Born and raised in the Yamhill Valley of Oregon, Mark earned a marching-band scholarship to the University of Hawaiʻi, where a Semester at Sea was one of his most cherished experiences, as it expanded his love of travel and cultural exploration. When Mark returned to Oregon, he began his career at ������’s Hauser Library in 1989 as the stacks supervisor, ultimately becoming circulation operations manager in 2005. It came naturally to Mark to combine procedural competency with personal ebullience. He was an animated and caring presence who made everyone feel a bit lighter, whether they were tracking down a weighty tome or coming up against a wall of homework. “He was a real treasure for this struggling thesis student when the interlibrary loan system felt too big to navigate,” said Brianna Walker ’16. 

Mark’s positivity was genuine and infectious—on any given day, many routine interactions were enriched by his kindness, wit, and good cheer. During his 37 years in the library, Mark supervised 600+ student workers and oversaw the circulation of 3.6 million books. For his outstanding work in this role, he received the ������ Staff Excellence Award in 2001. Mark was well-loved by his ������ family, and a number of co-workers became devoted friends. Fran Ousley, a former library staffer, joined Mark on trips ranging from Italy (Venice was his favorite destination) to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Closer to home, he was a wine aficionado and collector who spent weekends exploring the Willamette Valley wineries.

During his cancer treatments, colleagues accompanied him to appointments and kept his spirits up with visits, cards, flowers, and gifts of physical media to entertain this avid reader and film enthusiast. Upon Mark’s death, Jim Holmes, director of access services and Mark’s friend and supervisor for many years, said “The last four months have been difficult on many levels, but Mark made it easier for us through his grace, dignity, and sense of humor, as was his nature.” When Mark was asked what he thought the other side might resemble, he fondly referenced George Burns in the movie Oh, God!, chuckling at the idea of God with a cigar.

June 16, 2026

David Harris Sacks once described Richard Hakluyt as “my friend” who’d been educated at Oxford and later in life became divinely inspired to learn about the New World and maps. Catherine Hinchliff ’10, then a student in Sacks’s English Renaissance class, sat up in her chair to listen more closely. 

“Odd, I thought, but I guess within the realm of possibility that David would have a friend who was really interested in early modern geography,” Catherine says. “It was only when David discussed Hakluyt’s death in 1616 that I realized…David was speaking affectionately about his research subject.”

November 26, 2025, in Berkeley, California, from complications of old age and long-term lymphoma.

Tommy was raised in the Los Angeles area, where he suffered from allergies and asthma. His health improved considerably as an adolescent and he was vital and active when he entered ������, where he wrote his thesis (“The Occasion of Explicit Ideology”) under Professor Edwin Garlan [philosophy 1946–73] and Professor David Heath French ’39 [anthropology].

Always open to new experiences, Tommy traveled in a freezing boxcar from Portland, Oregon, to Reno, Nevada, during one winter vacation with Diskin Clay ’60. He was also, like his friend Dick Levin ’60, passionate about dance—so passionate that he spent the summer of 1959 at a dance school in New England.

January 6, 2026, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Karen Virginia Lund Scott was born in 1934 in Seattle, Washington, to Walter and Lenore Lund. Raised in Portland, she graduated Jefferson High School at 16 (after skipping a grade or two) and briefly attended ������, where she met Robert Scott ’53.

After marrying in 1953, Karen and Rob drove a Model A Ford to Claremont McKenna, where Rob earned his MA. They had their first child, Dana Scott ’79, in 1954 and subsequently moved to Australia, spending a year in Canberra and a year in Perth while Rob taught at the University of Western Australia.  

October 13, 2025, of complications from inclusion body myositis.

Bonnie Garrett, best known to ������ies as a director of private music instruction in the 2000s, was born in 1944 to George and Evelyn Jackson. She grew up on the family farm near Mt. Gilead, Ohio, which embodied not only Bonnie’s ancestral roots but also the influence of the Quaker traditions and values that animated Bonnie’s thinking throughout her life.

After college in Illinois, Bonnie’s graduate studies took her to Indiana University, where she met a fellow graduate student, Lee Garrett, whom she married in 1968. Together, they developed a keen interest in music of the 17th and 18th centuries and related performance practices.

March 29, 2025, in Portland, Oregon.

The first of two children born to Avis Janke and James Lever, Karen Marie Lever was born in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Uninspired in school, her academic life was suddenly turned around when her father brought home a gas station copy of Wuthering Heights one day. She subsequently fell in love with art and literature, becoming the first person in her family to go to college.

Karen worked part-time jobs ranging from photo and illustrative fashion modeling for a Minneapolis department store to a summer decapitating chickens. She also won a scholarship to the University of Minnesota, followed by a full ride to Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a master’s degree in literature and a PhD.

March 28, 2025

Claire was a cherished friend, daughter, sister, cousin, and niece who lived with deep care—for her family, friends, community, and the planet. A passionate reader and music lover, she found joy in language and culture, leading to her fluency in Hebrew and Bahasa Indonesia.

Claire and her twin brother, Hunter, were born in Berkeley in 2000. She attended Beach Elementary, Piedmont Middle, and Piedmont High, where she cocaptained the varsity volleyball team and was named second-team all-league. Her classmates voted her “Most Chill.”

January 13, 2025, in Eugene, Oregon, from brain cancer.

Elaine was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1958. Her father, Dennis DeMartin, was in the Foreign Service, and her mother, Monique Gourjon, was born in Paris and emigrated to the United States after marrying Dennis.

Most of Elaine’s childhood was spent overseas at the U.S. embassies that her parents were posted to. After Dennis died of a heart attack in South Africa, Monique joined the Foreign Service and moved her family to Morocco (and, eventually, Tunisia). Elaine was greatly influenced by her time living in North Africa and revisited many experiences in her memoirs and poetry.

June 19, 2025, in Washington DC, of a brain tumor.

A well-traveled economist, Wesley McGrew majored in international studies at ������. He wrote his thesis, “Ethos Versus Opportunity: A Discussion of Entrepreneurial Development in Colbert’s France,” under Professor Peter Sinclair [economics 1976–77].

After graduating from ������, Wes went on to study economics at the University of Chicago, earning a PhD. His work experiences included the U.S. Treasury and the IMF, serving as representative in Athens, Greece.

August 21, 2024, in Longview, Washington.

Born in Paris, France, Henry was raised in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He was a visionary drummer, an accomplished systems developer, an advocate for Pacific Northwest tribal fisheries, and a recognized authority on Bigfoot.

Henry wore “every hat in the data center.” In the 1980s, based in New York City, he was a systems developer for the Switzerland Cheese Association, building a series of computer systems to track the trade of Swiss Cheese between Switzerland and North America. Then, in the 1980s, he moved back to the Pacific Northwest to begin a two-decade career managing data systems in support of fisheries management and the protection and restoration of Columbia basin native fish.