In Memoriam: 1940s
Notices sorted by graduation date
Mary Louise Mattox McNulty (Nurs ’44) of Hopewell, Virginia, died January 25, 2016. After receiving her nursing degree from the University, Ms. McNulty worked at John Randolph Hospital and as an occupational health nurse with Allied Chemical in Hopewell until her retirement in 1985. During her retirement, she was active in the Red Cross, church activities and volunteered with senior citizen groups, for which she received a volunteer of the year award from the city of Hopewell in 1998. She was also a talented seamstress and member of the Hopewell Garden Club. Survivors include her son; two daughters, including Mary McNulty Fleming (Nurs ’71); six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Herbert Lee Cover II (Col ’45, Grad ’46, ’49) of Fredericksburg, Virginia, died December 5, 2016. At the University, he was a member of the Friends of Chemistry and Alpha Chi Sigma honor society. After graduation, Mr. Cover was a professor of chemistry at Mary Washington College from 1949 to 1984, eventually becoming professor emeritus; there, his enthusiasm for the music department led him to donate a set of vibraphones to the underfunded orchestra in the early 1970s. He was also known as a prolific collector of beer cans, and was a member of the Beer Can Collectors of America with more than 600 cans displayed on a wall. Students remember that their professor was also interested in carpentry, and had designed, made and sold some beer can lamps at a Chi Beta Phi auction in 1976. After he retired in 1984, Mr. Cover’s hobbies included tinkering with electronics, shooting pool and listening to jazz in the basement with friends. Survivors include his son, Herbert L. Cover III (Engr ’71); grandchildren Stephanie Cover Hayden (Col ’97, Educ ’99 L/M) and Benjamin Wade Cover (Col ’00); four great-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren.
Margaret Bowman Peterson (Nurs ’46) of Atlanta, Georgia, died November 21, 2016. Ms. Peterson practiced nursing for many years after graduating from UVA, first as a pediatric nurse and then as head nurse for General Electric in Louisville. Later, she served for more than 20 years as an ER nurse at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. After her retirement, she served as president of the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary in Atlanta and as Stephen Minister at her church. Survivors include her husband; sons Timothy A. Peterson (Grad ’77 L/M) and C. Mark Peterson (Col ’78 L/M); and a daughter.
C. Russell “Russ” Belcher (Col ’47 L/M) of Newark, New Jersey, died July 5, 2016. Mr. Belcher enrolled at the University before joining the U.S. Army in 1942 and served in Europe during World War II. Upon his return, he re-enrolled and graduated in 1947. He was a member of Zeta Psi and served as the fraternity’s president during his senior year. He married in June 1948, and remained happily married for 60 years until his wife’s death in 2008. After graduating from the University, Mr. Belcher joined the Prudential Insurance Company, where he worked for 37 years until his retirement in 1983. Early in his career he transferred to Houston, Texas. He was a member of Saint Thomas Episcopal Church for many years, where he served as senior warden, junior warden and a member of the vestry. Mr. Belcher was, with his wife, an avid tennis player and a member of the Houston Racquet Club. Survivors include three children, including Russell H. Belcher (Col ’73 L/M); six grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Jasper Duane Turner (Com ’47) of Pembroke Pines, Florida, died October 12, 2016. He attended the University for two years before being called to service in the U.S. Army as a Ranger in World War II. He fought in the Italian campaigns of the North Apennines, Po Valley, and Rome-Arno and was awarded three Bronze Battle Stars, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. After the war, he completed his degree and was employed by C&P Telephone Company of Charleston, West Virginia. He married in 1952 and lived in West Virginia until his retirement as district manager of the company in 1982. The Turners later moved to Pembroke Pines, where they raised their three sons. Survivors include his wife, a sister, two sons and two grandchildren.
William Arthur Gold (Col ’48) of Northampton, Massachusetts, died December 23, 2016. After he had attended the University for two years, World War II started and he enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served for three years as a decoder in Newfoundland, Canada. After the war, he returned to the University, graduating with honors in 1948. He married and had a daughter before divorcing. The rest of Mr. Gold’s life revolved around his passion for words, from owning a dairy farm where he hoped to write in his free time to working as a newspaper reporter in California, Nevada and Ohio. He also wrote advertising copy for various agencies. While working as a reporter in Akron, Ohio, he met his second wife, with whom he had three children. They later divorced. Several years after his youngest was born, frustrated with his paper’s reluctance to cover the civil rights movement, Mr. Gold switched to teaching, earning a master’s degree in teaching English from Kent State University, and moved his family to New Hampshire, where he taught at Nathaniel Hawthorne College and later at Keene High School, where he eventually retired. In addition to his passion for ensuring equality, he loved to fashion unconventional home repairs by recycling materials, such as a replacement handle for a teakettle. Mr. Gold spent the last six years of his life with his partner, with whom he shared a passion for reading and politics. Other survivors include three sons, two daughters, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Alfred Edward Moorer Jr. (Engr ’48) of Roanoke, Virginia, died October 30, 2016. He took naval officer training at UVA during World War II and finished his studies in law and math at the University of South Carolina in 1948. After almost 35 years in executive positions in the paper and packaging industry, Mr. Moorer took early retirement in 1983. The next year, he began a career helping to develop a retirement complex near Richmond, Virginia. He retired again, as senior vice president, in 1988. The Moorers moved to the shores of Claytor Lake, where they enjoyed gardening and fishing until they returned to Roanoke in 2005 to be near their children. Survivors include his wife of 69 years, three sons, four grandchildren and a sister.
Crosby Wells (Law ’49) of Salisbury, Connecticut, died October 4, 2016. Mr. Wells served during World War II as a staff sergeant in a rifle platoon of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. After the war, he attended UVA’s Law School, graduating in 1949. He joined the law firm Reid & Priest of New York, which sent him to Athens, Greece, for four years to be general counsel of the new Greek state power company. The Public Power Corporation, which was staffed and run by one of Reid & Priest’s clients, Ebasco Services Inc., was tasked with designing and building electric plants for Greece. Later, Mr. Wells joined Ebasco as vice president and general counsel, retiring in 1990 to Salisbury. He spent many happy days at his home in the village and at his cabin on Mount Riga, served on the board of directors for the Salisbury Public Health Nursing Association, and volunteered at the Tremaine Gallery at Hotchkiss. Survivors include his wife; a son; three grandchildren; a brother, Frank Wells (Col ’53 L/M); a sister; and nephews Henry H. Wells III (Col ’74) and Frank Wells III (Col ’84).