Obituaries - Nov. 1, 1997
* Franklin Quick Hershey; Car Designer
Franklin Quick Hershey, 89, a designer of automobiles and commercial equipment and packaging. Born in Detroit, Hershey moved to Beverly Hills with his family when he was a toddler. He studied at Occidental College and became a designer at Walter M. Murphy Coachbuilders in Pasadena. He later worked for General Motors designing Pontiacs, Buicks, Opels and Cadillacs. He served in Navy intelligence during World War II. After designing jobs at Packard, Ford and Kaiser, Hershey returned to Los Angeles as director of design for instruments and packaging at Rite Autotronics. He later served as consultant to several Southern California companies, including Rain-Jet Corp. of Burbank. On Oct. 20 in Hemet, Calif.
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* Robert Cahn; Pulitzer Prize-Winning Reporter
Robert Cahn, 80, who earned a Pulitzer Prize for writing about the dangers of excessive use at national parks. A dedicated environmentalist, Cahn earned the prize for national reporting in 1968 for his series in the Christian Science Monitor titled “Will Success Spoil the National Parks?” Traveling to 20 parks, he was the first to identify the concern about overuse that still shapes park development. He served three years on President Richard Nixon’s Council on Environmental Quality and wrote several books, including “Footprints on the Planet: A Search for an Environmental Ethic.” Cahn’s articles appeared in such publications as Life, Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post, and he had recently taught an environmental course at the University of Colorado. On Oct. 24 in Boulder, Colo.
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* John Sturdivant; Head of Employees Union
John N. Sturdivant, 59, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. One of the few African Americans to head a major national union, Sturdivant served nine years at the helm of the group that represents 600,000 of the nation’s federal employees. He sought to work with the Clinton administration, particularly Vice President Al Gore, to streamline government work with minimal pain to employees. He also strove to present federal workers as ordinary citizens rather than unfeeling bureaucrats. Born in Philadelphia, Sturdivant served in the Air Force and worked as a civilian for Army Interagency Communications. Active in the union from the outset, he earned a bachelor’s degree in labor studies from Antioch College in 1980. On Tuesday in Falls Church, Va., of leukemia.
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* William Herbert Crook; Former VISTA Director
William Herbert Crook, 72, former director of the national program Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and a U.S. ambassador to Australia. A minister and educator, Crook was appointed in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to open an Austin, Texas, branch of the Office of Economic Opportunity to oversee national service programs in five states. Two years later, Johnson appointed him national director of the new VISTA, which attempts to help people at or below the poverty level through community programs. Crook was appointed ambassador to Australia in 1968. He was a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary and served as a Baptist pastor before his government service. On Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, of heart problems.
