Title:Lives Well Lived—Spring 2019

Lives Well Lived honors a few alumni who have recently passed away with short obituaries. We share with you these portraits of alumni beyond the headlines who have made an indelible impact living day-to-day.

You can find an In Memoriam list at alumni.georgetown.edu/in-memoriam.

Harry Jacobs (F’47)

Born in Germany, Harry Jacobs (F’47) immigrated to the United States as a child to escape Nazi persecution. After completing his sophomore year at Georgetown, he enlisted in the Army and entered the 12th class at the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. While serving in Europe, Jacobs was a “Ritchie Boy”—German-born U.S. special intelligence officers who used their language and cultural backgrounds to build rapport in prisoner-of-war interrogation and to perform counter-intelligence.

He served in the Battle of the Bulge, the Ardennes, and Bastogne, and was among the troops that liberated the Ohrdruf forced-labor and concentration camp in Germany, the first camp liberated by U.S. troops. For his service, he received several French and US honors. After the war, he returned to Georgetown to complete his degree.

Jacobs worked for the federal government from his graduation until he retired in 1981. His son Brad says that his father “appreciated how the university was able to propel him into the next parts of his professional journey.” Jacobs and alumni friends frequently gathered for watch parties at M Street bars in Georgetown.

Jacobs died on November 23, 2018, at the age of 94. In addition to his son Brad, he is survived by his wife of 62 years, Selma; daughter, Trudy; son Steven; and five grandchildren.

Colleen Conway-Welch (N’65)

Colleen Conway entered Georgetown School of Nursing in fall 1961 at age 16 on a full scholarship. She earned advanced degrees at Catholic University School of Nursing and New York University. She was a midwife and nurse and also served in emergency and perinatal units in several states. She later headed the nurse-midwifery program at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.

She became dean of Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing in 1984. Under her leadership, the school launched a doctoral nursing program and expanded health care for underserved communities. She endowed a scholarship for graduate nursing students at Georgetown School of Nursing & Health Studies in 2011.

Patricia Cloonan, NHS dean, recalls first meeting Conway-Welch. “I had the pleasure of meeting Colleen when she was honored as a ‘Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing.’ I share with many a deep respect for Colleen’s distinguished tenure at Vanderbilt, as well as her commitment to advancing and championing the nursing profession. Her legacy makes this school very proud.”

Conway-Welch received an honorary degree from Georgetown in 1997. She died on October 12, 2018; the cause was pancreatic cancer. She was predeceased by her husband, Ted Welch.

Joseph A. Catanzano, DDS (D’71)

Joe Catanzano (D’71) graduated from the dental school, but his enthusiasm for Georgetown matched that of an undergraduate alumnus. He had a wide circle of Georgetown friends, starting with his wife, Pamela [Soldano] (N’68), whom he met in Darnall cafeteria.

Catanzano, who died from MDS/leukemia on October 3, 2018, served in the Navy after dental school, retiring with the rank of captain. He later served in the Navy Reserve and was activated during the first Gulf War.

After 20 years in Boston, the Catanzanos moved to Washington, where Joe practiced dentistry with his best friend from Georgetown dental school, Charles Ferrara (D’71).

The Catanzanos eventually lived a few blocks from campus. “Dad would work out at Yates Field House and come home having made a new friend,” says his daughter, Kirsten Catanzano Messina (C’98, G’04). “He could talk about anything.”

“Joe was really a cup-half-full guy,” says his wife, Pam. “Even when he was sick, he lived a life of gratitude.”

In addition to his wife and daughter, Catanzano is survived by a son, Joseph III—also a dentist—a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, and three grandchildren, whom he was indoctrinating to his beloved Georgetown basketball.

Kevin J. McIntyre (L’88)

In fall 2017, Kevin J. McIntyre (L’88) was facing unbelievable pressures. He was awaiting Senate confirmation as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He was quietly, and largely privately, battling an aggressive form of brain cancer that he knew would take him from his wife and their three young children. But he also took the lead in establishing a law center scholarship to honor a deceased classmate, Don Huston.

“It says a lot about Kevin’s competence, integrity, and care that he made sure that a friend was remembered when he was facing such enormous burdens,”, says Matt Calise, senior director for Law Center alumni relations, who had known McIntyre for more than a decade through his alumni board service.

McIntyre stepped down as FERC chair in October 2018 to focus on his health.

He died at age 58 on January 2, 2019, at his home in Arlington, Virginia. Survivors include his wife, Jennifer Brosnahan McIntyre; and their three children, Elizabeth, Thomas, and Anna; his parents; and four siblings.

Learn more at https://bit.ly/2QnI1D4.