Cecelia Banwell-Graham
Cecelia Banwell-Graham, a former Medical School illustrator, died Dec. 14 in Tacoma, Wash. She was 87.
Photo courtesy Patty Graham.
Born in Detroit in 1924, Graham was identified early as an art prodigy. In 1943 she graduated from Cass Technical High School and entered Wayne State University, to pursue a degree in art education. Reflecting on her passions, art and science, and in a spirit of independence, Graham changed her career path and transferred to U-M in 1944. During summer terms, 1945, 1946 and 1947, she lived and studied natural sciences at the U-M Biological Station. Graham earned a Bachelor of Science in zoology from U-M in 1948.
In 1949 Graham joined the Medical School staff as a medical and biological illustrator in the Anatomy Department under the direction of Bradley Patten, professor of anatomy. She contributed illustration and graphic content to a variety of anatomy textbook publications, including Patten’s Early Embryology of the Chick (1951). Her work also supported the Salk/Francis Field Trials in 1955.
In addition to her technical artistry, she entered her paintings in juried shows and won numerous prizes, participated in the Michigan Water Color Association, and sold her work on private commission.
Graham’s talent, creativity, wisdom and generous spirit have been sources of delight and admiration to all those fortunate enough to have known her, family members say. Sadly, her gifts were devastated over the past 20 years by Parkinson’s disease, they add.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Donald Graham, who earned both undergraduate and medical degrees at U-M, 1950 and 1955, respectively. She is survived by her four children and one grandchild.
Cremation has taken place. A memorial service is to be arranged at a later date. Contributions may be made in her memory to U-M, the National Parkinson Foundation, the ASPCA or a charity of choice.
— Submitted by Patty Graham, Cecelia Banwell-Graham’s daughter
Emily Cloyd
Emily Cloyd, associate professor emeritus of English, died Jan. 1. She was 81.
For decades Cloyd lived with a multitude of health challenges, which friends and family say she faced with courage and grace.
She was born Oct. 21, 1930, in Norfolk, Neb. Cloyd earned her Bachelor of Arts in Latin and Greek from the University of Nebraska in 1952. In 1958 Cloyd received a Master of Arts in English and Greek from University of Nebraska. Her doctorate in English was awarded by Columbia University in 1967. She received both graduate and undergraduate awards that enabled her to attend Columbia and to do dissertation research in Scotland.
Cloyd retired as associate professor emeritus of English at U-M in 2000, after having been on the faculty since 1967. She taught at Vassar, Mount Holyoke, and the University of Nebraska prior to accepting appointment as Samuel Johnson Scholar and 18th century literature specialist at U-M. She was the first woman to obtain tenure in the Department of English at U-M. She is the author of a biography on James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, a figure of the Scottish enlightenment, as well as other scholarly works.
She loved to travel, even with her disabilities; she devoted numerous summers and sabbaticals to living in and traveling in England and Scotland, colleagues say. Her last sabbatical in 1995 was spent visiting 18th century gardens. She used this experience and her interest in the relationships between literature and other arts to develop multi-media computer presentations that she used with great acclaim with her students, colleagues add. These presentations included: photographs, music and history as well as literature. She was the first member of the Department of English to use a multi-media approach to teaching. She co-founded a local chapter of the Association for Women in Computing and during retirement was an active member of Mac Techniques, the Ann Arbor computer user group.
Cloyd was equally passionate about art, whether collecting, creating or falling in love with an artist or art form, friends say. Most recently she became fascinated with the glass work of Dale Chihuly. She had a deep fascination with everything creative. She and her friends often gathered at her home to work on various artistic projects.
It was her life practice to lead the way, colleagues say; true to form in her death she has taken the first space in the new Green Burial section at the Marblehead Cemetery in Milan. Hers will be the first Green Burial in Washtenaw County.
Cloyd is survived by her brother, Jerry Stephen Cloyd, and a nephew Donald Stephen Cloyd, both of Lincoln, Neb. Her parents were the late Donald and Florence Wilson Cloyd. She also leaves behind a host of friends and her care team.
Friends say Cloyd was an independent woman and pioneer who in her own words, “Worked to make things just a little bit easier for those who have to follow me.”
— Submitted by Jackie Walker
