In Memoriam: 1950s

Notices sorted by graduation date

William W. Beville Jr. (Educ ’50) of Dowling Park,  Fla., died March 3, 2008. A U.S. Army veteran, he worked with Brown &  Grist, a window manufacturing firm in Newport News, Va., for 35 years, becoming vice president and general manager and a member of the board of directors before retiring and moving to Florida. His second retirement in 1983 followed 10 years of service with the Florida Department of Corrections as a correctional officer at the Sumter Correctional Institute.

John A. “Jack” Dovel Jr. (Engr ’50 L/M) of Vienna,  Va., died June 24, 2008. Mr. Dovel was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity, Theta Tau,  and served as an editor of the Engineering Review. He served in the U.S.  Army and, after graduating from the University, worked for General Electric as a technical writer, movie producer and research information specialist. He also worked as a lexicographer for Systems Development Corp. and at both the U.S.  Environmental Protection Agency and ICC as an analyst before retiring in 1990.  Survivors include a sister, Alison Dovel Crews (Nurs ’45 L/M).

Matthew F. Elliott (Com ’50) of Waynesboro, Va., died June 1, 2008. A World War II veteran, he served as a signalman. Mr. Elliott retired in 1984 from DuPont, where he had been an accountant and safety supervisor. He dedicated his retirement years to his Christmas tree farm in Beech Grove.

Richard G. Fuller (Law ’50 L/M) of Jacksonville,  Fla., died July 5, 2008. A World War II veteran, Mr. Fuller served in the U.S.  Army Air Forces. He practiced law, specializing in intellectual property, for 40 years in New York City with the firm of Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue and Raymond, now Baker Botts.

Stephen Ashby Johnson Jr. (Com ’50) of Virginia Beach died May 30, 2008. A U.S. Navy pilot, Mr. Johnson completed 20 years of service with the Navy Reserve, starting in 1946. After 20 years in the grocery business, Mr. Johnson became a real estate broker and appraiser with Tolleson and Company in Richmond, Va., before retiring in 1995.

Patricia Ann Lawrence (Med ’50) of Charlotte, N.C.,  died Dec. 2, 2008. Dr. Lawrence was Charlotte’s first female OB/GYN and practiced for more than 40 years. She was a breeder of Thoroughbred horses and served as the U.S. Equestrian Team doctor at the 1956 Olympics in Stockholm,  Sweden.

Sam S. Pepper (Col ’50 L/M) of Kingston, N.Y., died June 15, 2008. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War, retiring as a first lieutenant. Mr. Pepper was the first male student to attend Mary Washington College and later served as president and eventual owner for 35 years of Howard R. St. John Inc., General Insurance Agency. He was also president of Arthur A. Hansen, Fogarty Mid-Hudson Insurance Agency, Valley Agency and Associated Insurance Agency of the Hudson Valley,  retiring in 1991. He was involved with many community organizations.

Rodger R. Rinehart Jr. (Col ’50 L/M) of Ivy, Va.,  died Oct. 10, 2008. Survivors include a son, Robert H. Rinehart (Col ’72 L/M).

Walter Watson II (Engr ’50 L/M) of Winter Park, Fla.,  died April 3, 2008. Survivors include a son, Walter Watson III (Col ’73 L/M); daughters Burrill Watson Haskell (Educ ’68 L/M) and Eleanor W.  Kinsella (Educ ’81 L/M); and grandsons E. Livingston B. Haskell (Com ’94 L/M) and Stuart D. Kinsella (Col ’08).

Donn Bonnheim (Educ ’51 A/M) of San Luis Obispo,  Calif., died June 21, 2008. He served in the U.S. Army and later played football while attending U.Va. He took over his father’s ranch and worked on its development, sustainability and preservation. He was a pioneer in promoting multiple-use land management. In the 1960s, he worked closely with state leaders to develop the Williamson Act, approved in 1965, which provides a property tax break for farmers and ranchers who keep their land in agriculture and open space. In the 1970s, Mr. Bonnheim worked with the California Department of Fish and Game to develop some of the state’s private land-conservation programs. He also served as president and board member of the San Luis Obispo County Cattlemen’s Association.

Harry M. Dye Jr. (Com ’51 A/M) of Greensboro, N.C.,  died June 8, 2008. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Mr. Dye worked for 38 years and retired from Libbey Owens Ford glass company. He founded an Optimist Club in Greensboro in 1997.

Walter J. Klinar (Engr ’51) of Houston died Nov. 22,  2008. A World War II veteran, he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Mr. Klinar worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), beginning his 33-year career of federal service in Hampton, Va., at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), predecessor of NASA, at Langley Field. At NASA, he worked on the Saturn, Gemini, Mercury, Apollo and the space shuttle programs until his retirement in 1979. After retiring from the federal government, he worked for both McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed and retired in 1997. He continued to do private consulting work until 1998.

Thomas D. Lewis Jr. (Col ’51) of Richmond, Va., died June 23, 2008. He served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Forces. Mr. Lewis was appointed to the Amherst County Planning Commission and, in 1947, started a 29-year career in public health. His last position with the Virginia Department of Health was with the Richmond City Health District, where he was a health district administrative supervisor. Mr. Lewis served as president of the Virginia Public Health Association and was elected to the Governing Council of the American Public Health Association. On retiring from public health at the age of 65, he had a second career for 16 years, as a realtor with the firm of C. Porter Vaughan Realtors.

C. Heath Manning (Col ’51 L/M) of Columbia, S.C.,  died May 25, 2008. A World War II veteran, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps.  He began his career in real estate and was the founder of the Manning Company.  He also founded Palmetto Utilities, which was instrumental in the growth of northeast Richland County. He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives in the early 1960s and was a member of numerous clubs and civic organizations.

Harry B. Smith (Col ’51) of Charlotte, N.C., died July 17, 2008. He served in World War II in the U.S. Army Air Forces and later worked for the Richmond and Charlotte offices of the Federal Reserve Bank,  retiring as an assistant vice president in 1988 after 37 years of service.

Glenn G. Thompson (Com ’51) of Chesterfield, Va.,  died July 2, 2008. During World War II, while serving in the U.S. Army, he was captured and spent time as a German prisoner of war and was liberated in 1945.  His awards include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star of Valor and the Combat Infantry Badge. After retiring from CIGNA, he traveled with his wife to all 50 states. Survivors include a son, Glenn G. Thompson Jr. (Col ’73).

Susan Hopkins Vinton (Nurs ’51) of Sarasota, Fla.,  died Sept. 30, 2008. Ms. Vinton worked as an office nurse for Professors Waddell and Birdsong at the University of Virginia School of Medicine from 1951 to 1955. She held a Master of Divinity degree and served on the staff at St.  Boniface Episcopal Church until her death. Survivors include her husband, Richard A. Vinton
  (Col ’51, Med ’55 L/M).

Louis E. Hubbard (Educ ’52) of Virginia Beach died Nov. 24, 2007. He served in the U.S. Navy and participated in the Normandy invasion on D-Day, where he was the commanding officer of an amphibious LCT flotilla landing on Utah Beach. He received the Legion of Merit citation and was discharged at the rank of lieutenant commander. He was a teacher and administrator in Virginia public schools and later was sales manager for Travelers Insurance,  ending his 30-year employment at the company’s New York City office in 1984. He returned to Virginia and was a state-certified instructor in the required concentrated prelicensing insurance courses, retiring in 1996. A professional musician, he played in many dance orchestras and was a member of the American Federation of Musicians. He was a member of many professional and community organizations.

Maryjane Luke (Med ’52 A/M) of Covington, Va., died June 26, 2008. Dr. Luke was a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and was a member of both the Massachusetts and Virginia medical societies. Most of her active career in medicine was spent at the Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Department of Pediatric Cardiology, where she served as a fellow, instructor and assistant professor from 1955 through 1969. For five years, she served as assistant physician at the Children’s Hospital Boston. She was elected to the Boys’ Home board of trustees in 1996, and again in 1999, when she also served as first vice president to the board. Dr. Luke was inducted into the Boys’ Home Hall of Fame in 2004.

William R. Pully (Engr ’52 L/M) of Richmond, Va.,  died Dec. 5, 2008. A World War II veteran, Mr. Pully served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He was a fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Leonard S. Wampler Jr. (Engr ’52) of Orange, Va.,  died June 6, 2008.

S. Hamill Horne (Col ’53 L/M) of Bryn Mawr, Pa., died Nov. 24, 2007.

Edward G. Lewis (Med ’54 L/M) of Charleston, W.Va.,  died Nov. 29, 2008. A World War II veteran, he served in the U.S. Army during the Battle of the Bulge and received the Bronze Star. While attending the University,  he wrote for a medical journal about his medical testing and experiments on pilots and flyers in World War II. Dr. Lewis had a general practice in Charleston until he retired.

Lawrence W. Sawyer (Educ ’54) of Falls Church, Va.,  died Feb. 1, 2008. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, attaining the rank of sergeant. While living in Fairfax County, from 1954 to 1978, Mr.  Sawyer served as a teacher, principal and assistant area superintendent.

William M. Miller (Educ ’55 A/M) of Parkville, Md.,  died June 12, 2008. A decorated Korean War veteran, Mr. Miller was a retired teacher whose career at the Gilman School in North Baltimore spanned nearly four decades. He was also the school’s director of admissions and, in 1987, was named to the Edward Russell Chair for Excellence in Teaching.

Philip Y. Paterson (Med ’55) of Chicago died May 20,  2008.

Matthew J. Bruccoli (Grad ’56, ’61 L/M) of Columbia,  S.C., died June 4, 2008. Mr. Bruccoli taught in the English department at the University of South Carolina for nearly 40 years; wrote more than 50 books on Fitzgerald and Hemingway, notably Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F.  Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1981; and wrote scholarly essays and critical editions that led to recognition as the dean of Fitzgerald studies in the United States. He retired in 2005 as the Emily Brown Jefferies Distinguished Professor of English. In his spare time, Mr. Bruccoli helped run Bruccoli Clark Layman, a company that produced reference works on literary and social history, including the Dictionary of Literary Biography. He also edited the Fitzgerald Newsletter from 1958 to 1968 and the Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual from 1969 to 1979. Survivors include his wife, Arlyn Firkins Bruccoli (Grad ’59 L/M).

Robert H. Jennings (Med ’56 L/M) of Charlottesville died May 31, 2008. He served two years in the U.S. Navy as a medical officer on active duty and for more than 30 years in the Navy Reserve until his retirement. After active duty, he returned to Charlottesville to practice internal medicine for more than 40 years with Martha Jefferson Hospital,  retiring in 1998. He also served as the head of the University of Virginia Medical School Alumni Association. Survivors include his wife, Betty Wilson Jennings (Nurs ’60); a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Jennings (Col ’90 L/M); and a son, Robert H. Jennings Jr. (Col ’87 L/M).

Peter Levinson (Col ’56 L/M) of Malibu, Calif., died Oct. 21, 2008. Mr. Levinson began his career writing about jazz artists for school and local publications, and he produced jazz concerts while at college and while serving in the U.S. Army. In 1958, he worked in the publicity department at Columbia Records and, after working on more than 17 campaigns, he became an agent for MCA. He also wrote articles as a freelancer for national magazines. He was an executive with John Springer Associates before forming his own company, Peter Levinson Communications, where he represented many musicians and companies. For these and other clients, he contributed his skills to publicity campaigns that won two Tony Awards, six Grammys, an Oscar, gold and platinum records and many nominations. Mr. Levinson was also involved in event publicity and was considered a preeminent authority on jazz and affiliated music. In 2001, after more than 40 years as a publicist, Mr. Levinson began writing biographies. His fourth book, Puttin’ on the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache, a Biography, is scheduled to be published in March.

George L. Pease (Educ ’56 L/M) of Millcreek Township,  Pa., died Nov. 23, 2008. He retired in 1992 after teaching social studies for 32 years at McDowell High School and for a few years in Alaska public schools in the 1960s. He was a member of the Phi Delta Kappa association for professional educators as well as various local, state and national educational associations. An avid traveler, he visited all 50 states and all Canadian provinces.

Glenn E. Harris (Law ’57) of Marble, N.C., died June 30, 2008.

Beryl C. Stickley (Engr ’57) of Lake Jackson, Texas,  died Nov. 29, 2008. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 until 1955 and later worked for General Electric for 25 years and Intermedics for 18 years.

McCormick R. Covington (Law ’58) of Cleveland, Ohio,  died Feb. 19, 2008.

Melvin E. Fink (Engr ’58, GSBA ’60) of Lynchburg,  Va., died June 30, 2008. He was retired from the Lynchburg Foundry.

Robert G. Lehouck (Com ’58) of Greensboro, N.C., died June 3, 2008. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Mr. Lehouck retired from Lorillard Tobacco Company. He was active in the Community Theatre of Greensboro as an actor and past president.

Harry Walker Jr. (Col ’58 L/M) of Palmyra, Va., died July 2, 2008. Mr. Walker co-founded the Halifax Paper Board Company and retired from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Vera D. Webster (Educ ’58) of Eden, N.C., died May 15, 2008. She worked as a teacher of home economics and science for 15 years in Wilmington and Eden, N.C.; Martinsville, Va.; and in Indiana. She also spent 22 years as an editor of science textbooks in New York City.

William H. Wilson III (Col ’58) of Roanoke, Va., died July 19, 2008.

Charles Binford (Med ’59) of Houma, La., died May 22,  2008. A staff pathologist at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center for 25 years,  Dr. Binford was a diplomate of the American Board of Pathology. He began his career as a junior assistant surgeon in the U.S. Public Health Service and was stationed at the Public Health Service’s outpatient clinic in Washington, D.C.,  and at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. Prior to his employment with South Louisiana Medical Associates at the Chabert Medical Center, he held staff pathology positions at the Veterans Administration Center of Bay Pines,  Fla.; the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.; Fairfax Hospital in Virginia; and the U.S. Public Health Service in New Orleans. He also served as an assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Instrumentation in the clinical laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

John M. Bullock (Law ’59) of Cincinnati died May 4,  2008. He was a partner with the law firm of Taft, Stettinius & Hollister in Cincinnati, where he also served as executive vice president of Star Bank for 25 years.

Dorothy T. Burton (Educ ’59) of Richmond, Va., died June 1, 2008. She was a retired professor of education at Virginia Commonwealth University.

James D. Colt (Law ’59 L/M) of Wenham, Mass., died June 5, 2008. Mr. Colt was a state representative of Essex County’s 4th District from 1995 to 1997 and a selectman in Wenham from 1990 to 1996 and Milton from 1973 to 1982. Survivors include a daughter, Alexandra R. Colt (Col ’89 L/M).

Richard Thomas Stagg (Arch ’59 L/M) of Ponce Inlet,  Fla., died Aug. 9, 2008. At the University, Mr. Stagg played intramural sports, ran a successful small business parking cars and joined Sigma Nu fraternity, becoming its chapter president. In the early 1960s, he joined Stottler Stagg & Associates Architects Engineers and Planners, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and later became vice president of the firm. In the late 1970s, he moved to Maryland to manage the company’s Lanham office. His clients included Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, the U.S. Navy in Jacksonville and Charleston and the government of Saudi Arabia. He also designed numerous municipal buildings in Maryland, Virginia and Florida. After retiring in the late 1990s, he became a licensed stockbroker for several years before moving to Florida. Memorial contributions can be made to the School of Architecture Foundation, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400122,  Charlottesville VA 22904–4122.