Title:Lives Well Lived

Lives Well Lived honors a few alumni who have recently passed away. We share with you these portraits of alumni who have made an indelible impact living day to day as people for others. Memories collected by Patti North.

You can find a more complete list at alumni.georgetown.edu/in-memoriam.

Edward J. “Ted” Hoff

Edward J. “Ted” Hoff (SFS’77, Parent’15) died June 26, 2023, at the age of 68. He was raised in Illinois and New Jersey, and graduated Georgetown, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1977.

He earned his MBA with high distinction from Harvard University, taught, and studied for a Ph.D. there. During his career, he served in the cabinet of New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne, ran his own consulting firm, and served IBM as vice president and chief learning officer, where he specialized in leadership development.

Ted served on the board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the Board of Visitors of the Walsh School of Foreign Service, the boards of his sons’ schools, and the Cambridge (Massachusetts) city manager’s advisory board, all while coaching his sons’ basketball and baseball teams.

He is survived by his sons, Thomas (B’15) and Michael, and wife, Kathleen O’Connell, who said of him, “Ted lived a life of faith, love, and joy. Reflecting his Jesuit education, he knew to be truly great is to serve, to give generously of yourself. He did, always.”

Worta McCaskill-Stevens, M.D.

Worta McCaskill-Stevens, M.D. (M’85, R’88, HON’17), former chief of the National Cancer Institute’s Community Oncology and Prevention (NCORP), died November 15, 2023, at the age of 74.

Born in 1949 in Louisburg, North Carolina, Worta attended Washington University in St. Louis and Georgetown School of Medicine. At Georgetown, she received the Stewart Award for Leadership in Medicine and the Kaiser Family Fund Award for Excellence in Academic Achievement. She trained in internal medicine and completed a fellowship in medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic in 1991.

Worta was renowned for her work championing community cancer research and inclusion of diverse populations in clinical trials. In 2023, NCI’s Career Development Award for Community Oncology and Prevention Research Award was named in her honor.

Addressing Georgetown School of Medicine graduates after receiving her honorary doctorate, she said, “Compassion is what elevates the great above the good. Feel every patient you treat, let them inspire your research, let them help you grow as a scientist, as a physician, as a person… and buckle up, buttercups, you are in for the ride of your life.”

Ricardo Manuel Urbina

Lawyer, federal judge, and record-breaking track star Ricardo Urbina (C’67, L’71, Parent’94) passed away June 17, 2024, at the age of 74 from Parkinson’s disease.

Born in 1946, Ricardo was raised in East Harlem and Jackson Heights, Queens. His father, Luis was a machinist from Honduras. His mother, Ramona (Hernandez) Urbina, originally from Puerto Rico, was a secretary.

A high school and college track star, Ricardo set several records as a student at Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, graduating in 1963. As a student at Georgetown, he won several titles, including the 1966 NCAA indoor championship in the 880-yard run.

After law school, Ricardo worked as a public defender, practiced privately, and taught at Howard University Law School. He was appointed an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by President Reagan in 1981 and nominated to the District Court in 1994 by President Clinton. He retired in 2012.

He is survived by his wife Coreen Urbina, brothers Louie Urbina and Alberto Urbina, daughter Adrienne Urbina, son Ian Urbina (C’94), daughter-in-law Sherry Rusher, and their son Aidan Rusher Urbina.

Ian said of his father “Georgetown was formative for him. His running career, his undergraduate and law degrees, then later his involvement as an alum, Georgetown was truly a home base for him. Many of his lifelong friends were people he met at Georgetown. Growing up, his whole life was tied to New York City, but he then became a true DC local and spent his entire professional career in DC, and that too was because Georgetown allowed him to lay roots there.”