WPI obituaries

Catharine Johnston Westlake – We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Catharine Johnston Westlake, who left us peacefully on April 26, 2024. Catharine’s enduring legacy in journalism and the arts continues to inspire. Her commitment to the World Press Institute, which she helped to establish alongside her husband, Harry Morgan, has made an enduring impact on the world of press and media, as well as the nearly 600 journalists that have been through the program since its inception.

Christos Papatassos, a 1965 WPI fellow from Greece, died Sept. 21, 2011, in Athens, Greece. He is survived by his wife Mary Winterer-Papatassos and a son William.

Ghafur Fadyl, a 1969 WPI fellow from Indonesia, died April 10, 2010. Ghafur covered Indonesian dictator Suharto’s time in power and founded the Associated Press’ Jakarta bureau died. He was 65.

Ghafur joined the AP in 1966, the year after Suharto came to power in a bloody coup, and he oversaw coverage of most of the dictator’s brutal 32-year government. He covered rebellions in Papua, Aceh and East Timor that saw hundreds of thousands killed.

“At a time of great upheaval in Indonesian history, I knew I could always call Ghafur or walk into his office to soak up his institutional knowledge and broad perspective on fast-moving and often opaque events,” said Chris Torchia, AP’s former news editor in Jakarta who covered the country in the late 1990s.

Ghafur retired in 2007 after 41 years with AP. He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter and a grandson.

Elvis Sadia, a 1988 WPI fellow from the Philippines, died at age 50 in 2009. A native of Quezon province, Sadia began his career in journalism in the early 1980s with the People?s Journal. He later became a deskman at the Manila Times and Manila Chronicle, before moving to the Inquirer in the late 1990s. After leaving the Inquirer, he worked with ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs as an editor. He was survived by his wife Marlene Santos and four children.

Nilo de Souza Martins, a 1968 WPI fellow from Brazil died April 3, 2009, in Victoria, Brazil, at the age of 64. Until 2008, he had been the state superintendent of Social Communication of the State Government. In the 70s, Nilo was a reporter and managing editor of the magazines Veja and Four Wheels. He then became editor in chief of TV Victoria and in recent years held various political positions. He is survived by his wife, three children and a stepson.