellowship supports summer travel for classical scholars: recipients have participated in career-changing research at the American School for Classical Studies in Athens, the British School at Athens, the Epigraphische Datenbank in Heidelberg, the Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics, the Ravenna Mosaic School, St. Andrews, University College London, Vergilian Society Tours, the Gennadius Library in Athens, the American Academy in Rome, and participation in Reginald Foster's summer Latin programs. He also generously endowed an annual lecture at Emory, which brings distinguished international scholars of the ancient world to Emory for a public lecture. This Spring's event, featuring Harriet Flower of Princeton University, will be the tenth in the series. The Benario family were a vital presence at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, with Herb and his wife Janice serving as professors in Charge in the academic year 1984-
1985, and faculty in 1966-1967; Herb served as well as president of the Vergilian Society from 1980-1982, and as director of that society's summer programs for eight years.
Herb has left his mark in the runner's world as well as the scholar's bookshelf. He began running in the 1940s, won a medal at the Boston marathon in the 1950s, and in the winter of 1969-1970 worked with three other men to create the Peachtree Road Race, now the largest 10K in the world, with 60,000 runners. (Herb used to joke that he was only asked to contribute because he owned two stopwatches). He had a veritable encyclopedia of details of world track competitions in his head, and could discourse at any moment on the details of great races from many decades ago. And he paired this with a boundless love of Jane Austen and of opera, enthusiasms that round out the portrait of a man who approached his work, his physical training, and the cultivation of the arts with the same exuberant energy, discipline, and devotion. The greatest part of that devotion remained, however, his family: his wife Janice, a scholar and an adventurer who shared his great spirit, and his sons Fred and John.
Orlene Kreger Makinson
Orlene Kreger Makinson, of Brentwood TN, formerly of Akron OH and Bloomfield Hills and Detroit MI, died January 20, 2022.
Born in Detroit Michigan March 20, 1932 to Virginia (Maurice) Kreger and Orley Warren Kreger, Orlene graduated from Cooley High School in 1949. She received her teaching degree from Wayne State University, Detroit. She later earned her M.A. in Public Education Administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Orlene was a Detroit Public School teacher; and she was a really good one! She taught Latin and Spanish at Mackenzie High School for many years, and later became Language Department Head at Denby H.S., where she revived the Latin program there. Her love of Latin (and all things classical) was unending, joyful, and inclusive. She sponsored the Latin Club at Mackenzie, assigning a Roman or Greek name to each student; and organizing field trips, picnics, and tours. The Latin Club even led an occasional "song fest" for the whole school, where club members encouraged everyone to sing along – IN LATIN. A favorite was "Oh! You Beautiful Doll." Many a student of hers remembers with fondness and still answers to names such as "Apollo," "Canis," and "Medusa." Orlene's teaching career expanded to include a year-long teacher exchange at Portadown Grammar School, County Antrim, Northern Ireland in 1964/5, where she made life-long friendships (and met the Queen Mother, Elizabeth, at the end of the exchange).
After retiring, Orlene and her husband, David Makinson, moved to Akron OH, and enjoyed wonderful years there, finding new friends, new interests and causes. Orlene joined the Akron Symphony Guild and worked enthusiastically on the annual Lakes Tour, co-chairing that event at least twice. She also served as President of the Guild. She joined the P.E.O. Sisterhood. They also enjoyed attending the Blossom Festival, and visiting the penguins at the Akron Zoo.
When David died in December 2008, Orlene steeled herself for life alone. She remained in Ohio for six more years, but decided to move once again; this time to Brentwood TN to join her friend and fellow exchange teacher, Lucille, as a resident of The Heritage at Brentwood. Orlene fit right into this retirement community she had visited several times. She made friends, served on the Heritage Library Committee, transferred to the local P.E.O. Chapter C, Nashville, joined Brentwood United Methodist Church and, within, the thought-filled Robert L. Moore Sunday Class. She also attended Nashville Symphony concerts, and LOVED the Brentwood Library's amazing Children's section. Eventually, due to failing health, she moved into Somerfield, the Nursing Section of Heritage, just before Covid arrived. There she became "a very contented hermit" (her words) in her final two years of life.
At a young age Orlene was invited by a neighbor girl to attend Vacation Bible School one summer. She enjoyed it so much that she asked her parents if they would take her to church. They did, and from that beginning, the Kreger family became devout Christians. In her lifetime, O was a member of Covenant Baptist Church, Detroit MI; Westminster Presbyterian Church, Akron OH; The Bath Church-UCC, Akron OH; and Brentwood United Methodist Church, Brentwood TN. She truly spent her life "Standing on the Promises of God."