Category: 1980s

John Browning Odell Jr., a man devoted to his family, his faith in God, and his community, passed away Monday morning, July 17, 2023, following a valiant battle with pneumonia. His wife and children were with him. He was 62.

Born July 9, 1961 in Sacramento, California, he was the son of the late John Browning Odell and Shirley Hartmann Odell Kirby.

When he was a toddler, the family moved back to Newport News in Tidewater Virginia, where generations of Odells lived. He attended Davidson College in North Carolina, where he earned his degree in history. (He recently attended his 40th reunion and was a proud Wildcat.)

His love of history led him to the National Park Service where he was a park ranger at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, and then to the Curator’s Office at the United States Senate in Washington, D.C. He met Margaret “Peg” Schmid at the Senate. They married in 1992 and lived in Arlington, Virginia. While working at the Senate full-time he earned his Master’s in Museum Studies at George Washington University. After 14 years at the Senate, he read a job listing that merged his museum vocation with his lifelong passion for baseball.

As a result, John has served as Curator of History and Research for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for 24 years, working with great people and telling wonderful stories through print and exhibits. He was frequently told he had the best job, and he agreed.

John served his community in many ways. A faithful and dedicated member of Christ Church in Cooperstown, he was currently serving as Senior Warden. He participated in and then led a weekly 6 a.m. Men’s Bible Study for almost two decades. He had been a coach and board member for Cooperstown Youth Baseball. While he was an Orioles fan, he loved seeing any baseball game, at any level, especially when it was live and in person.

He had served on the Parks Board for Cooperstown, and on the board of Friends of the Parks for many years. He stepped back from volunteering in March 2020 when he was diagnosed with lymphoma, which he fought bravely with the guidance of Bassett Healthcare and the caring people there. He was delighted to “ring the bell” marking the end of his chemotherapy in August 2022, and he and Peg celebrated with a trip to Portugal.

John loved the outdoors and instilled a love for it in his children. The family enjoyed hiking locally and on vacation. He was an excellent trivia player, crossword puzzle completer, and he grilled up excellent salmon.

John is survived by his wife, Peg Schmid Odell, of Cooperstown and their three children, Rebecca Louise Odell of Albany, John Floyd “Jack” Odell of Cooperstown, and Emrys Carleton Odell of Cooperstown. His family love him very much and will miss having such a thoughtful, funny, caring, and supportive husband and dad. He is further survived by a sister, Beth Odell Dunn of Newport News, Virginia, and a brother, Scott Odell and his partner Marci Kisling of Quinton, Virginia, as well as his wife’s mother, Ruth A. Schmid of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, and Peg’s siblings, Barbara Schmid Heifetz and husband, Hal, of Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and William O. Schmid and wife, Lori, of Allendale, New Jersey and their families, his aunt Nancy Hartmann Welker, and a stepfather, Douglas Kirby. He enjoyed spending time with family, including much loved cousins, at the holidays, in creeks, at the beach, and at Taff Family reunions.

Friends are welcome to pay their respects to the Odell family from 4-7 p.m. on Monday, July 24, 2023 at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown. A service will be offered at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at Christ Church, 46 River Street in Cooperstown, with Father Nathan Ritter, Rector, officiating. Immediately following the funeral there will be a reception in the Parish Hall.

Interment will be private in Lakewood Cemetery, Cooperstown, where John will be laid to rest near Fairy Spring, where he and his family enjoyed picnics, cooling off in the lake, and kayaking.

In lieu of flowers, John’s family respectfully requests that memorial donations be directed to Friends of the Parks, PO Box 1008, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

John would encourage each of us to take that trip, to enjoy a hike, to call a friend, to spend time with family, and to go see a ballgame.

Roger “Bruce” Nofsinger, Jr. died peacefully at daybreak on Sunday, June 4, 2023, with his wife of 26 years, Julie, and their son Duncan by his side. He was 56.

The son of Winnie Duncan Nofsinger and Roger Nofsinger, Bruce was born in Lexington, Kentucky and grew up in Maitland, Florida. His summer experiences as a camper and a counselor at Eagle’s Nest Camp, in the North Carolina mountains, were fundamental to the extraordinary man Bruce became – instilling in him a love of the outdoors, friendships that broke boundaries and an endless enthusiasm to share his love of life and learning with others. Bruce was a creative, a giver, a teacher, and a leader. He was camp counselor to his core!

Recruited to play soccer at Davidson College, Bruce’s innate athleticism was supercharged by his instinct as a team player. He played left back, but could be relied upon to adapt and apply his skills where they were needed most, even in the locker room where he was self-appointed team DJ. Bruce’s selfless versatility was a recurring theme in his professional and personal life.

On and off the pitch, Bruce maintained lifelong friendships from Winter Park High School to Davidson and beyond. New pursuits strengthened his zeal for others–– with time, no matter where he was, he only got closer to childhood neighbors, fellow Eagle’s Nest-ers, soccer teammates, or college roommates, one of whom would introduce him to Julie, the love of his life. Together, Bruce and Julie built a life full of friendship, music, massive full-body hugs and community service. Bruce took great pleasure in his work at Topics Education, a consulting firm he founded that began as a youth news magazine and developed into a company that helped clients inject education and learning into their corporate identities. In addition to this work, Bruce’s wide array of community service projects included serving on the Charlotte Advisory Board of the NC Outward Bound School, Theater Charlotte, North Carolina Council on Economic Education, and of course, assisting Julie in her creation of the thriving Dilworth Community Garden. If there was something Bruce could do to help, he took it on and gave it his all.

True to his nature, Bruce lived fearlessly once diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and for more than 2 years he shared his experience, self-reflections, and inspiring perspective with family, friends, and even complete strangers on his Caring Bridge site. Music was his therapy. Sharing music and experiencing music with others (live or through one of his signature playlists) was his love. Bruce used one of these playlists to document and share his cancer journey, adding a song for each day, where the title of the song tells his story in that moment. Until the day he died, Bruce continued to find new, creative ways to inspire those around him, whether that be propelling small businesses in Charlotte, or turning friends on to his favorite añejo tequila.

Bruce loved, and he was loved. Along with countless dear friends, Bruce is survived by his wife, Julie, his son Duncan, his parents Winnie, and Roger Nofsinger (Leigh) and brothers Kevin (Heather) and Stuart (Sara).

The family would like to thank Bruce’s life-extending care team, especially Dr. Kunal Kadakia at Levine Cancer Institute, for his endless kindness and dedication, and Dr. Chris Crane at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The memorial service for Bruce is on Saturday, June 17, at 2:00 pm in the Lilly Family Gallery inside the Chambers Building on the Davidson College campus. In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to the NC Outward Bound School in memory of Bruce at

https://www.ncobs.org/donate/

Tracy Karen Koogler, MD, of Chicago, Illinois, daughter of Linda Rosen Koogler and the late William Mangus Koogler, II, died on December 28, 2022 at the home of her mother in Raphine. She was born on July 15, 1966 in Richmond. She is survived by her brother, William Todd (Royanne); nieces, Lindsay Ryan and Madison Bailey; step-nieces, Josephine Emilia Rose Dell and Frances Victoria Brooks Dell; uncles, Melvin E. Rosen, Jr. (Peggie) and Fred P. Rosen, Ph.D.; and aunt, Betty Lou Harlow Koogler; several cousins and a special friend, Mark Schimmelpfennig. In addition to her father, she was preceded in death by her grandparents, Melvin E. and Nina Bell Brubeck Rosen, William Vincent and Mildred Earhart Koogler; uncle, Douglas Wayne Koogler, and aunt, Margaret Whittle Rosen.

Tracy graduated from L. C. Bird High School, Chesterfield, in 1984; Davidson College in 1988; and the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1992. She trained in Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She began her career at the University of Chicago as an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics section of Anesthesia and Critical Care. She completed the MacLean Ethics Fellowship and became active in ethics consults. During her career, she was promoted to associate professor, a co-director of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service, and an assistant director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She was also active in Pediatric Research in Medical Ethics (PRIME). Tracy was the doctor caring for pediatric patients in the burn unit as well as her assignment in the PICU. In addition, Tracy was passionate about protecting the results of human subjects in research and served as vice-chair of the University of Chicago Institutional Review Board for many years. In 2020, Tracy was named the Distinguished Clinician in the Distinguished Faculty Awards at the University of Chicago.

Tracy is a member of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago serving as Deacon and Elder. She visited South Africa in 2018 as part of a choir trip. Her two greatest loves for fun are sailing on Lake Michigan and watching the Davidson Wildcats and UVA Wahoos play basketball. She attended multiple ACC tournaments and was present when UVA won the National Championship in 2019.

She requests memorial donations be made to The Fund for Davidson (Diversity and Inclusion), Box 7170, Davidson, NC 28036-7170; Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 East Chestnut Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2014; or Northwestern Memorial Foundation, attn: Lou and Jean Maluati Brain Tumor Institute, 541 North Fairbanks Court, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60611. Tracy requests cremation with ashes returned to Chicago. The family will receive friends from 4:00-5:00 and from 6:00 until 8:00 on Monday, January 2, 2023 in the Henry Funeral Home, Staunton, Virginia. A memorial service will be held at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago at a later date. Condolences may be made online to the family at www.henryfuneralhome.net.