Dave Petrick ’67 passed away on December 2, 2022 after a long and fierce battle with lung cancer. Throughout his life, Dave shared his time, talent, and treasure with Illinois Wesleyan University, most recently with the planning and development of The Petrick IDEA Center. As a lifelong entrepreneur himself, Dave was passionate about sharing the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship with future Titans. Once built, The Petrick IDEA Center will serve as the epicenter of IWU innovation, as well as a lasting legacy to Dave’s creativity and generosity. He will be greatly missed by the campus community and by all who knew him.
Linda (Wilson) Stephens ’68 has been acting on stage for 50 years. She’s been awarded for her work in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and DC. She’s appeared on Broadway and off, in dozens of regional theatres across the country. She’s worked with and been praised by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Stephen Sondheim. Linda is now living in Milwaukee after living in numerous cities across the country and has published a book, There is no Backstage: An Actor’s Life. This book is a memoir of her five decades in theatre and showcases all the lessons and memories she’s had throughout her journey since her debut. Read more here.
Jim Joyce ’63 passed away on October 4th, 2022 at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska. After service in the U.S. Army, Jim worked in Des Moines, Iowa and Lincoln as a journalist and later as a legislative and gubernatorial assistant. At IWU, he majored in English and was active in the early setting up of Acacia Fraternity.
Joseph “Joe” Anderson ’67 passed away on October 23, 2022 in Bloomington, IL. He was born on September 6, 1944, and is survived by his wife, siblings, nieces and nephews. Read the full obituary here.
Nancy Meeker ’64 passed away on October 20, 2022 in home hospice. She is survived by her husband Dave ’64, sons Steve and John, four grandchildren and one great grandchild. While attending Wesleyan Nancy was a member of Kappa Gamma and kept active with many Kappa alum activities and friends throughout her life. Read the full obituary here.
Alan Leahigh ’67 was recently presented with the Cord Blood Association’s 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. The CBA is an international nonprofit organization that uses the stem cells from umbilical cord blood and birthing tissues to help with blood diseases, inherited genetic disorders, bone marrow failure, and immune deficiency diseases. In the photo below, Alan is shown receiving the award from CBA President Joanne Kurtzberg, MD.
Joyce (Lego) Finkler ’60 passed away on July 21, 2022. Joyce was the first in her family to graduate from college, Illinois Wesleyan, with a major in Spanish and a minor in French. She completed her program in three and a half years. College is where Joyce met Robert, her future husband. They attended countless fraternity and sorority events together, garnering her the Fiji Rose title.
Robert (Bob) Hendrick ’67 retired in 2020 after working fifty-four years as an insurance salesman and part-time Spanish teacher. Bob now spends his time giving back, using his “personal ministry” with Jesus to provide hot stew, books, and clothes to those in need. He often procures clothing from items that people leave behind at local dry cleaners.
Roger and Carol were recognized during a ceremony from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, September 23 in Young Main Lounge at the Memorial Center. The event was part of IWU’s Homecoming celebration.
Dr. Roger Sheldon ’64 is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His postgraduate training included a residency in pediatrics in Boston and fellowships in pediatric pulmonology and neonatal-perinatal medicine in Denver. Joining the CU faculty in 1976, he established one of the nation’s first neonatal nurse practitioner programs at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver and later led the neonatal section and NICU at the University of Oklahoma before serving 21 years as assistant dean for Continuing Medical Education. Additionally, he served as both assistant medical director of Heartland Health Plan and medical director of the Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma. During his Wesleyan years, Sheldon was president of the Student Senate, as well as a member of the marching band, the Collegiate Choir, the Apollo Quartet, Blue Key, and Phi Kappa Phi. Since retirement, Sheldon has devoted time to child advocacy, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center at the University of Minnesota, and Doctors for Early Childhood. Sheldon and his wife of 57 years, Dr. Carol V. Thompson Sheldon, have two children and six grandchildren. Son Christopher Sheldon is a history, theater and speech teacher in Massachusetts, and daughter Dr. Rebecca Ansari is a retired emergency physician and an author in Minnesota. Sheldon’s brother, Mark Sheldon ’70, was Student Senate president during his time at Wesleyan, and their mother and father, Helen McNicol Sheldon ’40 and Chet Sheldon ’43, won the IWU Alumni Loyalty Award in 2009. Sheldon attended his first IWU class at three or four weeks of age in a bassinet carried by his father.
Dr. Carol V. Thompson Sheldon ’65 graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1965 with a BS in mathematics. During her Wesleyan years, Sheldon served as Kappa Kappa Gamma scholarship chairman and vice president, IWU Dad’s Day chairman, and Student Senate secretary. She was a member of Beta Beta Beta, Alpha Lambda Delta, Green Medallion, Egas, and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. After college, Sheldon worked in computer programming and systems analysis at Chicago’s Illinois Bell Telephone and then at Boston Children’s Hospital. She tutored an immigrant child for Hull House in Chicago and was foster mother to five-year-old Joey in Boston. Sheldon never gave up her dream of becoming a physician and in 1979, after having two children, she received her MD degree from the University of Colorado. In 1983 she completed a residency in diagnostic radiology from the University of Oklahoma. Sheldon was the first woman to chair the Radiology Department and the first woman to serve as President of the Central Oklahoma Radiological Society. In 1998 she subspecialized in breast diagnosis, first at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and then working with two other women to co-found Breast Imaging of Oklahoma, where she practiced until her retirement in 2010. Since retirement and a move to Minneapolis, Sheldon has served as president of the Minneapolis branch of the American Association of University Women, a chapter of roughly 350 members. The group’s mission is equity for women and girls, supporting college scholarships to nine Minneapolis High School graduates each year, as well as providing food, clothing, and transitional housing to surrounding neighborhoods.
