In Memoriam: 1940s

Notices sorted by graduation date

Herbert M. Baumgard (Com ’41 L/M) of Miami died April 15, 2016. He served as a chaplain’s assistant during World War II. At the University, he was a member of Hillel and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. After the war, he attended seminary and was ordained as a rabbi in 1950. He moved to Miami in 1955 and was the founding rabbi of Temple Beth Am, where he served until his retirement in 1987. A scholar specializing in the Hebrew prophets, he wrote several books. Rabbi Baumgard also served as chairman of the Dade County Community Relations Board and as president of the Synagogue Council of America, meeting with Pope John Paul II during his 1987 visit to Miami. Survivors include two sons, a daughter, two granddaughters and four grandsons.

Dorothy Sandridge Gloor (Nurs ’42 L/M) of Charlottesville died June 21, 2016. After graduation, she volunteered for the 8th Evacuation Hospital, the hospital unit formed by the University for service in World War II. She served overseas with the unit from 1942 to 1945, earning the rank of first lieutenant. During the war, she became an anesthetist. She later worked in the same role at the University of Virginia, the Cleveland Clinic and the University Hospitals of Cleveland. She also organized and taught home nursing classes in Ohio. In 1950, she and her husband moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, later moving with their daughter to Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1956. Ms. Gloor served in the state office of the League of Women Voters before the family moved again to Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and later to Aurora, Ohio. In Aurora, she returned to nursing, working at the Anna Maria nursing home, now the Campus of Anna Maria. She and her husband returned to Charlottesville in 1999. Ms. Gloor enjoyed growing daffodils and attending summer concerts. Survivors include a daughter, three grandsons, four great-grandsons and two great-granddaughters.

Shirley Porterfield Berry (Nurs ’44 L/M) of Richmond, Virginia, died June 14, 2016. During her career, she served as the director of nursing for the Libbie Convalescent Center and also held positions at the Johnston-Willis School of Nursing and the Virginia Treatment Center for Children. Survivors include a son, E. Raymond Berry (Col ’71 L/M); two daughters, including Lorna Berry Markey (Col ’82 L/M); and a granddaughter.

George P. Smith Jr. (Col ’44, Grad ’47, ’50 L/M) of Knoxville, Tennessee, died April 28, 2016. At the University, he was a member of the Honor Committee and the Raven Society. In 1950, he began work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s metals and ceramics division, now a part of the materials science and technology division. At the ORNL, he headed a research group investigating corrosion and structure of materials in liquids and at high temperatures. In the 1970s, Mr. Smith coordinated research on coal and became head of the synthetic fuels group in the laboratory’s chemistry division. He also worked as a lecturer in metallurgy at the University of Tennessee from 1952 to 1962 and was a professor of chemistry from 1973 to 1976. In 1970, he lectured at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. From 1972 to 1973, he was visiting professor of organic chemistry at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen. He also taught courses at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Molten Salt Chemistry held in Camerino, Italy, in 1986 and in 1990, received the Electrochemical Society’s Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquid Chemistry. Beginning in 1981, he volunteered as an animal keeper and docent at the Knoxville Zoo. He also did volunteer work in wildlife education and conservation in Kenya and Botswana. Mr. Smith enjoyed painting, telling stories and traveling. Survivors include three daughters.

Harry Ammon (Grad ’48) of Carbondale, Illinois, died April 29, 2016. He moved to Carbondale in 1950 to teach history at Southern Illinois University, where he helped the history department establish a doctoral program. He served as department chair from 1977 to 1983 before retiring in 1984. Though Mr. Ammon was not a prolific writer, he was a stylish one, and his biography of President James Monroe,  published by the University of Virginia Press, has been in continuous print since it was first published in 1971. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of early U.S. history and a vast view of the sweep of history, but he wore his scholarship lightly. Mr. Ammon received Fulbright Scholarships to Austria and Korea, and he loved travel, ballet, opera and life, but few things were as precious to him as the books he read. As he got older, he increasingly enjoyed listening to audio books. He also loved talking about the current presidential primaries, mystery writers, lost civilizations and the life of St. Augustine. His friends remember him as a gracious host, an engaging raconteur, an excellent cook, a man of refined tastes, and above all, a perfect gentleman.

Charles Henry “Dunc” Duncan (Col ’48) of Valdosta, Georgia, died May 2, 2016. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 and served as a P-40 pilot with the 33rd Fighter Group in the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. He flew 95 combat missions and earned a number of decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Clusters and the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for action in Tunisia. After returning from the war, he attended the University and returned to the Air Force. Lt. Col. Duncan served as the chair of the air science department at Duke University and as Air Force liaison to the Army’s I Corps at Camp Red Cloud in South Korea. He retired to Valdosta in 1968, where he was an avid golfer. Survivors include two daughters, three grandsons and two granddaughters.