1970-79

Stephen Baran, Heller PhD’70, of Acton, Mass., and formerly of Lexington, a social worker, died on Jan. 23. He last served as human-services coordinator for the town of Lexington, and was a member of Acton’s Senior Center Committee and the Disability Commission after his retirement. He also led and participated in courses at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Brandeis, and helped lead a program at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management that matched international students with Brandeis hosts. He leaves his wife, Bernice; his children, Lauren and Shaun; his brother, Howard; and three grandchildren. Catha Maslow Horton, MA’70, of Warwick, R.I., a psychotherapist with a practice in individual and couples therapy, died on June 7 in the presence of her immediate family after a yearlong bout with cancer. She leaves her 104-year-old mother, Beatrice; her husband of 38 years, David; her son, Noah; her stepson, Aaron; her sister, Laura; and a grandchild. Arthur Packer ’70, of Coral Gables, Fla., who wrote computer code for Dade County and the University of Miami, died on March 19. He leaves his wife, Stephanie, and his brother, James. Ben Granger, Heller PhD’71, of Fort Collins, Colo., longtime professor and former director of Colorado State University’s School of Social Work and the co-director of Human-Animal Bond in Colorado, died on Jan. 9 of complications from multiple myeloma. His career was devoted to advocating for disadvantaged and disenfranchised members of society, and educating multiple generations of social-welfare professionals. Prior to moving to Colorado State, he was associate dean of the University of Kentucky’s School of Social Work and dean of the University of Tennessee’s College of Social Work. He leaves his wife, Georgia; children David, Becky and Mark; and eight grandchildren. James Dow, MA’72, PhD’73, of Rochester Hills, Mich., a professor of anthropology at Oakland University for 36 years, died on July 13. His research was largely conducted in the Caribbean and Mexico, with an emphasis on the religious and shamanic practices of their indigenous peoples. He authored four books and nearly 100 scholarly articles. Francine Koslow Miller ’73, of Andover, Mass., an art critic and teacher who wrote a book about the efforts to close the Rose Art Museum, died on July 28. She wrote the book “Cashing in on Culture: Betraying the Trust at the Rose Art Museum,” both a personal and a factual account of the saga surrounding the attempts to sell the Rose’s collection. A freelance critic for Artforum for more than 20 years, she also contributed features to Sculpture Magazine. Francine taught at liberal arts institutions (McGill, the University of Massachusetts and Northeastern) and art colleges (Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Montserrat College of Art). She leaves her husband, Mark; daughter Rebecca; and mother Lillian. Dorrit Elsa Bat-Ami Burlingame ’74, of Mystic, Conn., a data analyst and ardent gardener, died on May 27. She leaves her son, Sam, and her father, Eli. Rebecca Lopez, Heller MSW’74, PhD’85, of Mountain View, Calif., who served as a professor at and the director of the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach, died on June 23. At Cal State, she was a strong advocate for the recruitment of more Latino faculty and students, and served as a model and a mentor to Latino students. Earlier in her career, she worked as a community activist in behalf of the Latino population and served as an aide to U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos of California, with a focus on immigration issues. She leaves her mother, Rose, and her sisters, Rosemary, Linda and Michelle. Linda Forbes-Jones ’76, of Chicago, died on April 13 from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run vehicle accident. She worked for many years as a 401K savings-plan specialist at Encyclopedia Britannica, and later worked at the Chicago Housing Authority and The HistoryMakers, the largest African-American video oral-history collection. She leaves her son, Justin, and her daughter, Victoria.