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In Memoriam | Summer 2024

In Memoriam: 1970s

Notices sorted by graduation date

Steven Lee Blake (Grad ’70) of San Antonio died Jan. 19, 2024. He completed the Army ROTC program at Tulane University and was commissioned as a Transportation Corps officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Tulane in 1966 followed by his master’s degree in foreign affairs at UVA. He taught political science at the University of Maryland at Munich, Germany, for six years. In 1980, he began a distinguished career as a foreign service officer in the U.S. Department of State. He served in a variety of roles as a political-economic officer and deputy chief of mission for 22 years, with postings in Doha, Qatar; Washington, D.C.; Bonn, West Germany; Belgrade, Serbia; Kraków, Poland; Bucharest, Romania; and Sofia, Bulgaria. On three occasions, he was awarded U.S. State Department Superior Honor Awards for extraordinary service. In 2002, he retired from the State Department, living in Romania and Bulgaria before settling in his family’s hometown of San Antonio. In retirement, he read voraciously, exercised daily and pursued his interest in European antiques. A true polyglot, he was fluent in several languages, including German, Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Serbian and Arabic. Survivors include two brothers and several nieces and nephews.

Everette Doffermyre Jr. (Col ’70, Law ’73 CM) of Atlanta died Jan. 27, 2024. While earning his bachelor’s degree in economics at UVA, he was a ROTC cadet, a member of the St. Anthony Hall fraternity, a member of the snow-skiing team and a football cheerleader. After he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, he returned to Grounds to earn his law degree. He then moved to Atlanta, where he met his wife, Mary, and started work as a corporate litigator for Kilpatrick law firm. He worked there for 15 years before founding his own firm in 1987: Doffermyre, Shields, Canfield & Knowles. He served as a trustee for a number of charitable organizations, including the National Childhood Cancer Foundation, Episcopal Media Center, Crossroads Community Ministries and Georgia State Golf Association Foundation. He remained involved with UVA throughout his life, including serving as president of the Alumni Association, chairman of the Board of Managers, chairman of the National Committee on University Resources, a trustee of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation, and a member of the College Foundation Board of Trustees. He received the Raven Award from the Raven Society in 2014 for his lifetime dedication to UVA. His friends and family knew him as a loyal, smart man and leader whose main goal was to help others. Survivors include his wife, Mary; three children, Julia Doffermyre Green (Col ’00 CM), William Doffermyre (Col ’02, Law ’06 CM) and E. Randolph Doffermyre (Col ’06 CM); and eight grandchildren. 

Philip Salembier (Col ’71) of Paonia, Colorado, died Jan. 9, 2024. He graduated from UVA with a degree in anthropology and completed a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Utah. After architecture school, he and his wife moved to St. Louis. He took a job with HOK architects, joining a small team of architectural computer graphics programmers who developed a 3D design system, key features of which became standard in the commercial systems that followed it. In 2005, the couple left St. Louis to become full-time volunteers. Over seven years, he built two large greenhouses on a farm in Nova Scotia; installed a solar array to power a tractor in Ann Arbor, Michigan; constructed an outdoor wood-fired oven for a bakery in Paonia; and assisted with grassland restoration and fish monitoring for The Nature Conservancy in Arizona. He played the flute, wrote novels, rode his bicycle, and pursued lifelong interests in history and physics. Survivors include his wife, Janice; three children; and three grandchildren.

Richard Bersin (Law ’76) of Bellevue, Washington, died Dec. 7, 2023. He played basketball at Duke University before attending law school at UVA. He spent his entire career in civil litigation law practice. He clerked at the Environmental Protection Agency under William Ruckelshaus, its first administrator. He later moved to the Seattle area, practicing first at Bogle & Gates and then in his own firm. Most recently, he associated with Inslee Best Doezie & Ryder in Bellevue, working up until a few months before his death. He maintained a love of athletics and was an avid University of Washington football fan for decades. Survivors include his wife, two daughters, a brother and a sister.

Timothy Lawrence Prince, M.D. (Col ’76 CM) of Orlando, Florida, died Jan. 17, 2024. He attended UVA as an Echols Scholar, earning his bachelor’s degree “with highest distinction.” He earned his medical degree from Emory University in 1980. He became a nephrologist after completing his clinical and research fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1987. That year, he joined what is now called Nephrology Associates of Central Florida and retired in 2022. He volunteered at Grace Medical Home during the last years of his professional life. He loved travel and physical challenges. His adventures included hiking 550 miles along the Camino de Santiago in Spain and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Survivors include his wife, Robin; three children; three siblings; two grandchildren; and three nieces.

Peter Craig Harrelson (Col ’78, Med ’83 CM) of Ophir, Colorado, died Jan. 22, 2024. He was an Echols Scholar at UVA, where he earned both his bachelor’s degree and his medical degree. He became known as “Dr. Pete,” a physician who would call his patients just to check in and see how they were doing. When paying back his Public Health scholarship (which helped supplement his medical school tuition), he was assigned to work with the Navajo Nation and learned several Navajo words and phrases. He loved embedding in other cultures and traveled throughout Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Europe and the Americas. He loved music and dance, whether it was playing harmonica or attending Colorado’s many music festivals. Growing up in Hawaii, he was known as “Nature Boy” and maintained a lifelong love of the outdoors. A passionate mycologist, he loved to share his morels, chanterelles, boletes, puffballs and oyster mushroom harvests. Survivors include three brothers and six nieces and nephews.