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In Memoriam | Summer 2020

In Memoriam: 1960s

Notices sorted by graduation date

Sue Baber Volskis (Nurs ’61) of Staunton, Virginia, died Nov. 25, 2019. The day after her graduation from UVA, she married Wilhelm Siegfried “Zig” Volskis (Grad ’62) in Charlottesville. As her husband ministered to several United Methodist Churches in Virginia, Ms. Volskis assumed the life of a minister’s wife with great success as a gracious hostess and a generous, welcoming person with a positive outlook. Besides being a wife and mother, she worked at various times at UVA Hospital and at retirement and nursing homes in Virginia communities where her husband served. She also volunteered for Red Cross blood drives and at the Augusta Free Clinic in Staunton. Survivors include her daughters, Lydia and Susannah, and two grandsons.

Charles K. Mabon (Col ’63) of New York City died April 18, 2019. While at UVA, he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi, where he made lasting friendships. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1968, Mr. Mabon returned to New York City and began his career at the American Banknote Corp., where he was vice president of sales for 25 years. In 1995, he began working at American Banknote’s French sister company, Oberthur Fiduciaire, until his official retirement in 2006. In retirement, he worked part time at JPMorgan Chase Private Client Wealth until April 2019. Mr. Mabon was known for his love for the theater and the arts, as well as for his generosity and great sense of humor. Survivors include his wife, Fredericka Anne Galuppo, and his children Francesca and Donovan.

Girard Clement “Jerry” Larkin Jr. (Com ’66 L/M) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died March 9, 2020. After earning his law degree from the University of Tennessee, he clerked for Justice Alexander M. Harman Jr. of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia and for U.S. District Judge Richard B. Kellam. He began practicing law in Norfolk in 1973 and represented the Norfolk Education Association for 20 years before eventually retiring from his firm, Price Perkins Larkin. He loved his friends, the beach, sailing Hobie Cats and playing golf, but he was most proud of his three children. He loved UVA and enthusiastically supported the Athletic Association, attending most home football games and some basketball and soccer games through the years, as well as hosting memorable tailgate parties. He enjoyed helping others, shopping, cooking and entertaining. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth, and children Chip, Matthew (Colleen) and Sarah. 

Daniel S. “Dan” Morrow (Col ’67) of Winchester, Virginia, died Oct. 26, 2019. His participation as a student in the 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, launched a lifelong career of advocacy. After graduating from UVA, he completed postgraduate work at the University of North Carolina, specializing in modern German history and traveling abroad for documentary research at the West German Institute for European History. Mr. Morrow had a distinguished career in journalism, working with The Washington Post, the Whitney Communications newspaper division, The Village Companies and the Middleburg Eccentric. At the Eccentric, where he served as an investigative reporter, publisher and editorial columnist, he exhibited a dogged determination to get to the truth and expose incompetence and wrongdoing. In 2013, he published a nonfiction historical crime novel, Murder in Lexington: VMI, Honor and Justice in Antebellum Virginia. Mr. Morrow was the founding executive director and chief historian for the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards and Computerworld Honors programs and also founded the Jamestown Exploration Company. Mr. Morrow spent his life pursuing reason, based on knowledge and wisdom accrued from philosophical discourse and study. Survivors include his companion, Paula Campbell; a grandson; and a sister. 

William Edward Rogers (Educ ’67 L/M) of Fredericksburg, Virginia, died Jan. 6, 2020. At UVA, he was a member of Sigma Nu. His adventurous spirit and curious and expansive worldview were born of a childhood in Lima, Peru; San Francisco; and Northern Virginia. Over the course of his working life, Mr. Rogers embraced unexpected opportunities, including driving a moving truck, carrying mail for the U.S. Postal Service, owning a car stereo business and selling home furnishings. No matter the job, Mr. Rogers believed hard work was its own reward, a value he impressed upon his children. He was not a workaholic, however; he loved reggae music—a passion cultivated over numerous trips to Jamaica with good friends—and relished walking 18 holes of golf. He recently realized a long-held dream when he played a round at Pebble Beach in California. Though a prolific online shopper, especially after acquiring an iPhone, he wasn’t much for wrapping gifts. After growing up a Giants fan and cheering for the Senators once he moved east, he was a Nationals diehard since 2005 and reveled in their recent World Series victory. More than anything else, he viewed his family as his greatest accomplishment. Survivors include his wife, Wendy; three children, including Bryan Rogers (Col ’00) and Emily Rogers Edmonds (Col ’06); and five grandchildren. 

Susan Maclay Blackman (Grad ’69 L/M) of Arlington, Virginia, died Feb. 18, 2020. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Luther College, where she later served on the board of regents, she took her doctorate in foreign affairs at UVA, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She worked for 30 years in the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, from which she retired in 1998 as director of the Office of Korea and Southeast Asia. During her tenure, she was honored with a Congressional Fellowship, and she served as director and acting director of a number of geographical regions. When Arab oil opened opportunities for American businesses, she helped organize the Commerce Action Group for the Near East. She was later awarded a Bronze Medal by ITA as outstanding manager for her work as acting director of the Office of the Near East. With the fall of the Soviet Union, she organized, and was first director of, the Eastern Europe Business Information Center, to help American businesses get involved with former Warsaw Pact countries. For that, she was awarded a Silver Medal by the Department of Commerce. In retirement, she was active in volunteer activities of the Church of the Reformation and took advantage of cultural and educational activities at Washington’s theaters, concert halls and the Smithsonian Institution. She is survived by her husband, Paul H. Blackman (Grad ’70).