For many months, we have confronted grief and tragedy that no one imagined just two years ago. In Memoriam is a regular feature of this magazine, but with this edition we know that some members of the LMU alumni community passed away because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked Eddie Siebert, S.J., rector of the LMU Jesuit community, to offer an Ignatian reflection on the unprecedented crisis we have been experiencing. —The Editor
This past spring our country passed a terrible milestone: 500,000 dead from the coronavirus. How do we make sense of this staggering number? Consider this: More Americans died as a result of the pandemic in a single year than were killed in all of World War II. The loss is catastrophic. Even now, with help on the way, systemic injustices — intentional or not — guarantee that the wealthy and connected have easier access to the vaccine than the more disadvantaged. Faced with such devastation and inequity, I keep coming back to Tolstoy’s haunting question: “What then must we do?” To honor the dead, it is right and proper that first we grieve. The Lamentations and Psalms in the Old Testament can help us voice our communal anger and sense of brokenness. As children of the risen Lord, we must work for justice and equity and build Christ’s kingdom from the rubble of tragedy. But how? As followers of Ignatius, we know it’s essential to discern before we act: listening to the movement of the Spirit in our hearts, looking to the greater good. Only then will we know that our response comes from God. —Eddie Siebert, S.J.
Henry Lopez [LibArts ’43] on Jan. 24, 2021
George Carroll, S.J. [LibArts ’44] on Oct. 23, 2020
George Jennison [LibArts ’44] on Nov. 8, 2020
Vincent Migliazzo [SciEng ’48] on Jan. 6, 2020
Charles Hovorka [LibArts ’49] on Aug. 17, 2020
Raymond Appel [LibArts ’50] on Sept. 23, 2019
Henry Goodman [LibArts ’50] on March 13, 2020
Robert Denni [LibArts ’51] on Dec. 24, 2019
Garth Hintz [LibArts ’51] on Dec. 17, 2019
Otto Klinger [SciEng ’51] on Jan. 20, 2021
Lawrence Vanni [LibArts ’51, LLS ’59] on Feb. 2, 2021
Richard Johnston [SciEng ’52, GradEd ’56] on Jan. 16, 2021
Victor Chavez [LibArts ’53, LLS ’59] on Oct. 30, 2020
Richard Kerns [BusAdm ’53] on Dec. 15, 2020
Thomas Burr [LibArts ’54] on March 6, 2021
Alfred Ingram Jr. [LibArts ’54] on Dec. 20, 2019
Timothy Lefevre [SciEng ’54] on Oct. 26, 2019
Guy Wilson [BusAdm ’54] on April 16, 2020
Robert Flaherty [BusAdm ’55] on Oct. 10, 2020
Joseph Montagna [SciEng ’56] on Aug. 6, 2019
John Sims [LibArts ’56] on May 10, 2020
Robert Press [BusAdm ’57] on May 10, 2020
John Erlinger [SciEng ’58] on Jan. 29, 2021
Robert Kerslake [BusAdm ’58] on March 9, 2021
Jerry Mook [BusAdm ’58] on Dec. 18, 2020
Michael Ricci [LibArts ’59] on Jan. 10, 2021
Peter Sullivan [LibArts ’59, LLS ’67] on Jan. 31, 2021
John Grundhofer [LibArts ’60] on Jan. 24, 2021
Jerome Dimaggio [LibArts ’61] on Oct. 12, 2020
H. Guido Meindl [LibArts ’61] on Dec. 28, 2019
Robert Buechler [SciEng ’62] on Sept. 29, 2019
Kathleen Hegener [BusAdm ’62] on May 27, 2020
Martin Merlo Jr. [SciEng ’62] on Aug. 19, 2020
John Dalton [SciEng ’63] on Aug. 9, 2020
Elaine (Bailey) Malouf [LibArts ’63] on Jan. 13, 2021
J. Michael Welch [LibArts ’64] on Nov. 2, 2020
William Winter [BusAdm ’64] on Dec. 5, 2019
James Thompson [LibArts ’66, GradCFA ’68] on Dec. 19, 2019
Leslie Wiggins Jr. [LibArts ’66] on Nov. 3, 2019
Henry Johnson [SciEng ’67] on Dec. 12, 2019
Nestor Kusnierz [SciEng ’67] on June 26, 2019
John Rodriguez [LibArts ’67] on April 30, 2020
Frank Sabatasso [LibArts ’67] on Aug. 29, 2020
Timothy Johnson [BusAdm ’70] on Feb. 9, 2021
Gretchen Short [LibArts ’70] on Aug. 20, 2020
Walter Hogan Jr. [LibArts ’71, LLS ’75] on June 30, 2020
Michael McClain [LibArts ’71] on Jan. 9, 2021
Robert Gentner [SciEng ’73] on Aug. 17, 2020
John Quinn [SciEng ’73, GradSciEng ’75] on May 25, 2020
Andrew Rivera [CFA ’73] on May 3, 2020
Theresa (Shannon) Nagrone [CFA ’75] on Nov. 23, 2019
Kurt Teubner [LibArts ’75] on Oct. 13, 2019
Kim Dahmen [CFA ’76] on Feb. 16, 2020
Clare (Collins) Marquardt [GradEd ’76] on Jan. 17, 2020
Donald Alvarado [LibArts ’77] on Sept. 5, 2020
Pam Rector [LibArts ’77, GradEd ’79, GradEd ’82] on Feb. 5, 2020
Jacquelin (Keane) Fernandez [BusAdm ’79] on Aug. 19, 2020
Louis Libbey [LibArts ’79] on Jan. 25, 2020
Timothy Foxworthy [LibArts ’81] on Dec. 29, 2019
George Montgomery III [LibArts ’81] on Dec. 14, 2020
Tomas Guerra [SciEng ’82] on Feb. 5, 2021
Brandon MacAller [LibArts ’83] on July 16, 2020
Timothy Hock [LibArts ’84] on March 3, 2021
Kerry Hamilton [LibArts ’90] on Dec. 26, 2020
J.D. Murray [CFA ’94] on Dec. 28, 2020
Christopher Burns [LibArts ’95] on Aug. 27, 2020
Silvester Kainga [LibArts ’99] on March 7, 2020
Charles Hattendorf [BusAdm ’01] on Dec. 29, 2019
Claudio Basaez [LibArts ’04] on Nov. 23, 2019
Karen (Kolb) Cermak [LibArts ’06] on July 17, 2020
Lauren Carey [CFA ’11] on Oct. 13, 2019
Kerry Welsh [SciEng ’23] on May 29, 2021