In Memoriam: 1970s

Notices sorted by graduation date

Albert Bruckner (Col ’70) of Marshfield, Mass., died March 3, 2009. At the University, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. Mr. Bruckner served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a senior editor at Sage Publications in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Patricia Mayes Hines (Grad ’71) of Mayesville, S.C., died May 29, 2010. As a young woman, she was selected South Carolina Maid of Cotton by the National Cotton Council, Memphis, Tenn. She served as chief of staff for domestic policy for President Ronald Reagan, and subsequently became assistant secretary of education for research and information under President George H.W. Bush. Ms. Hines was appointed to the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science in 2003, which promoted reading as the key to education.

John Charles “Jay” Jennison III (Engr ’71) of St. Augustine, Fla., died July 9, 2010. At the University, he was a member of the golf team and later competed in the U.S. Amateur, the British Amateur, the U.S. Mid-Amateur and numerous other golf events. Mr. Jennison was the club champion at six different clubs during his lifetime,and founded the St. Augustine Amateur in 2004. He was a member of the Florida Bar and served in the Florida National Guard. Mr. Jennison had a business career in Washington, D.C.; New York City and south Florida. After founding the technology consulting firm Access Systems, he coached golf at Flagler College and was most recently the executive director of the First Tee of St. Johns County.

Robert A. Price (Col ’71 L/M) of Marietta, Ga., died July 7, 2010. At the University, he was a member of the basketball team. Mr. Price worked for more than 30 years in heavy equipment financial leasing.

Albert “Pat” Gallatin Pritchett III (Col ’71) of Woodbury, Vt., died May 27, 2010. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard. Mr. Pritchett had a 14-year teaching career, during which he received the Outstanding Vermont Teacher Award from the University of Vermont in 1984. He founded the company now known as Vermont Vernacular Designs, a design-build construction company, serving as its owner and president. Mr. Pritchett directed and choreographed plays in central Vermont and staged musicals at the Old Meeting House in East Montpelier Center. A dancer, he taught jazz and tap dancing for many years at the Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio in Montpelier, Vt. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Fryberger Pritchett (Grad ’70).

John Kovacevich Jr. (Col ’72) of Crofton, Md., died May 17, 2010. At the University, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Eli Banana. Maj. Kovacevich served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1973 to 1993. As a communications officer, he served with the 10th Marines in Okinawa, Japan, returning later as executive officer of Marine Corps Communications Squadron 18. Other tours of duty included Parris Island, S.C.; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Quantico, Va.; and New River, N.C. He also served as information systems security coordinator at Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Va. His numerous awards included the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal. After he retired from the military, Maj. Kovacevich began an investment career, working at Bank of America in Orange County, Calif.; the Bank of Bowie in Bowie, Md.; and Harbor Investments in Annapolis, Md.

Dorothy Mae Brewer (Educ ’73) of Winchester, Va., died March 30, 2010. She retired in 2001 as instructional supervisor for Frederick County Public Schools. Ms. Brewer was the area vocational director and the assistant area vocational director for Clarke County, Frederick County and the city of Winchester public schools. She was awarded the Virginia Vocational Association Outstanding Citizen Award in 1980 and 1992; Virginia’s Outstanding Vocational Educator in 1988; Woman of the Year from Winchester Business and Professional Women in 1985; Human Service Award by the Winchester Tri-County OIC in 1986 and the Lord Fairfax Community College Medallion of Recognition in 1983. Ms. Brewer also served on the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Workforce in Virginia 2000 in 1991 and as president of the Winchester-Frederick County Chamber of Commerce in 1988.

Dennis Gerald Merrill (Law ’73) of Richmond, Va., died July 10, 2010. He served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1968. Mr. Merrill worked for many years as an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and subsequently worked at the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry and the Virginia Retirement System.

Dwight A. Miller (Law ’73 L/M) of Palm Beach, Fla., died June 15, 2010. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He spent his final year of service in South Vietnam as liaison to the U.S. Marines. At the University, he served on the editorial board of the Virginia Journal of International Law. He was associated with the New York law firm Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts (now Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman) from 1973 to 1978, practicing corporate and trust and estate law. He then joined the legal department of St. Joe Minerals Corp. in New York City. After St. Joe was acquired by Fluor Corp. in 1981, Mr. Miller moved to St. Louis as general counsel of St. Joe. Several years later, he and colleagues founded Big River Minerals Co. of St. Louis, which acquired various zinc, coal and other mineral properties from Fluor. Following the liquidation of Big River, he joined Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay in Palm Beach in 2004, practicing maritime, finance and corporate law. He was chairman of the Emergency Children’s Home in St. Louis, a trustee of East Woods School, a member of the development board of St. Louis Children’s Hospital and general counsel of the Americas Society. Survivors include a brother-in-law, Charles Tanner Rose Jr. (Col ’66, Law ’71 L/M).

John Robert “Bob” Power (Col ’73) of Charlottesville died April 29, 2010. He worked at the Daedalus Book Shop for more than 20 years.

Kenneth Craig Thompson (Com ’74 L/M) of Varina, Va., died May 4, 2010. He was a certified public accountant, and a member and past president of the Accountants Society of Virginia. Mr. Thompson was a former Henrico County School Board member for the Varina district, previous member of the Glendale Ruritan Club and a previous member of the board of directors of the Henrico Police Foundation.

Cynthia Crockett Webster (Col ’75 L/M) of Roanoke, Va., and formerly of Marietta, Ga., died March 23, 2010. She was the director of administrative services at the Ridgeview Institute, Smyrna, Ga., from 1983 to 2006.

Willie E. Robinson (Law ’77) of Harrisburg, Pa., died April 22, 2010. He was an attorney as well as a law professor. Mr. Robinson taught at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta and at the University of Virginia Law School. His associations included the Yale Club, the Raven Society, the Legal Aid Society, and he was on the board of the Dauphin County Library System. Mr. Robinson published several books about the legal system.

Charlotte Ball Vogelsang (Col ’77 L/M) of Buffalo, N.Y., died May 3, 2010. She was an advocate in western New York state for public education, women in politics and race relations. After working on Capitol Hill, Ms. Vogelsang was a founder of the Parent Network of WNY, which provides education and advocacy for parents of children with disabilities, and helped design and implement the Buffalo State College-based Transition Program, which assists young adults with special needs during their college experience. As the mother of a daughter with Down syndrome, she also started the inclusion program with the Buffalo Public Schools for children with disabilities. She also helped found the Committee of Descendants, which provides scholarships to African American students in Charleston, S.C. Ms. Vogelsang worked at the Community Health Center of Buffalo.

Julian Carlos Hofer (Col ’79 A/M) of Bristol, Va., died July 6, 2010. He was an executive with Pepsi before moving to the Dominican Republic to help run family businesses.