In Memoriam
We again sadly must report the passing of members of the Arts and Science family: Shona Wray, Ed Goebel, Stephen Gosnell and former Associate Dean Mary Merryman.
History Chair Gary Ebersole wrote these words of Shona on May 7, 2012.
“It is with great sadness that I write to report that Shona Kelly Wray, Associate Professor of History, passed away yesterday in Florence, Italy. Shona suffered a massive aneurism, which led to cardiac arrest and severe brain damage. She was in a coma on life support until her husband, Randy, her son, Shane, daughter, Alina, and her sister, Maggi, reached her side. Generous to the very end, Shona had requested that her organs be donated. Shona was a brilliant scholar-teacher, beloved by her colleagues and students. A student of medieval and Renaissance Italy, medieval feminist scholarship, medical history, and more, Shona was one of the brightest lights of her generation. She had received to two most prestigious honors in her field—the Rome Prize and a Harvard I Tatti Fellowship. Shona was in Florence at the I Tatti Villa during AY 2011-2012 doing research for what promised to be a ground-breaking social history of the family lives of the faculty of the University of Bologna in the medieval ages. Her social history of the Black Death in Bologna will long remain a model of archival scholarship.”
See:
Ray Coveney (Geosciences) alerted us to the passing of Ed Goebel in early May. Ed’s career spanned service to the State of Kansas as senior state geologist; as technical director for the Federal Power Commission and as Professor of Geology at UMKC. He was 88. For more see:
We also learned from Ray, in his role as acting Chair of Art and Art History, about the passing of Stephen Gosnell on May 27, 2012 when he wrote: I am sorry to have to tell you that associate professor emeritus Stephen Gosnell passed away in his sleep last night after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Pagano, his children, Anna and Andrew, and five grandchildren. Steve taught, painted, and made prints at UMKC for more than thirty years, retiring in 2001. May he rest in peace. See:
We have learned that Mary Merryman, who served as an Associate Dean for the College for many years before retiring almost 20 years ago, passed away on May 27, 2012. Mary’s primary duties dealt with the undergraduate students of the College. See:
