1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | Friends
Arthur Earl Lee Neelley, Cls 28, of Manhattan, Mont., on Jan. 16 at the age of 104. He retired from a 22-year career with the California Federal Savings & Loan Association as senior vice president in charge of the loan division. A 1930 graduate of the University of Southern California’s College of Commerce, he entered military service in 1942 and was assigned to the staff of the commanding general of the Army Air Corps. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and received the Legion of Merit.
Chris C.F. Hammond Jr., ME 34, of Savannah, Ga., on Jan. 3. Mr. Hammond was the retired president and chairman of the board of Great Dane Trailers Inc., formerly Steel Products Co., in Savannah. He joined the company as a trailer salesman in 1937 and by the 1970s was chairman of the board and CEO. He retired in 1984 but was a consultant to the company until his death. Upon graduation from Tech, Mr. Hammond was commissioned a Navy ensign, and he spent a year as commander of Civilian Conservation Corps camps in North Carolina and Tennessee. During World War II, he served on truck and tank production boards. He was a former president of the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association and the National Truck Tank and Trailer Tank Institute. From 1967 to 1984 he served as a director of Transway International Corp. in New York. He served on the board of directors of Savannah’s Citizens & Southern National Bank for 21 years. Mr. Hammond was inducted into the Georgia Tech College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 1994. Survivors include his niece Emily Kennedy, Biol 74, and her husband, James Kennedy, Phys 74, MS GeoS 76, and their daughter, Gwynn Kennedy Semmelink, Arch 03.
Hubert Shumate Laney, Com 34, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, on May 11, 2009. Mr. Laney was active in insurance and investing until 2007. Throughout his college days, he got around in a “ramblin’ wreck” he purchased for $5. He left the automobile with his Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers upon graduation. During World War II, he served as a line officer in the Navy aboard PC-1133 in the Pacific.
Thomas W. Moore, EE 30, of Atlanta, on Jan. 11 at the age of 102. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army after graduation and pursued a career in finance following World War II. He served on the board of stewards at his church.
Hal Hazelton Strickland Jr., ChE 36, of Greensboro, N.C., and Meadows of Dan, Va., on Dec. 11. A chemical engineer, Mr. Strickland retired from a long career with Burlington Industries in which he ultimately was in charge of purchasing all man-made fibers for the company’s manufacturing operations. He worked his way through Georgia Tech as a co-op student and during World War II worked with DuPont developing a wake-less torpedo for the Navy. An avid birdwatcher, Mr. Strickland was a member of the Piedmont Bird Club and had sighted more than 1,000 species during his travels, which included a trip to Antarctica to observe penguins. He also was a skilled woodworker, painter, gardener and tinkerer.
John Rowland “Jack” Wyant, ME 38, of Atlanta, on Nov. 23. An Army captain in World War II, he served under Gen. George Patton in command of the 501st Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company at the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he and his father founded Wyant and Sons Paper Co. Mr. Wyant retired from his career in the paper business after working with Sloan Paper Co. He was a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, American Legion Post 134 and the Society of Colonial Wars. Survivors include grandsons John Wallace Wyant, CmpE 07, and David Wyant, a student in the College of Engineering.
Thomas Clifford Bazemore Jr., EE 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif., on Dec. 1. He was the retired president of General Research Corp. Mr. Bazemore was a co-op student while at Tech.
Charles B. “Charlie” Cliett Sr., AE 45, of West Point, Miss., on Nov. 30. He was a professor and the head of the aerospace engineering department at Mississippi State University from 1960 to 1991. Mr. Cliett began working at Mississippi State in 1947 and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2003. He served as a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy during World War II.
Edward A. D’Amico, ME 42, a resident of Wheat Ridge, Colo., on Dec. 30. Memorials in his name may be made to the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech.
Robert F. Donegan, IM 47, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., on Jan. 16. Before attending Georgia Tech, he served as a B-24 pilot in the Army Air Corps’ 8th Air Force. He began working for the Container Corp. of America in Philadelphia and in 1954 was transferred to Caracas, Venezuela, where he was in charge of CCA operations for 16 years. He later joined his brother in a wholesale operation in Atlanta.
Benjamin Ellis Dunaway Jr., ChE 43, of Seaford, Del., on Nov. 28. Mr. Dunaway served in the Army’s 11th Airborne Division during World War II and then in the Army Reserve. He retired following a 33-year career with E.I. du Pont de Nemours. He was active in the Boy Scouts and was an avid bridge player. He also raised and raced homing pigeons.
Claiborne Powell East, CE 48, of Sun City West, Ariz., on Dec. 10. Mr. East retired as general manager of engineering of the American bridge division of U.S. Steel.
William Dewey Fiser, ChE 48, of Columbia, Mo., on Nov. 26. A longtime resident of Huntsville, Ala., he had a 30-year career as a chemical engineer with Morton Thiokol. He was an Air Force captain with the 315th Bomb Wing during World War II.
Walter Jasper Grace III, ME 42, of Tucson, Ariz., on Dec. 28. He earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and was a petroleum engineering professor at the University of Corpus Christi before moving to Tucson in 1961. After receiving a law degree from the University of Arizona, he worked for the firm of Merchant, Lohse & Bloom before going into private practice. He earned a pilot’s license while a student at Georgia Tech and was commissioned in the Navy, serving as a meteorologist and attaining the rank of commander during World War II. He was a member of the Tucson Sunshine Kiwanis Club. In retirement he restored Citroen automobiles and most recently was working on a car with a Maserati engine.
Philip Gadsden Hasell Jr., AE 46, MS EE 50, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Dec. 15. He was part of the Navy V-12 program at Tech and was commissioned as an ensign following graduation. After failing the eye exam for aviators, he was sent to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif., to test missiles. In 1950 he was hired by North American Aerospace and worked at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He learned to fly and bought a PT-26 from Chuck Yeager. In 1955 Mr. Hasell joined the University of Michigan Research Labs in Ann Arbor to develop airborne infrared mapping. Three years later, he went to work for a newly formed Bendix systems division that was developing an airborne weather mapping system and a large aperture-optical system to measure the radiation from a ballistic missile re-entering the atmosphere. He later returned to the University of Michigan, where he worked on infrared mapping of the countryside in a research lab that eventually would become the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan. While there, he received a NASA award for the development of an active multispectral scanner utilizing a laser. He retired in 1991 and returned to his native South Carolina, where he was a volunteer for the East Cooper Meals on Wheels and Adult Literacy programs. While a student at Tech, he owned a Model A Ford with a rumble seat. Survivors include his son Herbert S. Hasell, ME 90.
Gordon Crowl Hicks, ChE 42, of Sheffield, Ala., on Dec. 20. He worked at Radford Ordnance Works in Virginia and the Oak Ridge Atomic Plant in Tennessee before moving to Alabama in December 1945. Mr. Hicks retired from the TVA after 33 years as a chemical engineer. He spent his retirement building a pioneer village in Colbert County.
Lee Fuson Howard Sr., EE 45, of Atlanta, on Jan. 11. Mr. Howard was an electrical engineer in the commercial construction industry in Atlanta, retiring from Allison Smith Electrical Contractors in 1990. After graduating from Tech, he attended Navy midshipman school in New York City and served as a Navy lieutenant during World War II.
Henry Reese Ivey Sr., GE 42, of Marietta, Ga., on Dec. 28. He worked for the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics during World War II and was a civilian employee of the Air Force at Langley AFB in Hampton, Va., where he was awarded the Air Force’s top commendation for civilian service. In 1959 he moved his family to central Florida, where he worked as an engineer for several Department of Defense contractors. He started Wood-Ivey Systems Corp., which once was honored as the Small Business Contractor of the Year by the Department of Defense. In retirement, he traveled the world and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
Alexander Lucas Lofton, GE 47, a resident of Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Jan. 26. Joining the Navy at 17, Mr. Lofton served on the USS Oklahoma before enrolling at Tech and on the USS Niblack after returning to the Navy in 1943. Following graduation, he went into the manufacturing business, spending most of his career as general manager and vice president of Charleston Manufacturing Co. He was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, St. James Santee Historical Society and the Charleston Manufacturing Club, for which he had served as president. He served as docent for tours at the Wedge Plantation, where his mother was raised. In retirement, he cataloged and wrote a history of his great-great-grandfather, Jonathan Lucas, and his descendants and their influence on the rice industry through mill designs. He was co-authoring a book about the Lucas family at the time of his death.
Fitzhugh Lee Penn Jr., IM 48, of Ocoee, Fla., on Dec. 4. Following retirement from SKF Industries Inc., he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and did volunteer work on it. He also volunteered at his grandsons’ elementary school. A member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity while at Tech, he served in the Navy in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters in World War II aboard the USS LST 1001 as a communications officer, executive officer and ultimately as commanding officer. Survivors include son Timothy K. Penn, ICS 85; daughter Sharon Penn Adelhelm, IE 83; and son-in-law Mark S. Adelhelm, IE 83.
John Frederick Richenaker, ChE 43, of Frederick, Md., on Jan. 11. Mr. Richenaker, who earned an MBA from what now is Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, retired from Unilever as a chemical salesman in 1985. He was a Navy officer during World War II and a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Tech.
William Nathan Scott, Arch 43, of Bellevue, Wash., on Jan. 20. Mr. Scott joined John H. Sellen Construction Co. of Seattle in 1951, soon rising to senior management. Under his leadership, the firm contributed greatly to the Seattle and Bellevue skylines. He retired as chairman of the board in 1994. Mr. Scott was a national life director of the Associated General Contractors of America and a past president of his local AGC chapter. A World War II veteran, he served as a Navy officer aboard the USS Watts in the Aleutian Islands and in the Okinawa campaign.
William C. “Bill” Underwood, EE 49, of Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 10. Mr. Underwood moved to Orlando in 1957 to work for Martin Marietta. During his 31 years with the company, he was named its Engineer of the Year twice, worked on Bullpup and Hellfire missiles and received a laser guidance system patent for Hellfire. He was an elder emeritus at his church.
James E. Van Orden Jr., Cls 44, of St. Petersburg, Fla., on June 20. Mr. Van Orden, who left Georgia Tech in 1942 to enroll in the Army, was the retired president of Acra Tire Shop Inc.
John A. Williams, EE 43, of Marietta, Ga., on Oct. 9. He was a retired senior flight test engineer with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. He was a co-op student while at Tech.
John Allen Baker, ChE 59, of Newport News, Va., on Dec. 4. Mr. Baker served three years in the Air Force before beginning a career with Westinghouse Electric Corp. in Pittsburgh in 1962. He was transferred to the company’s field office at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1970 to work on the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and retired in 1998. While a student at Georgia Tech, he was a charter member of Delta Upsilon fraternity and participated in the Air Force ROTC.
Wayne L. Beech, EE 53, a resident of Leesburg, Va., on Aug. 18. In 1983 Capt. Beech retired from a 32-year career in the Navy in which he supported the Office of Military Application, Office of Arms Control, Office of Intelligence and Department of Energy in the areas of intelligence, nuclear weapon design, threat assessment and environmental activities. He also served with NATO at Special Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium. An expert in the field of nuclear weapons, he was selected to participate in the Strategic Defense Initiatives program, nuclear treaty negotiation support and arms control and nonproliferation activities. His combat experience in the Navy included service as deputy commander of a river patrol force in the Vietnam War.
John H. Cunningham, Arch 50, a resident of Atlanta, on Dec. 12. For more than 50 years Mr. Cunningham owned his own architectural firm, which specialized in banks and commercial buildings. A World War II veteran, he flew 50 combat missions as a member of the Air Corps. He wrote three books and was an avid sailor and a farmer.
Robert Davis “Bobby” Engelhart Jr., Cls 57, of Sandy Springs and East Cobb, Ga., on Jan. 18. He retired from a 43-year career with Lockheed Martin in 1997 as a director in international sales. He also was a retired major with the Air National Guard. A member of Chi Phi fraternity while at Georgia Tech, he graduated from Georgia State University.
Benjamin Kennon Gillis, IM 53, of Soperton, Ga., on Jan. 18. Mr. Gillis retired in 2005 after working at the Bank of Soperton for more than five decades, including 24 years as president. A World War II veteran, he joined the 82nd Airborne Division in 1945 and was a member of the division’s ceremonial drill team. He also was a paratrooper, receiving the World War II Victory Medal.
Eugene W. “Wes” Green, EE 50, IE 54, MS IE 55, of Atlanta, on Dec. 26. He began a career at Sears Roebuck in the catalog ordering department and retired as the assistant Southern territory operating manager in 1980. He then joined United Family Insurance, retiring as assistant vice president in 1989. Mr. Green served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II.
L. William “Bill” Harper, IM 59, of Ottawa, Canada, on Nov. 23. He worked as a personnel manager for Canadian Oil, Shell Oil and Atomic Energy of Canada (MDS Nordion). He was a former board member of the Carleton Place Hospital and Perth and Smiths Falls Hospital and a member of the Carleton Place Legion. His hobbies included curling, woodworking and painting.
Al Thomas Hays Jr., IM 59, a resident of Dunwoody, Ga., on Dec. 19. Following graduation, Mr. Hays began a long corporate sales career in which he specialized in mineral and lime products. He also owned and operated Al T. Hays Sales Co. until his retirement. Mr. Hays enjoyed traveling the world and had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
Thomas C. Herndon, CE 50, of Brandon, Fla., on Dec. 2. Mr. Herndon was a registered professional engineer and a member of the American Railway Engineer’s Society and the Roadmasters and Maintenance of Way Association.
Lorentz Ryan “Friday” Hodges Jr., BS 57, Arch 58, of Warm Springs, Va., on Jan. 17. He worked in Atlanta, Alexandria, Va., and Greensboro, N.C., in his career as an architect. His studies at Georgia Tech were interrupted by two years of service in the Navy as a medical corpsman at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. Mr. Hodges enjoyed classical music and opera.
Marion Williams Hodges Jr., Text 54, of Atlanta, on Dec. 30. Mr. Hodges worked for West Point Manufacturing and Sandoz Textile & Chemicals before beginning a career as a commercial real estate agent in the late 1960s. He formed Marion Hodges & Company in the 1970s, working as a broker. A member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity while at Tech, he served in the Marine Corps as a first lieutenant and was a life member of the Capital City Club.
Herbert A. Johnson, IE 52, of Union City, Calif., on Dec. 9. Mr. Johnson had worked for Lockheed, Bechtel and Sygnetics. He was an Army veteran, a past master of Peninsula Lodge 168 F&AM and a member of Asiya Shrine.
John C. Kievit, ChE 53, of Elkton, Md., on Jan. 3. He retired following a 30-year career with DuPont. He was a Stephen minister at his church, an artist and an avid reader.
James Andrew “Jim” Machmer, ME 54, of Lexington, Ky., on Jan 24. In a 27-year career with IBM, he worked in the company’s office products division, acquiring four patents and helping in the design and development of IBM’s Selectric Element and Copier 3 heat fuser. In 1970 he was recognized as a top 10 inventor. He also worked for Delta Air Lines and Lexmark. Mr. Machmer worked his way through Georgia Tech by playing clarinet and alto saxophone in the six-piece Fowler Street Five Plus One band. He also was a member of the Georgia Tech Glee Club, which performed on Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town television program. He was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, from 1955 to ’57 while serving as a lieutenant in the Air Force. An aviation enthusiast, he enjoyed flying his 1945 Piper Cub, building and repairing model and radio-controlled planes and hang gliding in Colorado. He also sang in community choruses and a barbershop quartet.
Gordon Richard McHan, ME 51, of Marietta, Ga., on June 7. Mr. McHan retired from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.
Charles Gordon Naylor Jr., EE 52, of Dublin, Ga., on Dec. 28. Mr. Naylor retired from Hughes Aircraft Co. and volunteered at Easter Seals Middle Georgia. He was a Navy veteran of World War II.
John Hezekiah “Jack” Oldham Sr., ME 58, of Wesley Chapel, N.C., on Jan. 16. Mr. Oldham served in the Army before owning his own business in Charlotte, N.C. He was a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and for many years was active in the Weddington Optimist Club. He was a founder of the Union County Patriots and was named 2009 Union County Republican Man of the Year. Survivors include his son, John Hezekiah Oldham Jr., ME 92.
Frank Levan O’Steen, IM 54, of York, S.C., on Aug. 30. Mr. O’Steen served in the Marines during the Korean War and was the former owner and operator of the Shrimp Boat Restaurant in Rock Hill, S.C. He was a member of the Elks Club, Savannah Masonic Lodge No. 1, Veterans of Foreign Wars and York County Shrine Club.
James Lee Perry, IM 57, of Cumming, Ga., on Jan. 8. A 1961 graduate of the Emory School of Law, Mr. Perry retired in 1995 as law assistant to the Supreme Court of Georgia. He was a law assistant to several justices in his 34-year career. He spent several years researching biblical languages and translations of ancient texts while writing a book, The Holy Grail Cosmos of the Bible. His hobbies included researching the history of Great Britain, gardening and target shooting.
Charles Wayne Robertson, ME 55, of Lutz, Fla., on Jan. 19. Mr. Robertson was an engineer at Busch Gardens for more than 25 years. He was an animal lover, a fishing enthusiast and a miniature train collector.
Ray H. Rohletter, Text 53, of Demorest, Ga., on Nov. 25. A Navy veteran of World War II, Mr. Rohletter had a 40-year career with Chicopee Manufacturing in Cornelia and Gainesville. He was a member of the Habersham County Board of Education and Demorest City Council, an avid beekeeper and a cattle rancher. Survivors include son Joel B. Rohletter, IM 77; daughter Jennifer, IM 82, and her husband, Robert Chambers, CE 79, MS CE 80; and grandchildren Grant Rohletter, Mgt 03, and his wife, Meaghan, Mgt 03; Emily Chambers, IntAML 10; and Benton Chambers, a student in the College of Engineering.
Charles W. “Chuck” Scott, Phys 59, MS Phys 62, of Westminster, Calif., on Nov. 15. Mr. Scott retired in 1995 after a 25-year career as a physics teacher at Los Alamitos High School in California. He moved to California in 1965 to work in the autonetics division of North American Rockwell, during which time he also taught physics courses at area universities at night. Mr. Scott spent summers and later his retirement on a chestnut orchard and tree farm in Ettersburg, Calif.
Joseph E. Summerour, IM 51, of Sumter, S.C., on Dec. 12, 2008. His career with the Air Force included a lengthy tour in the Vietnam War. He retired from Shaw Air Force Base as a lieutenant colonel. He served on the school board in Sumter and led several antique car clubs in South Carolina. While at Tech, he was a member of Sigma Nu and the Bulldog Club and served as assistant business manager of the Yellow Jacket magazine.
Guillermo “Willie” Valls Munoz, IM 57, of Miami, on Nov. 27.
C. Neil Welsch, CE 53, of Atlanta, on Dec. 23. Mr. Welsch helped shape the skyline of the Atlanta area as a general contractor, president of H.W. Ivey Construction Co. and employee with B.L.I. Construction Co. A member of Sigma Chi fraternity while at Tech, he served in the Army in Austria from 1947 to ’48 and in Korea from 1953 to ’55 as a commander of a combat engineering company. A Sunday school teacher for more than 40 years, he also served as chair of the deacons at his church and was a deacon emeritus.
Leonard Atlee Wills, ME 52, of Roanoke, Va., on Nov. 23. Mr. Wills served in the Army in the Philippines during World War II and later worked for the Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. His hobbies included singing, songwriting and playing his guitar.
Thomas D. Woodman, ME 59, of Pleasant Grove, Ala., on Feb. 8, 2010. Dr. Woodman was a retired orthopedic surgeon.
John McDonald “Mac” Carter, CE 63, of Raleigh, N.C., on Nov. 29. An Army veteran, he served in Korea and retired from Carolina Power and Light Co.
Earnest C. Eason Jr., CerE 61, of North Augusta, S.C., on Dec. 31. Mr. Eason retired from Augusta Newsprint, at which he was a boiler operator.
Dennis C.B. Freeman, IM 66, a resident of The Woodlands, Texas, on Sept. 14. In his career, Mr. Freeman worked as a communications consultant at TIC Lucent Tech, a quality assurance and technology setup analyst at Hewitt Associates and an account manager at Panasonic.
Edward Worley Graham Jr., IE 60, of Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 19. He served in the Army and retired from Robins Air Force Base after 44 years of service as an industrial engineer.
Jim Hicks, Text 68, of Belton, S.C., on Dec. 15. Mr. Hicks was a former technical manager and plant engineer with the Hexcel Corp.
William W. Mee III, IE 68, a resident of Newark, Del., on Dec. 22, of cancer of the appendix. A co-op student at Georgia Tech, Mr. Mee retired from DuPont in 2002 as a senior consultant for the international transfer policy. His 34-year career with the company was interrupted in 1969 by a stint in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Mr. Mee was chairman of the National Foreign Trade Council’s International Compensation Committee in 1991. In retirement, he volunteered with the Blood Bank of Delmarva, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Habitat for Humanity and PFLAG and mentored several elementary school students.
Lewis Edward Moore, ChE 69, of Springfield, La., on Dec. 26. In his more than 30-year career, he was a project manager for such companies as Ciba-Geigy and Borden Chemicals. He received an MBA from Louisiana State University. He was a golfer and a car and model train enthusiast.
E. John Patten Jr., CE 62, a resident of Athens, Ga., on Jan. 11. While a student at Tech, he worked for the Georgia Railroad and helped design and lay out the rail around Stone Mountain. Upon graduation, he began a career with the USDA’s Soil Conservation Service, now the Natural Resources Conservation Service, from which he retired as state design engineer after 30 years. He then was a consultant on dams with Schnabel Engineering Associates. He served on the National Dams Safety Committee and was instrumental in the development of the SITES computer program used by engineers involved in the design of dams. He was a member of the Beech Haven Christian Sportsmen Ministry, American Saddlebred Horse Association and American Saddlebred Museum; a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; and an endowment member of the National Rifle Association.
James Patrick Phillips, EE 69, a resident of Lake in the Hills, Ill., on Nov. 25. During a 31-year career with Motorola, Mr. Phillips headed an engineering research department and received several awards. After retiring from Motorola in 2007, he started a consulting business, Wireless Wyzards. His career included design work for the Saturn V rocket computer and antennas for the Alaskan oil pipeline, space shuttle amateur radio and the first cellular telephone. Mr. Phillips, who earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, was chairman of the Chicago section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a senior member of the IEEE. He was awarded 40 patents.
Samuel Tucker Thompson, IE 69, a resident of Jasper, Ga., on Dec. 9, after a two-year battle with cancer. He held executive positions in various companies before purchasing his own company, Blue Ridge Mountain Woodcrafts, in Ellijay, Ga., in 2000. He served in the Army before attending Tech. Survivors include his children Lisa Wearing, IE 88, and Samuel Thompson, ME 94.
Harold Robert “Bob” Todd, IE 65, of Rock Hill, S.C., on Dec. 11. He served in the Army and retired from IBM Corp. Mr. Todd enjoyed photography and water sports with his grandsons. He was a Sunday school leader at his church and a volunteer at the Billy Graham TV Telephone Ministry.
Preston C. Upshaw Jr., IM 61, of Marietta, Ga., on Jan. 19. Mr. Upshaw retired following a 30-year career with Lockheed Martin Corp. He also was an accomplished bluegrass musician and songwriter. He served as a medic in the Army and was a member of American Legion Post 216.
Kent S. Harris, IE 73, MS IE 75, of Walnut Creek, Calif., on Sept. 29. He worked for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., most recently as senior program engineer. Mr. Harris was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi while at Tech.
Robert Lowell Preston, MS CE 71, PhD CE 76, of Ventura, Calif., on Dec. 15, of cancer. Following graduation from the Naval Academy in 1959, he was appointed commander and served two missions in Vietnam, receiving the Bronze Star with a Combat V. After 21 years of active duty in the Navy, he was appointed executive officer at the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory. He retired in 2005 after 14 years as manager of the water resources department of the county of Ventura. He was an accomplished race car driver and a NASCAR fan.
Bruce Fabrick, M Arch 85, a resident of Decatur, Ga., on Dec. 22, in an automobile accident. Mr. Fabrick, who also was a graduate of the Atlanta College of Art, was a residential architect. He was a cook, political activist and community volunteer who devoted much of his time to helping build and care for the Decatur High School Community Gardens as a PTA member.
Karen Elizabeth Knapp, BC 83, a resident of Brunswick, Ga., formerly of Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 2, after a three-year battle with liver disease. She was a volunteer at the American Red Cross and the YMCA, at which she was a mentor, coach and referee.
Peter Paul Ostapchenko, ME 81, of Salem, S.C., on Jan. 10, following a two-year battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He worked at General Motors while a co-op student at Tech and began his career developing software at General Dynamics. He later worked for Computer Science Corp. and Omnigon Technologies and was a consultant for the Hein Group Inc. and Talon Eight. At Invitrogen he managed IT projects and implemented postproduction support using Six Sigma methodologies. Mr. Ostapchenko, who received an MBA from the University of Phoenix in San Diego, was a member of Ideas Unlimited, a professional think tank of scientists and inventors in San Diego.
James J. Partlow, Cls 81, a resident of Lawrenceville, Ga., on Jan. 19. A co-op student while at Tech, he was a former systems developer with Building Systems Design.
William Andrew Priest, ME 82, of Tallahassee, Fla., on Jan. 17, of pancreatic cancer. Following graduation from Tech, he attended and taught at Florida State University. He spent the past 18 years helping provide Floridians with safe drinking water as a Department of Environmental Protection engineer. He enjoyed driving his motorcycle, skiing, windsurfing, sailing and swimming.
Melony Lynn Jones Seaton, IE 82, of Bristol, Tenn., on Jan. 24. She spent her career working in quality assurance for NASA and the military. She was an animal lover and a Bingo player. She enjoyed fishing.
John (Chong Hun) Chon, MS ChE 97, PhD ChE 99, of Marlborough, Mass., on Nov. 22. Dr. Chon worked in the biotech industry, starting out at Genzyme Corp. and most recently working for Percivia LLC. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and music from MIT in 1994. Passionate about classical music and jazz, he played in several musical groups, including the Boston Civic Symphony, Wellesley Symphony Orchestra and Hillside Wind Quintet. While at Georgia Tech, he was a member of a jazz chamber ensemble and the symphonic band.
Mark Amos Ruff, EE 91, of Cumming, Ga., on Jan. 15. Mr. Ruff was a den leader with the Cub Scouts. He enjoyed golf and coaching his sons in soccer.
Kristin Michael, ME 00, MS ME 03, PhD BioE 06, of Marietta, Ga., on Jan. 10, of leukemia. She was a senior postdoctoral researcher and then a group leader in the biomaterials group at Forschungszentrum Julich in Germany. Her many awards included a graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Roy Hartsfield, 85, of Ellijay, Ga., on Jan. 15. A former player, coach and manager in minor and major league baseball, Mr. Hartsfield played for the Atlanta Crackers, Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers and had worked for such teams as the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. He also spent decades in the offseason working in the Georgia Tech Print shop. In retirement, he was a member of the Ellijay Lions Club and a golfer, who participated in charity tournaments for major league baseball.
Phyllis Dorman Kelly, of Ocala, Fla., on Jan. 15, of pancreatic cancer. She attended Georgia State University and after raising four children worked at Georgia Tech as the graduate program cooperative education coordinator. After moving to Dudley, N.C., she was the office manager and human resources director of the Georgia-Pacific chip and saw plant, retiring in 1997. She was a Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders counselor and a past president of the Goldsboro Rotary and Belleview Busy Bee Quilters.
Ellie Kohler, 69, of Atlanta, on Dec. 14, of lung cancer. She is survived by her husband, Edwin Philip Kohler II, associate vice president for Student Affairs emeritus and an honorary alumnus of Georgia Tech. A graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in elementary education, Mrs. Kohler worked as a teacher and secretary for Atlanta City Schools, Davis International and Southern Progress magazine. She volunteered with many organizations, including the Georgia Tech Women’s Club.
John Paul “Jack” Line, 81, a resident of Stone Mountain, Ga., on Jan. 5. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he was a math professor at Georgia Tech for 39 years, during which time he was a member of the bowling team. He was a deacon and an elder at his church. He and his wife, Fran, were square dancers and served on the board of the Georgia State Square Dance Association for 30 years. Survivors include son Carl Line, ICS 82.
Kathleen Marie Lohmann, 59, a resident of Marietta, Ga., on Jan. 13. She is survived by her husband of 25 years, Jack R. Lohmann, vice provost for Faculty and Academic Development and a professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. Mrs. Lohmann earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Michigan State University and was a registered nurse and head nurse for the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor early in her career. She later was a certified diabetes educator for Northside Hospital in Atlanta. Memorials in Mrs. Lohmann’s name may be made to the Georgia Tech Foundation for the Georgia Tech Women’s Faculty Club Scholarship Endowment Fund.
Anne Louise O’Connell Martin, 79, a resident of Atlanta, on Nov. 24. She retired from the Georgia Tech Police Department as a police dispatcher in 1995. She was a 1949 graduate of Atlanta’s Grady High School, at which she was voted most friendly. She served on many boards and committees at her church and was involved in the Colonial Oaks Civic Association and Williamsburg Senior Community. Memorials in her name may be made to the Lutheran Campus Ministry of Georgia Tech.
Twitter
I know that everyone who read this article will like it as I do.