The University Record, May 20, 1998
Obituaries
Clifford P. Lillya
Clifford P. Lillya, professor emeritus of music, died May 3 at Glacier Hills Nursing Center. A professor of trumpet and cornet at the School of Music for 32 years, Lillya retired in 1979.
In 1974, he was named the Earl V. Moore Professor of Music, recognizing his exceptional professional excellence as a teacher and academician and, in the words of Dean Emeritus Allen P. Britton, “not only on account of his highly professional competence, but for the kindness, courtesy and humanity that are the hallmarks of his character.”
Lillya was born Jan. 20, 1910, in Joliet, Ill. He began his trumpet studies in the public schools of Joliet, but by his sophomore year in high school was studying with H.A. VanderCook at the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. Regarded as a trumpet player of exceptional promise, Lillya won first place in the State Solo Contest for all instruments in 1925, and a year later was again awarded first place in a similar state cornet contest. A year after graduating from high school, Lillya auditioned for Edward Llewellyn and was offered a membership in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, an offer he declined in favor of attending VanderCook College of Music. He received his bachelor of music degree from that institution in 1931, and a master of music degree from Northwestern University, where he studied with Veran Florent, in 1944.
After teaching instrumental music at Chicago’s Van Steuben Junior High School, and at Englewood and Marshall High Schools in Chicago, Lillya came to Michigan and joined the School of Music faculty in 1947. Considered one of the very finest teachers of cornet and trumpet in the world, Lillya’s students enjoyed formidable success in prominent performing and teaching positions across the United States. Four of Lillya’s students were recipients of the Stanley Medal, the highest honor an undergraduate student at the School of Music can receive.
Well known as an adjudicator and as a conductor of music clinics, Lillya also was the author of articles, musical arrangements and instructional texts, including the celebrated Lillya Cornet Method. In 1971, he was named chair of the Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments, succeeding William D. Revelli.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Clifford P. Lillya Scholarship Fund, School of Music, 1100 Baits Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2085.
Submitted by the School of Music
Alfred G. Meyer
Alfred G. Meyer, professor emeritus of political science and former director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies, died of heart failure April 22 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. He was 78.
Born Feb. 5, 1920, in Bielefeld, Germany, Meyer immigrated to the United States in 1939. He served in the U.S. Army, and was promoted to the intelligence division as a prisoner of war interrogator. After World War II, he worked as a counter-intelligence official in Germany.
Meyer received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1950. He taught in the political science departments at Michigan State University before coming to the
U-M in 1966. He was the recipient of the Amoco Good Teaching Award in 1977 and the Sinclair Award for Freshman-Sophomore Counseling in 1979. He retired in 1990.
Meyer was a noted authority on Marxism, Leninism and the Soviet political system, and the author of several books including Marxism: The Unity of Theory and Practice, Leninism, Communism, and The Soviet Political System.
Meyer is survived by brother Hajo who lives in the Netherlands; wife Eva and son Stefan of Ann Arbor; and daughter Vera of Malden, Mass.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Covenant House, Habitat for Humanity or the Nature Conservatory.
Findlay C. Penix
Findlay C. Penix, professor emeritus of education, died May 9 in his home in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. He was 79.
Born in Spokane, Wash., Penix completed his bachelor’s degree in English and education at Eastern Washington University in 1941, his master’s degree in curriculum development in 1948 from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. at Northwestern University in 1955.
Penix was a decorated Army infantry captain serving during World War II. He resumed teaching in 1947. In 1949-53, he was an instructor in education at the State University of New York, Potsdam, and in 1953-55 held a similar position at Northwestern University. Penix came to the U-M in 1955 as an assistant professor of education, was promoted to associate professor in 1963 and professor in 1970.
Penix taught graduate and undergraduate students, offering courses in general elementary teaching methods, elementary school curriculum and elementary school social studies. He was the author of several articles on social studies education for The Elementary School Journal and Social Education. Penix also co-authored the book Teaching the Social Studies and contributed chapters to Current Research in Social Studies, New Challenges in the Social Studies and Readings on Elementary Social Studies: Prologue to Change.
Penix served as coordinator of the Elementary Directed Teaching Program from 1963 until his retirement in 1980 and chaired the Student Teaching Committee for 10 years. He was a member of St. Peter the Fisherman Episcopal Church, loved gardening, music and being near the ocean.
Penix is survived by his wife Isabel of New Smyrna Beach; daughter Susan Steinhouse and her husband Sam of Moreland Hills, Ohio; brother Gordon Penix of Seattle, Wash.; sister Janet Kelly of Waldport, Org.; two grandsons Justin and Nicholas Steinhouse; and several nieces and nephews.
Memorial donations may be made to a charity of one’s choice.
From the family and U-M archives
John G. Wagner
John G. Wagner, the John G. Searle Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutics in the College of Pharmacy and professor emeritus of pharmacology in the Medical School, died May 10 at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, S.C.
Born in Weston, Ontario, Canada, in 1921, Wagner served in the Canada Air Force during World War II, then worked as a research scientist for the Upjohn Co. in 1953-68, joining the U-M in 1968.
Wagner was the author of two books and co-author of more than 340 articles. Throughout his life, he received numerous awards, including the American Pharmaceutical Association (AphA) Ebert Prize, 1961; Academy Fellow of the AphA Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1969; the Centennial Achievement Award, Ohio State University, 1970; the Host-Madsen Medal, Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique, 1972; Outstanding Leadership and Research Award, Delta Chapter of Phi Lambda Epsilon, 1983; AAPS Fellow, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, 1986; and Distinguished Professor, Michigan Association of Governing Boards, 1988.
Following retirement, Wagner worked as a consultant to Upjohn, Schering Corp., Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, the Food and Drug Administration and others.
Wagner is survived by his wife Eunice; two daughters, Wendy Lynn Fisher of Mountain View, Wy., and Linda Beth Seiss of Florence, S.C.; four grandchildren; and brother, George H. Wagner of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Memorial contributions may be made to the College of Pharmacy or to the Graduate Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, 19 Russell St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S-252.
