William O. Hurd ’52, on Oct. 13, 2015. He was 87 and a resident of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Bill grew up in Cleveland. He served with the U.S. Army Air Force for two years before enrolling at Kenyon, where he followed in the footsteps of an uncle, Walter Gordon 1919. He majored in history, played varsity baseballand football, and joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
Bill’s career in industrial sales took his family to Connecticut, New Jersey, and Ohio. In 1975, after previous positions with Alemite and Carborundum, he was named a District Sales Supervisor for the Safety Products Division of the Norton Co. of Worcester, Massachusetts. His final job was as an Account Executive with Ansell Edmont Industrial, Inc., in Marlton, New Jersey.
Bill was inducted into the Kenyon Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of the 1950 football team – a year in which the Lords had only their second undefeated season in the College’s first 60-plus years of competition.
Bill is survived by two daughters, Katherine Hurd Jaggers and Elizabeth Hurd Meredith; a son, William O. Hurd Jr.; eight grandchildren; and eight greatgrandchildren. Bill’s wife, Carol Hanser Hurd, died on Sept. 17, 2016.
Don Bandler ’69 on Feb 24, 2017. He was 69 and a resident of Bethesda, MD.
Don grew up in Bala-Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, He majored in Political Science at Kenyon, sang with the Kenyon Singers, appeared in a Hill Theater production of Shakespeare’s “King Henry IV” and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He graduated Cum Laude, with honors in his major
Don went on to teach at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and then earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree at the college’s campus in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He received his Law Degree from George Washington University in 1979 and joined the U.S. Department of State.
Don became the key State Department spokesman for the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games. He had just returned from Africa, in keeping with his role at the time as a Chief Liaison between the State Department and the U.S. Congress on African policy, when the boycott was announced by President Jimmy Carter. Working with Muhammad Ali, he helped to convince several African nations to support the boycott.
Don became the State Departments special Assistant to the Director of Policy and Plans in 1982. By 1986, he was First Secretary at the American embassy in Paris. Less than four years later, he was in Bonn, West Germany, just in time for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German reunification.
Back in Washington, D.C., Don next served as Director of the Office of Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs at the State Department. By 1997, he had moved to the White House as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton before becoming Senior Director of European affairs at the National Security Council.
Don won confirmation by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador to Cyprus on July 1, 1999. At the time, he joked, “If Someone had asked me as a student at Kenyon if I was interested in a career in the foreign service, I probably would have asked what the Foreign Service was.” But he was also clear about the inspiration for his work: “Making a difference is what it boils down to,” he said. “I’ve had an opportunity to work on real problems and influence events in ways that move us from confrontation to peace.”
In 2006, Don was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree at the College’s Honors Day Convocation. The citation for that degree, written and delivered by Distinguished Professor of Political Science Emeritus Harry M. Clor ’99, noted that he had received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and in 1998, induction into the French Legion of Honor.
Don is survived by his wife, Jane Goldwin Bandler, daughter of the late Robert A. Goldwin ’76, the former Professor of Political Science; two daughters, Laura Bandler Hogan and Jillian Bandler Parekh; a son, Jeffrey Bandler; three grandchildren; and two sisters, Beth Bandler Halliwill and Amy Bandler Garfinkel.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Clifford Hilton ’64, on Jan. 6, 2017. A resident of Ogden, UT, he was 74.
Cliff was born in Ogden and majored in English at Kenyon, where he was a member of the varsity track team and Delta Tau Delta Fraternity.
Cliff went on to earn an M.A. in English at Ohio State University in 1967 and a Ph.D. in Psychology at George Washington University in 1975. From 1968 to 1978, he served in the U.S. Navy, handling research and clinical duties at Bethesda Naval Hospital and working as an instructor and later, Assistant Professor at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Spending most of his career as a Clinical Psychologist in private practice, Cliff developed a reputationas a brilliant therapist. He was also a Forensic Consultant and courtroom expert. He served as an associate at Weber (Utah) Mental Health, an Adjunct Professor at Weber State University and a consultant for the Weber Basin Job Corps, the Utah Division of Family Services and the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation.
Cliff and his late wife, Marge, lived in Eden, Utah, for almost 40 years. Their marriage brought five step children into Cliff’s life, and he developed strong bonds with each of them.
Cliff is survived by two step daughters, Susan Johnson and Jennie Johnson Caverley; two stepsons, Mark Johnson and Scott Johnson; five grandchildren; two brothers, Donald “Joe” Hilton and Laurence M. Hilton; and two sisters, Joanne Hilton Brenner and Marney Hilton Zambrano. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie”Marge” King Hilton, who died in 2014, and a step son, Andrew Johnson.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Kenyon College Scholarship Fund online at gift.kenyon.edu or by mail to the Office of Development, Kenyon College, 105 Chase Ave., Gambier, Ohio, 43022-9623.