BC-Deaths, 3rd Ld-Writethru,1153

Obituaries in the news

Eds: ADDS Crawford. Separates moved for Ross, Vernon.

By The Associated Press

Edwin M. Crawford

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) – Edwin Crawford, a national leader in public affairs for higher education, died Wednesday. He was 75.

Crawford died from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, his wife said.

In 1974, Crawford co-founded the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, whose aim was to provide training and support for development, alumni, communications, and government relations professionals working at colleges and universities.

He was also a former director of public affairs and state relations at Auburn University, the University of Virginia, Ohio State University and the nine-campus University of California system.

He held similar positions with the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and the Sharp Hospitals Foundation of San Diego.

After retiring from the University of California system in 1993, Crawford returned to CASE as director of state relations and public affairs and later as senior consultant to the organization’s president until 1997.

—

Rosalou Freeland Etue

SEATTLE (AP) – Rosalou Freeland Etue, a World War II combat nurse who survived capture by the Nazis and received a Bronze Star from Gen. George Patton, died Sunday. She was 85.

Her family said the former Army captain died of natural causes.

Born in New Orleans, Etue graduated from New Orleans Charity Hospital nursing school in early December 1941, and celebrated by visiting her father, then a lawyer with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

While driving past the White House, they saw black curtains and learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A day later, at 21, she joined the Army Nurse Corps.

Toward the end of the war, Nazi SS troops captured Etue’s unit as it followed Patton’s 3rd Army pushing into Germany.

At one point, a Nazi officer accused her of being Jewish. After reading her dog tags, he forced her unit to treat wounded Germans, until Patton’s army approached and the Germans suddenly fled.

Though relieved of duty in the closing days of the war, she took time to visit a liberated concentration camp.

—

Wayne Johnson

SEATTLE (AP) – Wayne Johnson, former arts and entertainment editor of The Seattle Times and drama critic during the rise of the city’s theater scene to national prominence, died Tuesday. He was 74.

Johnson died after suffering a heart attack, relatives said.

Johnson, known for his hearty laughter and passion for fast cars, racehorses and dancing, was the Times’ drama critic from 1965 to 1991 and music critic from 1965 to 1977. He was also author of “Let’s Go On,” a book written for the 25th anniversary season of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1997.

A native of Brighton, Colo., Johnson earned degrees from the University of Colorado and UCLA, served in Army counterintelligence as a “spy catcher” during the Korean War and lived for a time in Austria.

Returning to the United States, he wrote for The Denver Post and other newspapers in Colorado before moving to the Times in 1965, when the city had two young professional theater companies.

The area now has more than half a dozen companies with Actors Equity agreements, including the Seattle Repertory Theater, winner of the Tony Award for outstanding regional theater in 1990.

—

Lee Thornton Ross II

PALO ALTO, California (AP) – Lee Thornton Ross II, the public face of the Hearst family during the kidnapping saga of Patricia Hearst in the 1970s, has died of a stroke, according to his family. He was 56.

Ross died at his Palo Alto home on Jan. 27, the family said.

Ross is best remembered as the volunteer spokesman for the Hearst family after heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

His most prominent contribution to the case, which ended with Patricia Hearst’s arrest in 1975, was helping manage a $2.3 million (euro1.77 million) food giveaway program that was demanded by the kidnappers.

Ross was part of a prominent California family, the son of Adalene Ross Riley and George Sneath Ross. The family ran a giant dairy ranch in the 1800s.

His family had long known the Hearsts. His mother had founded the Crippled Children’s Society with Patricia Hearst’s mother, Catherine.

Lynn Ross said her brother sailed the world as a purser and administrator for cruise lines before settling in Carmel to manage upscale hotels.

—

John Vernon

LOS ANGELES (AP) – John Vernon, a stage-trained character actor who played cunning villains in film and TV and made his comedy mark as Dean Wormer in “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” has died. He was 72.

Vernon died at home in his sleep Tuesday following complications from Jan. 16 heart surgery, his daughter, Kate Vernon, said Thursday.

The Canadian-born actor found satisfaction in his varied career, his daughter said.

“He loved the comedy that he was able to do, but his training was in drama and he really enjoyed the dramatic roles,” she said.

Movie fans may know him best for his role in “Animal House” as Dean Wormer, who is bent on expelling the hard-partying Delta fraternity house. The movie, starring John Belushi and Tim Matheson, is one of the most popular comedies ever made.

Born in 1932 in Montreal, Vernon studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He did repertory work in England and was heard off-screen as the voice of Big Brother in the 1956 film “1984.”

He returned to Canada to appear on stage and on television, including the starring role in the 1960s drama “Wojeck,” in which he played a coroner.

“John was superb. He really knew how to use the camera, and vocally he was just born to have a mike nearby,” Ted Follows, his co-star in “Wojeck,” told The Canadian Press.

After appearing on Broadway in “Royal Hunt of the Sun” he became a steady player in U.S. films, making his debut in director John Boorman’s “Point Blank” (1967) as a turncoat tossed to his death by Lee Marvin.

Vernon went on to work with other celebrated filmmakers including Alfred Hitchcock (“Topaz,” 1969); Don Siegel (“Dirty Harry,” 1971), and Clint Eastwood (“The Outlaw Josey Wales,” 1976).

His deep, menacing voice was custom-made for the many bad guys he played.

He reprised his role in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” in the TV spinoff “Delta House” (1979). Other comedy roles followed, including the part of Mr. Big in the film “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” in 1988.

Vernon appeared in a DVD edition of “Animal House” as part of a satiric update on the characters. Wormer was portrayed as a curmudgeonly old man in a wheelchair.

AP-ES-02-03-05 2121EST

Copy the Story Link