Obituaries - Feb. 18, 1995
* Robert B.M. Barton; Former Parker Bros. President
Robert B. M. Barton, 91, former president of Parker Bros. who produced and promoted the game Monopoly. Barton gave up a promising law career in Baltimore to join Parker Bros. in 1932 at the urging of his father-in-law, George S. Parker, who founded the company in 1883. Barton was president when he at first rejected Monopoly, which had been offered by its inventor, Charles B. Darrow. The Milton Bradley Co. rejected the game later, and Darrow had 500 made and sold in Philadelphia. A friend of Barton’s wife called and asked if Parker Bros. knew about the Monopoly game. Barton got one and, after playing it at home, acquired rights to it. Barton was succeeded in 1968 by his son, Randolph P. Barton. Later that year, the company was sold and became a subsidiary of General Mills. Now it is owned by Hasbro Inc. of Rhode Island. In Marblehead, Mass., on Tuesday.
* Alberto Burri; Italian Painter, Sculptor Used Unusual Materials
Alberto Burri, 79, Italian painter and sculptor known for his use of odd materials, including burlap, plastic and tar. A doctor who served in the Italian army during World War II, Burri was captured by the Allies in Tunisia and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Hereford, Tex., where he began painting vivid landscapes. When he returned to Europe in 1946, he gave up medicine for art, reportedly because he was “sick of humanity” and thought mankind no longer deserved his care. The war remained a major influence on his art, which he created from iron and wood as well as the more unusual materials. His work was exhibited throughout Italy and in New York and San Francisco. Burri lived for a time in Los Angeles. On Monday in Nice, France, of emphysema.
* Charlotte Mendelsohn Kalik; a Center Theatre Group Founder
Charlotte Mendelsohn Kalik, philanthropist and a founder of the Center Theatre Group of the Los Angeles County Music Center. A native of Boston, Ms. Kalik maintained homes in Los Angeles and Sun Valley, Ida. She was active in the Blue Ribbon support group that helped to create the Music Center. Ms. Kalik, whose age was not available, also served as a president of Golden Key, which supports the Reiss Davis Child Study Center. On Tuesday in Los Angeles.
* Anita Priest; L.A. Philharmonic Organist
Anita Priest, 83, organist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She had continued performing with the Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra until recent years. Mrs. Priest was also an organist at Wilshire Boulevard Temple and Pasadena First United Methodist Church. A popular lecturer, she also taught at Los Angeles City College and appeared as a soloist at the Ojai Music Festival, Monday Evening Concerts, Bing Concerts and Carmel Bach Festival. She recorded with various orchestras and for films and television. Educated at USC, where she concentrated on piano, Mrs. Priest also studied organ privately in London and harpsichord in Vienna and Los Angeles. She was president and permanent adviser of the Committee of Professional Women for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and, as such, presented seminars on symphonic music and different instruments. On Jan. 23 in San Gabriel.
* Edwin Alan Sanders; Quaker Educator and Anti-War Activist
Edwin Alan Sanders, 80, a Quaker educator, administrator, fund-raiser and anti-war activist. During World War II, he was among the first to go to prison for his conscientious objection to war. Dedicated to peace and nonviolent social action, he was active in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War campaigns of the 1960s. Sanders spent much of his life working for the American Friends Service Committee. He also taught and served as administrator at several Quaker schools, including Pacific Oaks Children’s School in Pasadena. Among the memorial meetings planned in his honor will be one at 3 p.m. today at Orange Grove Friends Meeting in Pasadena. On Jan. 29 in Philadelphia.
* Art Taylor; Pioneer Jazz Drummer Worked With Coltrane, Monk
Art Taylor, 65, a pioneer modern jazz drummer who recorded with John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. In addition to his own considerable performing schedule, he wrote a classic book of jazz interviews called “Notes and Tones.” The book vividly set forth the concerns of America’s jazz musicians, from bitterness over racism to record company exploitation to worries over drug use among colleagues. Taylor had spent the last 10 years in New York, performing with his own band, Taylor’s Wailers, and hiring and training young musicians. He recently completed a new album with jazz organist Jimmy Smith. On Feb. 6 in New York.
