Appeal. In retirement, he was active in Rotary and
was named a Paul Harris Fellow. In WWII, he was a
B- 17 pilot flying combat missions out of North Africa.
He remained in the Air Force Reserve for 30 years.
Charles S. Hubbard (’ 36 AB), 95, of Pittsboro; Feb.
16, 2009. Hubbard, a retired Methodist minister,
served the University Methodist Church in Chapel Hill
for 22 years. Among other churches he served were
United Methodist churches in Roseboro and Hillsborough, Trinity United Methodist in Raleigh and Duke
Memorial United Methodist in Durham. He was chairman of the N.C. Recreation Commission for 30 years.
He also served as chairman of the American Institute
of Park Executives. As a student at UNC, he played
football, was on the men’s track and field team,
belonged to Order of the Grail and Sigma Chi and
was president of the Monogram Club. W. Harvey
Morrison Jr. (’ 37), 94, of Monroe; Jan. 12, 2009. For
more than 50 years, Morrison worked for the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Monroe. He began as a student,
washing bottles, and ultimately became president
and chairman. He was active in Rotary and was
named a Paul Harris Fellow. His church named him
elder emeritus. In WWII, he served in the Navy as a
gunner’s mate and instructor in marksmanship. At
UNC, he belonged to Sigma Nu. R.F. Hoke Pollock
(’ 35), 96, of Southern Pines; Feb. 9, 2009. Pollock
was a lawyer with a long practice in Southern Pines
in association with Harry Fullenwider. He was the
first judge of the Southern Pines Recorders Court.
Previously, Pollock was an Army field artillery officer
and then joined the Office of the Judge Advocate
General Corps in Washington, D.C. He eventually
served on Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s staff. In Southern Pines, he was president of the Kiwanis Club and
chairman of the American Red Cross and American
William Henry Melson Jr. (’ 50 AB, ’ 69 MACOM, ’ 69
PhD), 81, of Northport, Ala.; Dec. 14, 2008. Early in
his career, Melson was on the faculty of UNC’s
department of radio, television and motion pictures. Details, ’50s Class Notes. Ruth Elizabeth
Mitchell-Pitts, (’ 90, ’ 91 PhD), 57, of Raleigh; Feb.
1, 2009. Mitchell-Pitts was executive director of
three European studies programs at UNC that she
helped create. Details, ’ 90 Class Notes. Beth
Okun, 95, of Chapel Hill; Feb. 15, 2009. Okun, a
retired special education teacher at Frank Porter
Graham Elementary School, helped start the
Dispute Settlement Center of Chapel Hill in 1978.
The program, which mediated minor disputes outside the court system, spread throughout the state.
She was an early civil rights leader, working to integrate the school system, movie theaters and other
businesses. L.E. “Les” Phillabaum, 72, of Baton
Rouge, La.; Jan. 14, 2009. Phillabaum was editor
in chief of UNC Press from 1963 to 1970. He
became director of the Louisiana State University
Press. At his retirement in 2003, he was named
director emeritus. He was inducted as an honorary
member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and
was president of the American Association of
University Presses. Dr. Lucius Crawford
Pressley Jr., 80, of Columbia, S.C.; Feb. 16, 2009.
Pressley retired as associate director for clinical
outpatient services for the S.C. Department of
Mental Health in 1999. His association with UNC
came in the ’60s, when he completed his residency
in psychiatry at the School of Medicine and served
Cancer Society. He helped organize the Moore
County Bar Association and was a member of the
Southern Pines school board. He was active in his
church and attended more than 40 regular diocesan
conventions. At UNC, he belonged to Sigma Alpha
Epsilon and Alpha Phi Omega. Celeste Edgerton
Ruark (’ 30 AB), 99, of Raleigh; Dec. 26, 2008. In
WWII, Ruark was one of 16 female college graduates selected to train at Georgia Tech to work with
the engineers at Bell Aircraft developing military aircraft for the Army. She drafted blueprints for the B-
29 bomber that dropped the atomic bombs. Her
interest in opera led her and her husband to travel
to the major opera houses in Europe. At UNC, she
belonged to Pi Beta Phi and later was asked by the
national organization to help establish a chapter at
the University of Georgia. J. Harold Smith (’ 33
BSCOM), 96, of Burlington; Jan. 31, 2009. Smith,
with his brother, was co-founder of Liberty Hosiery
Mills Inc. in 1938. The company is credited with
developing and merchandising pantyhose in the
’60s. He was active with the Boy Scouts for 65 years,
one time serving as executive director of the Cherokee Council and receiving the Distinguished Eagle
Scout Award and the Silver Beaver Award. He served
on numerous boards, among them Elon University,
Greensboro College and the YMCA of Alamance
County. Elon named him a trustee emeritus and
honored him with its annual leadership award. He
was a vice president and a member of the GAA
Board of Directors in the 1960s and also served on
the UNC Board of Visitors and on the UNC Foundation. Peter Pescud Williams Sr. (’ 36 BSCOM), 94,
of Raleigh; Feb. 13, 2009. Williams was a real estate
broker and investor for 50 years, retiring as a partner in Williams & Haywood Real Estate Co. He was
as an instructor and chief resident. He served in
the Army in the Korean War. Bonita Samuels,
65, of Mebane; March 1, 2009. Samuels was an
editor for 30 years with UNC’s Institute for
Research. A teacher early on, she was active in her
church as co-founder and co-editor of its newsletter, director of the junior and young adult choirs,
pianist for the senior choir and male chorus, and a
member of the senior choir. Richard Andrew
Smyth, 75, of Chapel Hill; Jan. 19, 2009. Smyth
was a member of the philosophy department at
UNC for 38 years and held a joint appointment in
the department of comparative literature. In addition to publishing two books and a number of
journal articles, he was a Fulbright Scholar in
Germany. Smyth was active in the Republican
Party, serving as precinct chairman, county chairman and a member of the N.C. Republican Party
executive committee. He was appointed to the
Orange County Social Services board. For many
years, he was the Saturday overnight volunteer at
the Inter-Faith Council homeless shelter in Chapel
Hill. He also worked with the prisoner release program at the Orange County Correctional Center. He
served in the Marine Corps and, as a retired
Marine, was active in the annual Toys for Tots drive.
Dr. Rebecca Sheline Socolar (’ 84 MD, ’98
MPH), 50, of Chapel Hill; Jan. 13, 2009. Socolar
was on the UNC medical school faculty in the division of community pediatrics. Details, ’ 84 Class
Notes. Ruth Georgia Steed, 95, of Springfield,
Mo.; Jan. 21, 2009. Steed developed a commercial
40s
president of the Raleigh Board of Realtors and a
director of the N.C. Association of Real Estate
Boards. He was instrumental in establishing
Raleigh’s first minimum housing standards law. In
WWII, he was in the Navy as a deck officer and
ship’s captain in anti-submarine warfare. At UNC, he
belonged to Zeta Psi.
’40s Marie Watters Colton (’ 43 AB) of
Asheville has been inducted into the
N.C. Women’s Hall of Fame. Colton
served 16 years in the N.C. General Assembly and
was the first woman in the state to be elected
speaker pro tempore. Colton is a former member of
the GAA Board of Directors. Robert Selwyn Gersten (’ 42 AB) of Brant Lake, N. Y., has published a
memoir, Brant Lake Camp, Long Beach High School
& UNC: Short Stories and Reflections. Gersten
includes stories about his experiences working with
Frank McGuire, Dean Smith, Larry Brown ’ 63 and
Michael Jordan ’ 86. Gersten and his wife, Libbie
Izen Gersten (’ 44 AB), continue to work at the Brant
Lake Camp. Leonard Gray Herring (’ 48 BSCOM) of
North Wilkesboro has published a book, My Link in
the Chain. Herring, former president and CEO of
Lowe’s Cos. Inc., combines the history of the Herring family with behind-the-scenes accounts of how
Lowe’s survived the loss of its founder to become a
national leader in the industry. Marshall Hardy
Johnson (’ 47) of Greensboro was honored with the
presentation of a book, Teaching Through the Years.
Compiled by Beverly Johnson from her husband’s
notes, it is a transcription of selected teachings
from the Harry B. Caldwell service classes at First
Baptist Church that Marshall Johnson taught for 12
years.
business in photo-color portraiture and for several years
taught courses in this painting process at UNC. In
Springfield, she was vice president of the Good Samaritan
Boys Ranch Auxiliary. C.
Linwood Taylor Jr. (’ 73 MA,
’ 79 LICDA, ’ 79 MFA), 67, of Hampstead; Feb. 11,
2009. Taylor was a designer for movies and television. On the UNC drama faculty, he also was resident designer for PlayMakers Repertory Company.
Details,’ 73 Class Notes. Nancy Boyd Taylor (’ 65
MSN), 83, of Chapel Hill; Dec. 30, 2008. She was
on the nursing faculty at UNC. Details, ’ 65 Class
Notes. John Eric Wilson, 89, of Chapel Hill; Feb.
12, 2009. Wilson was a member of the faculty of
UNC’s School of Medicine in the department of
biochemistry for 40 years. He was instrumental in
starting the neurobiology program, serving as its
acting director and then as its associate director.
He held memberships in numerous professional
organizations. In the community, he was a
Scoutmaster, member of the Chapel Hill Town
Advisory Council and the Orange County Planning
Board. John T. Yoke III, 80, of Corvallis, Ore.;
Feb. 12, 2009. Yoke was professor emeritus of
chemistry at Oregon State University. He had
been at Oregon State since 1964. He was on the
UNC faculty in the mid-’50s, after working as a
research chemist for Procter & Gamble Co. He
served in the Army Chemical Corps.
faculty
and staff
obituaries
