ELMER R. OETTINGER JR. ’ 34 1913–2009
Actor Came Off Broadway for Key Role With Institute of Government
Elmer R. Oettinger Jr. ’ 34 had a flair for the dramatic.
Convention. After moving to
Early on, he put it to use in show business,
acting on and off Broadway while in graduate
school at Columbia University and befriending
the famous, such as actresses Claudette Colbert
and Ava Gardner and bandleader and fellow
alumnus Kay Kyser ’ 27.
He joined the Navy in 1943 for two years
and served at Pearl Harbor under Adm. Chester
W. Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific
Fleet, where he worked in naval intelligence
and specialized in codes and ciphers. After the
war, he returned to his hometown of Wilson,
practiced law and worked as news director and
Chapel Hill in 1951, Oettinger was recruited
to implement and moderate the IDEAS pro-
gram at newly created UNC-TV.
But when he returned to Carolina in 1936
to further his studies in dramatic art, he instead
took a dramatic turn to law school, earning his
degree in 1939. From there he took on a role
that left a legacy as one of the early movers
behind the Institute of Government, now part
of the School of Government, and nurturer of
good government and media relations across
the state.
Network stations.
UNC NEWS SERVICES
In the 1950s, Oettinger taught in UNC’s
departments of English and radio, television
and motion pictures and was a lecturer at the
Morehead Planetarium. In 1960, at Coates’
urging, Oettinger returned to the Institute of
Government as a specialist in communications
law and practice. During his years on the faculty, his expertise included free press and fair
trial, sunshine laws and the importance of
open governmental meetings, privacy rights,
copyright law, libel, bar-bench-press relations,
journalist’s privilege and auto insurance law, as
well as teaching Highway Patrol trainees.
“Elmer was a special person in the history of
the School of Government,” said school Dean
Mike Smith ’ 78 (JD). “He brought a unique
combination of legal and creative arts expertise
to his classes with energetic flair and was wide-
ly respected for his scholarly knowledge as well
as the authority he gained from his practical
Oettinger served as editor of Popular
Government, a scholarly journal published by
the institute, for 12 years.
In 1970, Oettinger was appointed by Gov.
Oettinger, who retired in 1978 as assistant
director of the Institute of Government, died
Oct. 29. He was 95.
Oettinger worked closely with professor
Albert Coates ’ 18, who had established the
institute in 1931 and who talked Oettinger
into going to law school.
Bob Scott as one of seven N.C. commissioners
to serve on the National Conference of
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. He
was reappointed by four successive governors,
served as an active member for 30 years and
continued as an honorary member until his
death. He also was an honorary member of the
N.C. Press Association and in 1990 received
the association’s William C. Lassiter First
Amendment Award.
Elmer R. Oettinger Jr. ’ 34 was known at the Institute of
He covered the N.C. General Assembly as
part of Coates’ legislative reporting service and
initiated the weekly Legislative Bulletin. With
Government as a teacher who brought creativity and credibility from experience to the classroom.
Harry W. McGailliard, in 1939, he co-authored
the Notary Public Guidebook for North Carolina,
now in its 10th edition and still used as the
official text by the Office of the Secretary of
At UNC as an undergraduate, he was presi-
dent of the Dialectic Society and a member of
Zeta Beta Tau, and he graduated Phi Beta
Kappa. Even after returning for law school and
his work with the institute, Oettinger never
lost his interest in drama, earning a master’s in
dramatic art in 1952 and a doctorate in English
in 1966.
State in the training of notaries public in
North Carolina.
— from Carolina Alumni Review and School
of Government reports
in
memoriam
In 1948, Oettinger moved his family and his
broadcast journalism career to Raleigh. That
same year he covered the political conventions
in Philadelphia and witnessed the Republican
nomination of Thomas Dewey and the dramatic exit of South Carolinian Strom
Thurmond’s “Dixiecrats” from the Democratic
was on the men’s varsity tennis team. He served on
the board of the UNC Law Alumni Association. u
John Rhys Davies (’ 46 AB), 86, of Vienna, W.Va.; Oct.
16, 2009. A lawyer, Davies’ most recent position was
assistant director of personnel at Ohio University. He
was a volunteer coach for Vienna Recreation programs in the ’50s and ’60s. He also was a published
sports cartoonist. At UNC, he belonged to Phi Delta
Theta, men’s swim team and the football team. u
Richard Emerson Davis (’ 42 AB; ’ 53, ’ 52 MEd), 89,
of Graham; Sept. 19, 2009. Davis retired from
Alamance Community College as a financial aid officer. An Army Air Forces veteran, he served in WWII
and the Korean War. u Wallace S. “June” Dunn Jr.
(’ 40), 91, of Wrightsville Beach, Sept. 22, 2009.
Dunn owned a laundry business in Raleigh, then
retired to Wrightsville Beach. An amateur golfer, he
held club championships at three golf courses in
North Carolina and worked with Arnold Palmer when
Palmer was at Wake Forest. At UNC, he belonged to
Kappa Sigma. u Dr. Charles Henry Edwards (’ 40 AB,
’ 42 CMED), 88, of Washington, D.C.; Oct. 2, 2009.
Edwards retired from the practice of medicine in
Montclair, N.J. He was a vascular and general sur-
geon. Active in the hospice movement, he co-found-
ed Riverside Hospice. In WWII, he served aboard an
Army medical ship and became a chief diagnostic
evaluator for casualties from the war. u Maurice
Niles Edwards (’ 41 BSCOM), 91, of Atlanta; Oct. 15,
2009. Edwards retired as founder and president of
Lease Financing Corp. His activities at UNC included
Zeta Beta Tau, Playmakers, Wig and Mask, and class
executive committee. u Russell Henry Engle (’ 46),
84, of Matthews; May 2, 2009. Early in his career,
Engle worked in the furniture business, then estab-
lished Walker-Engle and Associates. u C. Clifford
Frazier Jr. (’ 48 AB, ’ 51 LLBJD), 86, of Greensboro;
Oct. 16, 2009. A lawyer, Frazier joined the firm of
Frazier and Frazier (now Frazier, Hill & Fury). He
served as special assistant to the U.S. attorney gen-
eral and president of the Greensboro Bar
Association and belonged to the Guilford County
Board of Elections. He served in the Navy in WWII.
As an alumnus, he was chair of the Guilford County
Morehead Scholarship Committee. At UNC, he was
president of Beta Theta Pi, Rex of Order of Gimghoul
and on the track and field team. u Virginia Gideon
Gray (’ 47 CPHN), 90, of Anderson, S.C.; Sept. 25,
2009. Gray retired as emergency room supervisor at
Greenville General Hospital. In WWII, she served in
the Army Nursing Corps in England. u Bill Parker
