and designed card stunts for football games. During
the summers, he acted in and created set designs
for the outdoor drama Unto These Hills. David
John “Jack” Middleton (’ 57 MEd, ’ 59 PhD), 79, of
Gloucester; Nov. 12, 2008. Middleton was dean of
continuing education at East Carolina University for
18 years. In retirement, he lived in Gloucester, where
he served on several boards and commissions. C.
Louise Nelson (’ 58 BSIR, ’ 64 PhD), 90, of Davidson;
Nov. 20, 2008. Nelson was professor emerita of economics at Davidson College, where she taught for 24
years and was the first woman granted a full professorship. She was an elder in her church. At UNC, she
graduated Phi Beta Kappa, served on the publications board and was business manager of Carolina
Quarterly. Erma Dance Riddle (’ 57 ABEd), 73, of
Pittsboro; Nov. 10, 2008. Riddle was an elementary
school teacher in Raleigh, Camp Lejeune, Tarboro
and Arlington, Va. At UNC, she belonged to Alpha
Delta Pi. Jeanne Skees Rives (’ 55), 76, of
Greensboro; Nov. 18, 2008. Rives recently retired as
the longtime secretary for Sherwood Swim and Racquet
Club. She previously was a business teacher at
Greensboro Senior High and taught at other high
schools and at Kings College. She was active in many
organizations, including Greensboro Symphony Guild
and Friends of the Carolina Theatre. Alonza Glenn
Rowell (’ 58), 76, of Fayetteville; May 20, 2008. Rowell
was an assistant principal at Westover Junior High
School, retiring in 1987. He also owned and operated
Woodland Nursery. He served in the Army in Korea in
the early ’50s. Jack Everett Rowland (’ 56 BSBA),
78, of Newnan, Ga.; Nov. 26, 2008. Rowland retired
as a golf pro at Newnan Country Club in 1976. He
served in the Army in the early 1950s. At UNC, he
LEADING
TEACHING
belonged to Delta Sigma Pi. Durrett McKennie
“Derry” Bortner-Ryder (’ 52 MSW), 80, of Gales Ferry,
Conn.; Nov. 23, 2008. Bortner-Ryder was a school
social worker with the Groton Public School District
and volunteered, including with the Ledyard Social
Services Board, Ledyard Public Health Nursing Board
and Town Hall Improvement Building Committee.
Edward Louis Sibilsky (’ 51 ABEd, ’ 52 MEd), 91, of
Honolulu; July 12, 2008. Sibilsky was dean of Georgia
Military College and principal of the high school. He
also was an assistant principal at Baldwin High School.
He ended his military career as director in the intelligence school at Fort Bragg before retiring to Hawaii.
Mary Everett “Scotty” Smyth (’ 51 AB), 78, of
Colleyville, Texas; Dec. 8, 2008. Smyth was an
award-winning gardener and landscaper who led
tours of gardens in England. She designed and
maintained the English Cottage Garden in the Fort
Worth Botanical Gardens; was involved in many gardening organizations, including the Garden Club
Council of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Botanical
Society; and was a life member of Texas Garden
Clubs, district director of Garden Clubs and a national accredited flower show master judge. At UNC, she
graduated Phi Beta Kappa and belonged to Pi Beta
Phi and Order of the Old Well. Joseph Lewis
Southerland Jr. (’ 55 BSBA), 77, of Wilson; Nov. 12,
2008. Southerland retired after 38 years as a tobacco buyer. He served in the Army. At UNC, he
belonged to Delta Sigma Pi. Sidney Durham
Stokes (’ 57 BSBA), 73, of Charlotte; Nov. 27, 2008.
Stokes, who worked in insurance, retired from the
security division of Belk Brothers Co. He sang in his
church choir and was a former member of
Toastmasters International. Dyer Justice “Dick”
CARING
50s
Taylor (’ 50), 86, of Weems, Va.; Nov. 21, 2008. Taylor
retired as associate judge of the Superior Court of
the District of Columbia. He had been a trial lawyer
in Washington and, as an assistant U.S. attorney,
shared an office with future U.S. Sen. John W. Warner.
He was appointed a federal judge in 1970 and had
been a hearing examiner for the Interstate Commerce
and Federal Power commissions. He was in the Navy
in WWII when a training accident ended his military
career. Dr. John Walter Vassey (’ 52 AB, ’ 56 MD),
83, of Raleigh; Dec. 24, 2008. Vassey was retired
after being chief of radiology at Franklin Memorial
Hospital in Louisburg, the former McPherson
Hospital in Durham and Camp Butner Hospital. In
WWII, he was a hospital corpsman in the Navy. He
had a family practice in Garner before returning to
UNC Hospitals to earn his certification from the
American Board of Radiology. He was a founder of
the First Presbyterian Church in Garner, where he
was an elder, Sunday school teacher and member of
the building committee. At UNC, he was chair of the
Honor Council and vice president of his medical
class. George Edward Viola (’ 59, ’ 68 AB), 73, of
Durham; Dec. 10, 2008. Viola was a technical writer
at IBM for 26 years. After retiring, he worked at the
Millennium Hotel. He was an Air Force veteran.
William Edgar Warrick Jr. (’ 56 BSBA), 74, of
Greenville; Nov. 6, 2008. Warrick spent his professional life as a CPA. He retired as a deputy area
director for administration with the Pitt County
Mental Health Centre. At UNC, he belonged to Alpha
Kappa Psi. William Glenn White Jr. (’ 54 BSBA),
79, of Pfafftown; Dec. 16, 2008. White retired after
25 years as president of First Federal Savings &
Loan, becoming the first S&L chief executive to be
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