Santa Clara University

William Frances Sheehan, Jr., Jan. 30. The former SCU chemistry professor was born in Chicago and attended Loyola University in Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where he studied under Nobel laureate Linus Pauling. Sheehan taught at SCU from 1955 to 1991, wrote two widely used textbooks on physical chemistry, and invented the notorious Periodic Table of the Elements with Emphasis. He expected excellence from his students and let them know when they didn’t meet his standards. Upon his retirement, he and his family moved to Santa Fe. He and his wife, Teresa, to whom he was married for 54 years, traveled to every continent. Survivors include his wife; sons Daniel ’81 and John ’82; twin daughters Catherine Mangan ’79 and Delphine Streit ’79; and three grandsons. His son Patrick also passed away in January.

Geraldine Ann Tomlinson, Oct. 28, 2007, in Nevada City.
A professor of biology specializing in microbiology and biochemistry, she taught at Santa Clara from 1967 to 1991. She earned a reputation as a devoted and demanding teacher, involving students in her research work at SCU and NASA-Ames and winning the Outstanding Educator of America award. Born in 1931 in Vancouver, B.C., she earned a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1972 she became the first full professor of biology at Santa Clara. Following her retirement in 1991, she sustained her passion for animal rights and gardening. She also enjoyed truck camping with Ray, her husband of more than 40 years, throughout the Colorado and Mojave deserts and the Sierra Nevada. After Ray’s death, she married Lyle Armstrong, and for the past eight years the couple traveled extensively.

Roy Grevelink, Aug. 3, 2007.
He was employed by SCU as a painter for 37 years. He is survived by numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.