VOLUME 30, NUMBER 1

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1998

Obituaries

Northrup R. Knox, 69, banker, sportsman, community leader

Northrup R. Knox, national chairman of UB's Pathways to Greatness endowment campaign, which raised $56.3 million for the university from 1987-92, died July 23 in his East Aurora home after a lengthy illness. He was 69.

His death followed by two years and two months the death of his brother, Seymour H. Knox, III, who died May 22, 1996 at age 70.

Past chairman of the Buffalo Sabres and Marine Midland Bank, and a prominent civic leader, Northrup Knox was closely associated with UB. A director of the UB Foundation, he continued a long family connection with the university. His father, the late Seymour H. Knox Jr., was chairman of UB's governing Council from 1920-69 and his paternal grandmother, Grace Knox, established UB's first endowment fund.

He was chairman and director of the Seymour H. Knox Foundation and vice president and director of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, governing body of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery that bears the family name.

Knox received the UB President's Medal in 1994. He and Seymour III received honorary doctorate of humane letters from SUNY in 1996 during UB's sesquicentennial convocation. Seymour's was bestowed posthumously.

The Knox brothers, who brought major league hockey to Buffalo, were inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in 1996. Northrup Knox was a principal owner of the Buffalo Sabres from the purchase of the NFL franchise in 1970 until earlier this year. An accomplished sportsman, he was a past chairman and governor of the U.S. Polo Association and a former captain of the U.S. polo team in international play, as well as a champion court tennis player.

Survivors include his wife, Lucetta; a daughter, Linda Knox McLean, and a son, Northrup R. Jr.

Offenhamer, who had been a star quarterback, as well as a light-heavyweight boxer and catcher on the baseball team at Colgate University, was head freshman coach at Colgate when he came to UB in 1955. Two years later, the Bulls won the Lambert Cup, making UB the top-rated small school in the East. Offenhamer became National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) coach of the week-and toast of the town-during that season after the Bulls upset highly regarded Columbia University.

During 11 coaching seasons, his record was 58 wins, 37 losses and 5 ties. In 1958, he was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Buffalo Evening News. He resigned from UB in 1966.

Offenhamer had coached football as well as baseball and taught English at Kenmore High School from 1936-46. After leaving UB, he returned to the Kenmore school system as an English teacher and guidance counselor at Kenmore East High School. Shortly afterward, he was offered a job as director of player personnel for the New York Jets. He declined the offer.

In 1979, the Clarence-Amherst Chambers of Commerce honored him with the first annual Dick Offenhamer Award, which recognizes a community member who has made significant contributions to the university. He was named an honorary member of the UB Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and was elected to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

He is survived by two daughters, Leah Gerolami of Las Vegas and Lynne Paolini of Kenmore; a son, William, of Atlanta; a sister, Ruth Pollock, of Naples, Fla.; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. .

One of the first faculty members and the only woman hired when the Computer Science Department was formed in 1967, Eberlein served as chair of the department from 1981-84 and was acting chair from 1971-72.

While she was chair, Eberlein significantly increased the amount of sophisticated computer equipment in the department, propelling it-and the university-into the technological forefront.

Before coming to UB, she was a mathematician at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where she worked on the "Electronic Computer Project" that led to the development of one of the first computers ever constructed. The computer created under this project was designed by John von Neumann, father of modern computing, and now is in the Smithsonian Institution.

Her research specialty was numerical analysis, particularly numerical linear algebra and combinatorial algorithms. In 1984, she received a Visiting Professorship for Women Award from the National Science Foundation. In 1988, she was a visiting senior scientist at the Argonne National Laboratory. She was one of the original members of the Gatlinburg group, which now numbers more than 400 researchers.

A 1944 graduate of the University of Chicago, Eberlein did not limit herself to the academic world. Described by a UB colleague as "the most fascinating person I've ever met," Eberlein had a stint as a pilot flying planes from manufacturing plants to military bases during World War II. After a brief career as a fashion model in New York City, she married and ranched in South Dakota.

Divorced and the single mother of two children, she resumed her education and earned a master's degree and a doctorate at Michigan State University. In 1956, she joined the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton. The next year, Eberlein went to the University of Rochester, where she became associate director of its computing center. She joined UB's new Computer Science Department in 1967.

A member of numerous professional societies, she was active in the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Mathematical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Women in Mathematics. Eberlein often spoke on panels about the need to attract more women to study mathematics and computer science.

She is survived by four daughters, Sarah Wells of Oak Park, Ill, Mary Wells of Rochester, Kristen of Durham, N.C., and Kathryn Klaber of Cleveland Heights, Ohio; three sons, Patrick of Chapel Hill, N.C., Michael of Amherst, Ohio, and Robert of Glendale, Md.; a brother, William S. James of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

William M. Bukowski, 76, clinical assistant professor of medicine

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at Christ the King Chapel of Canisius College on July 31 for William M. Bukowski, an internist and cardiologist who was a longtime clinical assistant professor of medicine at UB. Bukowski died July 28 after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, in Sisters of Charity Hospital, where he had been a staff member for 44 years.

Bukowski, who graduated from Canisius College in 1943, received his medical degree from the UB School of Medicine in 1947. He was a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, serving as commanding officer of the 57th Field Hospital in Toul, France. He specialized in internal medicine and cardiology, establishing a private practice following his military service.

An attending physician in medicine and electrocardiography at Sisters Hospital, he was president of the medical staff there in the early 1970s. He also served on the hospital's board of trustees from the mid-1970s to 1981. In April, he was honored as Man of the Year by the Sisters Hospital Past Presidents Club.

Bukowski was a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Survivors include his wife, Marguerite; five daughters, Joan, Barbara A., Kate, Beth M. of Washington, D.C. and Martha B. Thomson of Devon, Pa.; two sons, William M., Jr. of Montreal and Peter J.; two brothers, Thomas of Alexandria, Va. and Dr. Stanley, and eight grandchildren.

Poole performed secretarial duties for Peter Regan, beginning in 1966 while he was vice president for health affairs. She continued in his office during the time that he was executive vice president and while he was acting president of the university in 1969-70.

She worked for a time for Warren Bennis, who was vice president for academic development and acting executive vice president, then was executive secretary for Albert Somit, who was executive vice president from 1970-80. In 1981, she was secretary to Senior Vice President Robert Wagner, when he was vice president for academic services, a new unit set up by President Robert Ketter. She also worked in the office of Robert Rossberg, who was vice president for academic affairs from 1980-84. Poole retired in 1985.

She was active in the Emeritus Center for many years as an officer and a volunteer in the REV-UP program. One of her projects was monitoring the Furnas Memorial Room.

A skilled grammarian, she was painstaking in the proofreading work that she did on an occasional basis for the Publications Department following her retirement.

Deeply interested in the arts, especially music and theater, she often rounded up friends to attend music and theater events at UB and frequently volunteered at ArtPark and for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Survivors include a sister, Muriel Lockman; two nephews, Carl and Martin Lockman, and a great-niece, Laura Lockman, all of the New York City area.

Niesen, a graduate of the UB medical school, served as a major in the Army during World War II. He was chief of urology at Buffalo Veterans Hospital before entering private practice in Niagara Falls. He was chief of the medical staff and chief of urology at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and Mt. St. Mary's Hospital, Lewiston.

A member of the Royal College of Surgeons of the United Kingdom, Niesen also maintained a practice in Niagara Falls, Ont. He was a past president of the Buffalo Urology Society and the Health Association of Niagara County. He moved to Florida about 10 years ago.

Survivors include his wife, Jean; a daughter, Nancy Eddy of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and a granddaughter.

Marjorie Tiedemann, 75, former assistant dean

A memorial service was held July 25 in Silver Creek for Marjorie Tiedemann, a former assistant dean in the School of Health Related Professions. Mrs. Tiedemann, 75, died June 29 in Tucson, Ariz. after a long illness.

Mrs. Tiedemann, who lived in Cheektowaga, Snyder and Silver Creek, in 1979 moved to Arizona, where she was assistant director of the Rural Health Office in the Health Science Center at the University of Arizona.

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from UB and a doctorate from the University of Arizona.

Survivors include a daughter, Jill Jenkins of Tucson; two sons, Christian of Tucson and David of Syracuse; a brother, Lyle Robertson of Cleveland, and six grandchildren.

Front Page | Top Stories | Q&A | Briefly | Mail
Events | Obituary | Electronic Highways | Focus on Research
Current Issue | Comments? | Archives | Search 
UB Home | UB News Services | UB Today