Natalie Alpert
Natalie Alpert, professor emeritus of landscape architecture at the UI,
died Jan. 20 at Aspen Valley Hospital, Colo. She was 73. A memorial service
will be at 2 p.m. March 16 in Buell Gallery, Architecture Building.
Alpert graduated from Stanford University in 1944. She earned a bachelor's
degree in landscape architecture from the UI in 1969 and joined the UI faculty
in 1971. She remained with the department of landscape architecture until
her retirement in 1991. In addition to teaching landscape history and planting
design, she directed alumni relations, coordinated undergraduate studies
and served as assistant department head. She was active in the American
Society of Landscape Architects and the Council of Educators in Landscape
Architecture, which honored her dedication to counseling and supporting
generations of female students and faculty members with a Special Award
of Recognition in 1990.
In addition to her academic career, she was active in community environmental
work and maintained a sussessful private practice in residential landscape
design.
She is survived by her husband, Daniel, director emeritus of the UI Center
for Advanced Study; two daughters; a brother; four nieces; and two grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Natalie Alpert Fund established
by the department of landscape architecture at the UI Foundation.
Edward Earle Lancaster
Edward Earle Lancaster, a retired UI art professor, died Feb. 10 at his
home in Vanceboro, N.C. He was 58.
Lancaster graduated from East Carolina College, Greenville, N.C., with a
bachelor of arts degree in 1961 and from the University of Oklahoma with
a master of fine arts degree in 1962.
He taught at Page High School, Greensboro, N.C., from 1962 to 1963 and at
Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, from 1963 to 1964.
He was a professor in the UI School of Art and Design from 1964 until he
retired in 1994. He taught drawing, design and painting and exhibited his
own artwork nationally and internationally. After his retirement from the
UI, he returned to North Carolina.
Survivors include two sons, two daughters, one grandson, two sisters and
a brother.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Murray Parents Association, 1535
W. McCord, Centralia, IL 62801, or to an organization of the donor's choice.
Milton Derber
Milton Derber, professor emeritus of the Institute of Labor and Industrial
Relations, died Feb. 19 in Amherst, N.Y. He was 81.
Derber was one of the founding fathers of the UI institute, and he was one
of the key intellectual contributors to the field of industrial relations.
From 1940 to 1947, Derber worked as an economist with the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics and the Office of Price Administration. He also was a field
examiner with the National Labor Relations Board and an economist and research
director with the National War Labor Board.
He joined the institute in 1947 and retired in 1983.
From 1959 to 1960, Derber was president of the American Association of University
Professors, UI chapter. From 1966 to 1967, he was vice chairman and project
director of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Labor Management Policy
for Public Employees in Illinois. He also has been a member of the National
Governors' Conference Task Force on State and Local Government Relations,
a consultant for the International Institute for Labor Studies in Geneva,
and a member of the Office of Collective Bargaining, state of Illinois.
Derber was editor of the Industrial Relations Research Association from
1948 to 1950 and a member of its executive board from 1959 to 1962. He was
a Senior Fulbright Scholar in Australia from 1975 to 1976. In 1982, Derber
was president of the Industrial Relations Research Association.
Derber was the author or co-author of 12 books and approximately 100 articles,
bulletins and reports dealing with labor relations in the United States
and abroad.
He served for many years on the board of the Hillel Foundation at the University
of Illinois.
Derber is survived by his wife, Zelda; two children; and two sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Milton Derber endowed fund for
the Annual Milton Derber Lecture on Industrial Relations or to the Champaign
chapter of Hadassah.
Pamela Sprehe
Pamela J. Sprehe, an auditor in the UI's Office of Grants and Contracts,
died Feb. 26 at Carle Foundation Hospital. She was 44.
Sprehe graduated from Milford High School in 1970 and from Northeast Missouri
State University in Kirksville, Mo., in 1974 with a degree in business auditing.
She was an auditor for the state of Missouri before moving to Champaign.
She was on the Board of Governors of the Central Illinois Chapter of the
Institute of Internal Auditors and secretary of the Illinois Downstate Chapter
of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
She is survived by her mother.
Memorials may be made to the Word of Life Radio Ministry or the American
Cancer Society.
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