Obituary: Ann Junginger

MADISON - Ann Junginger, age 83, of 1210 Seminole Hwy., Madison, died on Tuesday, January 3, 1984 at a Madison nursing home. She was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin on March 31, 1900. She was a teacher for many years with the Madison school system. Survivors include two brothers, Karl Junginger of Waterloo, and Adolph Junginger of Clinton, Iowa; and numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 6, 1984 at 2 p.m. at the SCHROEDER FUNERAL HOME, 3325 East Washington Ave., Madison. The reverend Norman Peterson will officiate. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery. Friends may call from 1 p.m. until the time of services at the funeral home.

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 5, 1984; submitted by Jill (Gasdorf) Topper (Class of 1966), who says Miss Junginger taught her shorthand when she was at Central.

Obituary: Florence Morris

Miss Florence Morris,
Former teacher, Dies

Miss Florence Morris, 80, of 1005 Haywood Dr., a Central High School teacher for 39 years, died Sunday night (Feb. 18, 1973) in a Madison hospital after an illness.

Miss Morris was a well-known Madison tacher who maintained friendships with many of her former pupils throughout her life.

Born at Randolph, we was a graduate of Carroll College. She taught at Amherst for two years, at Hayward for one, and at Eau Claire for one year.

Miss Morris tauhgt advanced and college algebra in high school before most high schools featured higher mathematics.

Also a geometry teacher, she was reported to have applied a basic geometry principle to her pupils -- the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Miss Morris told her pupils the straight line applied to personal relations between pupils, between pupils and teachers, and between pupils and the life ahead.

A sports fan, she was known as a loyal supporter of the school football and basketball teams, traveling frequently outside Madison to watch the games.

The orange and black "M" emblem, reserved for athletes, was presented to a teacher only once -- to Miss Morris in 1957.

When she retired in 1958, she had been describd as a firm disciplinarian, but one who was always fair. Her students were said to have called her "Flossie," but only behind her back.

Golf was one of Miss Morris' hobbies. A running joke at the school was that her golf score for 18 holes looked like the national debt.

She was an advisor for many years to the Central High School Student Council and for 20 years to the Wisconsin Assn. of Student Councils.

Miss Morris was also an active member of the Wisconsin Gymanfa Ganu, which holds traditional Welsh singing festivals throughout the state.

More than 200 former pupils, teachers and friends attended her retirement reception in 1958.

In September, 1972, more than 100 persons greeted Miss Morris on her 80th birthday at a surprise birthday at her apartment.

The list of her students included names of well-known Madisonians, among them former Police Chief Wilbur H. Emery, former Wisconsin State Journal sportswriter Monte McCormick, and Wisconsin State Journal Publisher J. Martin Wolman.

There are no immediate survivors.

Funeral arrangements are pending at the Frautschi Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Rd.

Note: The above was originally published in the Obituaries section of the Wisconsin State Journal on February 19, 1973. At this time, obituaries were still "news stories," written by newspaper staff, not families. Given the length of the tribute and the amount of detail it includes, it is likely that some of her former pupils may have been involved in writing this unsigned "news story."



This tribute (below) Florence Morris and Benjamin Ashman, both of who retired in 1958, appeared in the 1957 Tychoberahn.

Obituary: Benjamin H. Ashman

MADISON - Benjamin H. Ashman, age 90, of 2107 Waunona Way, died on Thursday, Jnauary 20, 1983, at a Madison hospital. Born on March 3, 1892, in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, he was married to the former Mildred Duncan on August 15, 1915. Mr. Ashman taught at the former Cental High School in Madison for thirty-eight years and spent his retirement with his avocation, gardening. Survivors are two daughters, Marian Ashman and Margaret Huff, both of Madison; two sons, Thomas of Madison and Stephen of Mount Horeb; four grandchildren, Jonathan Wilde of Belleville, Phoebe Swenson of Mesa, Arizona, Laurie Hamilton of Wallingford, Connecticut and Connie Weiss of Madison; a great granddaughter; and several nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred in 1975; a daughter, Helen Wilde in 1966; a brother, Richard in 1969; and just recently, a sister-in-law, Erma Duncan. Memorial services will be ehld at the FIRST UNITARIAN MEETING HOUSE AT 900 University Bay Drive at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 19, with the Reverend Max Gaebler officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to either the University of Wisconsin Foundation for the Arboretum at 1207 Seminole Highway, Madison 53711 or the Wisconsin Phenological Society at 1922 University Avenue, Madison 53705. The CRESS FUNERAL HOME is in charge of arrangements.

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 21, 1983

Note: What is phenology? According to the Wisconsin Phenological Society Manual (2003), "Phenology is an interdisciplinary branch of ecology. Its purpose is to record the general development of plants and animals as affected by climate and weather at a certain geographical location." Use the links to learn more about the organization and its objectives.

The article below was originally published in The Capital Times on July 23, 1958. It was written by reporter Frank Custer, a Central alumnus (Class of 1931), who probably was one of Ashman's pupils.

Note: Double click on this image to enlarge it in your browser window.

This tribute (below) to Benjamin Ashman and Florence Morris, both of who retired in 1958, appeared in the 1957 Tychoberahn.

Obituary: Marvin Foster

EAU CLAIRE - Marvin Foster, veteran performer and conductor in the early days of the Madison Theater Guild and pioneer in the development interdisciplinary college curricula in Wisconsin and San Francisco, died in his hometown of Eau Claire on Sept. 26, 2005. The cause of death was cancer. Mr. Foster was an active participant in the early days of Madison Theatre Guild musical productions as a director, conductor, singer and actor. Of the many roles he played, he is most remembered for his portrayals of the King in The King and I and Harold Hill in The Music Man. He also conducted several musicals with the Theater Guild including Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, Carousel, The Boy Friend, Little Mary Sunshine, Damn Yankees, and Most Happy Fella. In addition, he directed the first off Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof in Madison. At the time of his death he was professor emeritus of Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. During the 1960s, Foster was director of the Bureau of Lectures and Concerts at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he produced art programs for schools throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. These programs integrated different art forms into single productions with common themes. In 1969, he joined the faculty at San Francisco State University as chairman of the Center of Interdisciplinary Arts in the School of Creative Arts. At San Francisco State, he created an interdisciplinary program that merged the performing, visual and media arts. This innovative approach to educational curricula broke down traditional departmental barriers and created a model for interdisciplinary programs that has been adapted by other colleges throughout the country. While in San Francisco, Foster joined and became very active in the Bohemian Club, where he continued his theatrical interests and produced and directed dozens of shows. Foster was born in 1921, the son of Charles Foster and Elsie Toy Foster. He attended both high school and college in Eau Claire, where he was very active in all aspects of music. During World War II, he served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. He was the commanding officer of a landing craft in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and Southern France. After the war, he moved with his wife, the former Ruth Augustine of Eau Claire, to Madison, where he entered graduate school in the Philosophy of Education at the University of Wisconsin. While a graduate student, he served on the faculty at Madison Central High School for several years before taking the directorship of the University's Bureau of Lectures and Concerts. His time in Madison also included the directorship of the Jane Addams' Hull House touring theater and the Hull House Fine Arts Camp at East Troy. In the early 1960s he served as a consultant for the performing arts for the governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Greece. He returned to Eau Claire in 1992 for the 100th birthday of his mother. He met and married another Eau Claire native, Katherine Garnock Gilbertson, and remained in his hometown until his death. He is survived by his second wife, Katherine Garnock Foster; three children, David Foster (Betsy Jacaruso) of Rhinebeck, N.Y., Deborah Foster (David Eppstein) of Brookline, Mass., and Thomas Foster (Annie) of Blaine, Wash.; three stepchildren, Julia Colvin (Michael) of Durham, N.C., Philip Gilbertson (Jan) of Blacksburg, Va., and James Gilbertson of Richmond, Va.; three grandchildren, Laura and Daniel Eppstein of Brookline, Mass., and Tonya Howe (Joe) of Dubuque, Iowa; a step-grandchild, Cara Hamill of Rhinebeck, N.Y.; and four great-grandchildren

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on November 11, 2005

Obituary: Robert Harry Alwin

BELLEAIR, FLA. - Robert Harry Alwin, age 83, of Belleair, died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003, in Clearwater, Fla. Born in Madison, he moved to Florida in 1957 from Madison. He was a teacher and coach, and earned several master's degrees in math and meteorology from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago. He served in the Air Force and taught math at St. Petersburg Junior College. In 1998, he was inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame for his sports accomplishments, including membership on the University of Wisconsin's Big Ten and NCAA championship basketball team in 1941, and team captain in 1942; head basketball and golf coach and football assistant at Central High School in Madison, 1946-1957. He also co-authored several math textbooks. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Shirley; a daughter, Joan, Belleair; a son, Mark, York, Pa.; and two grandchildren, Kristen Dinklage, Winter Park, Fla. and Matthew of Belleair. Hubbell Funeral Home and Crematory Bellaire Bluffs, Fla. (727) 584-7671

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on October 23, 2003

Note: Coach Alwin was inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. Larry Franklin (Class of 1965) was also inducted that year. To read more about Coach Alwin, who was a member of the UW-Madison's NCAA championship basketball team in 1941, click HERE.

Obituary: Edna K. (Gram) Pollock

MADISON - Edna K. Pollock, age 92, of Madison, died on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003, at Attic Angels. She was born on March 22, 1910, in West Allis, the daughter of Lauritz and Emma (Carter) Gram. Edna married Harold Pollock on June 22, 1940, in West Allis. She was a teacher at West Milwaukee High School, Madison Central High School and Madison East High School. Edna was a 50-year member of Eastern Star, Whitewater. She is survived by two children, Mary Ellen (Robert W.) Lee of Waunakee, and Richard (Pamela) Pollock of Plymouth, Minn.; six grandchildren, Lori, Tami, Keri, Jami, Bradley and Thomas; and seven great-grandchildren. Edna was preceded in death by her husband, Harold "Gus," in 1993; and two brothers, Harold and Laurence Gram. Funeral services will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL HOME, 5203 Monona Drive, at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 24, 2003. Burial will be in Highland Memory Gardens. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to HospiceCare Inc. Gunderson East Funeral Home (608) 221-5420

Originally published in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 22, 2003