In Memoriam & Community Passages

Jyll Allen G’03 passed away in July 2025. After completing a master’s in disability studies, they worked in local education for decades. Her family writes that compassion, intelligence and activism defined their life as a self-advocate and activist for social justice.  A lover of words and language, they collaborated on many projects, and published writing in The Green Mountains Deep: Fiction about Disabled Vermonters by a Disabled Vermonter. A sticker on their transfer lift saying, “Where there’s a Jyll, there’s a way,” epitomized their punny humor and cleverness.

 

Timothy Hayes ’67 passed away in July 2025.  After a long career in advertising that included writing the iconic tagline, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” Tim found himself becoming a devoted expert in natural horsemanship and equine therapy.  He remarked how gratified he was to return to UVM 50 years after graduating to teach today’s students about his approach to horsemanship.

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Diane Eastman Jones ’55 passed away in February 2025. Her loved ones remember her as, “a friend to all, and to know her was to love her.  This irrepressible (impossible to control) rascal lady was truly a woman for all seasons, whose zest for life and service was unparalleled, and an inspiration for all.” She captained the 1955 women's ski team while working towards a B.S. in psychology. She is survived by a large and loving family that includes her husband of 66 years, Colonel Richard Jones, and their children and their families: Liz Taylor ’77, Sandra Jones ’83, Susan Jones ’86 and James Jones.

 

Dr. Barbara Clark Kay '67 passed away in February 2025. The UVM community is grateful to her as a long-time, committed volunteer and a generous supporter, most recently through a research fund supporting biological and environmental undergraduate research.

 

Arthur S. Kunin, M.D. ’53, former husband of Vermont’s first female governor Madeleine Kunin G’67, passed away at 99 in July 2025. Dr. Kunin spent summers in Burlington with his grandparents in the city’s “Little Jerusalem” Old North End neighborhood. The first person in his family to attend college, he went on to serve in WWII in a division assigned to General Patton’s Third Army, and as a volunteer for a mission to rescue wounded Americans from the battlefield in December 1944, where he himself was seriously wounded. After recovering, and after earning an undergraduate degree at Columbia, and then attended UVM’s College of Medicine to graduate in 1953 and then begin a career as an attending physician and researcher here in 1957. He is survived by Governor Madeleine Kunin, children Adam MD’93, Daniel, Julia, and Peter Kunin, among a large network of beloved family members and treasured friends.

 

Jessica Rachel Mann ’99 passed away in August 2025. A sociology major, her family says that she found community at UVM both academically and socially. She learned to ski in a gym class at UVM and went on to ski some of the world’s most challenging slopes.  

 

Beloved local musician, radio DJ and reference librarian Robert Resnik ’74 passed away in July 2025. Friends affectionately remember his eclectic weekly WRUV show, and a smile that one friend called, “somewhere between Jerry Garcia and a leprechaun.”

 

Shiloh Schulte, Ph.D. ’00 passed away in a helicopter crash while conducting field work in Alaska, doing the research he was most devoted to: working in nature to protect the birds and wild places he cherished so deeply. He is remembered as a lifelong birdwatcher, conservationist, and scientist whose passion for the natural world was infectious.  He is survived by wife Shevaun Schulte ’02 and their two daughters.

 

Robert Taisey ’50 went on from UVM to receive a JD from Cornell University. He established a 70-year legal career, as well as a lifetime of volunteer leadership and generosity to support UVM as well as prodigious service in support of the legal profession and the humanities.

 

Stephen Terry ’64 passed away in July 2025. In his UVM undergraduate years, he was a member of Delta Psi. He is remembered as an esteemed journalist, as well as a dedicated UVM volunteer and supporter across UVM -- active with campus events, service on the Boards of Advisors of the Aiken Lecture Series and UVM Alumni Association, and passionate about the Center for Research on Vermont and the Center for Community News.

 

Sally Weinstock ’56 passed away in spring 2025. She went on from UVM to have an energetic career, including as CEO of her family’s business in New York City. She remained a devoted volunteer for UVM and many other causes and organizations.  She made an enormous difference on generations of UVM students as a long-time donor who established support for UVM’s Theatre Department, and for undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

Dr. Robert Cummings Woodworth '53 was a professor of biochemistry at UVM in the College of Medicine from 1961 until his retirement in 1997. Passionate about continuing support for UVM students, he and his wife Marilyn Pratt Woodworth ’52 endowed a fund to support undergraduates majoring in biochemistry, chemistry, or nutrition and food sciences. He is survived by brother Barry Bruce Woodworth, children Charles Woodworth, Hope Woodworth and Natalie Woodworth Billings ’82 and grandchildren Jireh Billings ’12, Calder Billings ’15 and Nathaniel Swift Billings.

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