INDEX
- Walter Broussard, Police Department
- Thomas J. Munn, Department of Theatre and Dance
- Eric Carnes Mussen, Cooperative Extension and Department of Entomology and Nematology
- Kathy DeYoung, Athletics
- Andrew “Andy” Frank, Department of Music
Walter Broussard: Police officer
Barbecues and the Fourth of July go together — and Walter Broussard loved them both. In fact, according to his family, July 4 was his favorite holiday. Sadly, it was the day he died of complications from a heart attack. He was in his 24th year as an officer with the UC Davis Police Department.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday (July 25) at Holy Family Catholic Church, 7817 Old Auburn Road, Citrus Heights . A reception will follow in the church hall. The Police Department is working closely with the family on arrangements.
Broussard, 62, graduated from Yerba Buena High School in San Jose and attended Butte College. He worked as a Yolo County sheriff’s deputy for seven years before joining the campus Police Department.
Officer Broussard had served as a patrol officer, traffic officer, field training officer and K-9 handler, with assignments on the Davis and Sacramento campuses.
“Walt was a kind and honest man whose approach to life was genuine and sincere,” police Capt. Mark Brunet said. “His energy was contagious, and many were blessed to work around him.”
Broussard was an outdoorsman with a love for hiking and fishing, often going for bass on the Delta and visiting Bass Pro Shops — and being remembered in social media posts as #BassMasterWalt. He also was a fan of NASCAR.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Grace, and three stepchildren, and three adult children from a previous marriage, Katie, Jamie and Annie; and two sisters and a brother.
— Dave Jones, editor, Dateline UC Davis
Thomas J. Munn: Lighting designer
Thomas J. Munn, professor emeritus of theatre and dance, died June 24. He was 78 and lived at homes in San Francisco and Davis in recent years.
He was a pillar of the Department of Theatre and Dance, where he co-created the Master of Fine Arts degree program in scenic design.
In 1976, he designed a production of Verdi’s MacBeth at the Netherlands Opera, work that came to the attention of Kurt Herbert Adler, general director of the San Francisco Opera, leading to Munn’s hiring as resident lighting director. He held the position until 2002, after which he continued to design occasionally ;for the company until 2007, working on approximately 250 productions, including revivals.
Notable among his lighting projects for the San Francisco company: 1979’s La Gioconda, for which he received an Emmy award for the live television broadcast; three Ring cycles; and world premieres of A Streetcar Named Desire and The Angle of Repose, and the American premiere of Lear.
In addition to his work as lighting designer, he frequently designed projections and special effects for San Francisco Opera productions.
From 2003 to 2014, Munn designed lighting for numerous UC Davis theatre and dance productions, including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, nest, Big Love, Urinetown: the Musical and The Grapes of Wrath, for which he also designed the scenery. He also created lighting for university-created shows and devised new works, including Bella Merlin’s Tilly No-Body and Jade McCutcheon’s Elephant’s Graveyard.
For the UC Davis Department of Music, he designed Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and the co-production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen with the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
In 2016, he returned to campus to design the lighting for Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play.
“Tom was a true artist; he was a great collaborator and a wonderful friend,” said John Iacovelli, professor emeritus of theatre and dance. “He came to teach and mentor students at UC Davis after having had a spectacular career as one of America’s foremost lighting designers. Tom was passionate about teaching design students and theatre makers. He was a great mentor to them and a colleague to us, and we co-taught many classes.”
The School of Theater at his alma mater, Boston University, awards the Thomas J. Munn Award for Excellence in Lighting Design each year in honor of his commitment to the highest standards in design.
The San Francisco Opera dedicated its June 25 performance of Dream of the Red Chamber to Munn’s memory.
Munn is survived by his wife, Susan; two daughters, Abigail and Elizabeth, and their spouses; three brothers; and two grandsons.
Read the complete obituary by UC Davis staff on the UC Davis Arts Blog.
Eric Mussen: ‘Honeybee guru’
A celebration of life for Eric Carnes Mussen, noted authority on honeybees, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, at Putah Creek Lodge.
RSVPs are requested by Aug. 1 and can be arranged online. The service also will be livestreamed .
Mussen was a Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus, having worked as an apiculturist for 38 years in affiliation with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. He died June 3 of liver cancer at age 78.
“Eric was a giant in the field of apiculture,” said Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. “The impact of his work stretched far beyond California.”
Mussen retired in 2014 but continued his many activities until a few weeks prior to his death. For nearly four decades, he drew praise as “the honeybee guru,” “the pulse of the bee industry” and as “the go-to person” when consumers, scientists, researchers, students and the news media sought answers about honeybees.
“Eric’s passing is a huge loss,” said longtime colleague Lynn Kimsey , distinguished professor of entomology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. “He worked happily with hobbyists, commercial beekeepers and anyone just generally interested.”
Kathy DeYoung: Coach
Kathy DeYoung, a Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Famer who led three different UC Davis programs during a coaching career that spanned four decades, died May 16 after battling cancer at the age of 68.
DeYoung helmed the most successful run in Aggie softball history from 1979 to 2004, guided the volleyball team from 1978 to 1987 and was the inaugural coach of the women’s golf program from 2005 to 2008.
“When you think about excellence at UC Davis, it is hard to find a more perfect example than Kathy DeYoung,” said Rocko DeLuca, director of athletics. “Her positive impacts on our softball, volleyball and women’s golf programs are still very much felt to this day, and her winning attitude was absorbed by so many of our (now) student-athlete alumnae. We will miss seeing her around campus, at the golf course, and at special events. Her legacy is strong and will forever be felt in our athletics department.”
Read the complete obituary on the Athletics website.
Andy Frank: Composer
The Department of Music has posted a memorial tribute to Professor Emeritus Andrew “Andy” Frank, a longtime faculty member and prolific composer who was always willing to contribute a commemorative piece, like the brass and double-timpani fanfare Réjouissance that heralded the opening of the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in 2002.
Frank, who taught composition and analysis from 1972 to 2007, died in April at the age of 75.
“A consummate artist, Andy was in his beloved music studio until the very end, composing, revising and revisiting cherished musical and literary masters of the present and past,” the tribute states.
During a concert by UC Davis’ Empyrean Ensemble in 2007, the year he took emeritus status, Frank remarked: “I am grateful to the University of California for allowing me the opportunity over the past 35 years to compose, teach and realize my musical ambitions.”
In that same talk, he described his work as being largely descended from early 20th-century modernism.
Among his last works were Matinee d’ivresse and Au bout de la nuit, premiered by the Empyrean Ensemble; Rhapsody for cello and piano; Duo Concertante for clarinet and piano; Autumn Rhythm V for two marimbas; Autumn Rhythm VI for piano; A Mind of Winter for violin and guitar; and, a particular favorite of his friends, Still Life for solo viola, composed in memory of his father.
The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band and several other faculty members, as well as the Empyrean Ensemble, performed his compositions.
Others performing his work nationally and internationally included such groups as the Kronos Quartet, Da Capo Chamber Players, Stony Brook Contemporary Music Players, New Music Consort, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Penn Contemporary Players, Sonor at UC San Diego, Indianapolis Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Earplay, Composers Inc., Row Twelve Ensemble, Rice University Percussion Quartet, Westwind Brass Quintet, Albatros Ensemble, Lawrence University Percussion Ensemble and New York New Music Ensemble.
His music may be heard on several album recordings, which feature, among other performers, Marimolin, The Debussy Trio and Lara Downes.
Read the complete tribute by Phil Daley, events and publicity manager for the Department of Music.
Media Resources
Dateline Staff: Dave Jones, editor, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu; Cody Kitaura, News and Media Relations specialist, 530-752-1932, kitaura@ucdavis.edu.