70s
SAMUEL WILLIAMS DIXON JR. ’ 71 1949–2010
Minister on Humanitarian Mission Killed in Haiti
The Rev. Samuel Dixon ’ 71 believed that giving aid to and
sharing resources with the less fortunate was important. That’s why he
was in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12
when the earthquake hit Haiti.
Trapped under the rubble of the
Hotel Montana, Dixon had died
from injuries when he was found
on Jan. 15. He was 60.
Dixon, head of the humanitarian
relief agency of The United
Methodist Church, was in Port-au-Prince to meet colleagues from
other agencies to plan improved
health services.
CASSANDRA HELLER/UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICES
“He was faithful to the gospel
and sharing the message of good
news and practical support to people who really needed it — in places where
people need it most of the time most of their
lives,” says Claire McKeown, pastor of
Carrboro United Methodist Church and a colleague of Dixon.
The Rev. Samuel Dixon ’ 71 “was faithful to the gospel and sharing the message of good
news and practical support to people who really needed it — in places where people need it
most of the time most of their lives,” a colleague says.
After graduating from UNC, Dixon
received a doctoral degree in ministry from the
Chicago Theological Seminary and joined the
N.C. Annual Conference of his denomination.
He was a pastor in small towns in North
Carolina for another 15 years, joining in 1997
the staff of the United Methodist Committee
on Relief, an organization in
The United Methodist Church
that provides aid to areas, both
international and domestic, that
have been hit by disaster. He
quickly took a leadership posi-
tion in the organization and was
working on advancing disaster
relief within the church.
— Brecken Branstrator
Earp served as faculty representative on the GAA
Board of Directors (2001-02). Story, page 58. u Jean
Almand Kitchin (’ 70 ABEd) of Scotland Neck repre-
sented UNC at the installation of James A. Gray III as
the president of N.C. Wesleyan College in October.
Kitchin, president and CEO of Almand’s Drug Stores
Inc., served on the GAA Board of Directors (1992-96
and 2004-07) and as chair (2005-06). u Bland
Simpson (’ 70, ’ 73 AB) of Chapel Hill has received the
R. Hunt Parker Memorial Award from the N.C. Liter-
ary and Historical Association. Simpson is an author,
songwriter and musician and teaches in the creative
writing program at UNC. u William Anthony Stanton
(’ 70 MA; ’ 79, ’ 78 PhD) of Taipei City, Taiwan, has
been named director of the American Institute in Tai-
wan. u Richard Yates Stevens (’ 70 AB; ’ 74 JD; ’ 74,
’ 78 MPA) of Cary has been named to the N.C. Future
of Retirement Study Commission. Stevens is the N.C.
state senator for the 17th District, Wake County. He
served on the GAA Board of Directors (1978-80 and
1984-2002) and as its chair (2000-01).
; obituaries
Ann Fleming C. Davis (’ 70, ’ 71 ABEd), 62, of
Clemmons; Nov. 29, 2009. Davis was an English
teacher for 20 years, teaching in Bloomfield Hills,
Mich., Auburn, Ala., and Durham. At UNC, she
belonged to Kappa Delta. u Andrew Ross Kirschner
(’ 70 AB), 61, of Smyrna, Ga.; Dec. 23, 2009.
Kirschner, a personal injury lawyer, was a partner in
the law firm Kirschner & Venker PC in Atlanta. At
UNC, he belonged to Zeta Beta Tau and Hillel
Foundation. u Leslie Paul Mason Jr. (’ 70 MA), 74, of
Brookline, N.H.; Nov. 23, 2009. Mason retired as
administrator for the New Hampshire adjutant gener-
al. In retirement, he was a bailiff for the Nashua
Superior Court. He served numerous years in the
Army as an instructor and course director in military
psychology and leadership at West Point. He served
with Special Forces in Vietnam, and among his hon-
ors was the Bronze Star. u Carroll Fleming Turner
(’ 70 AB), 61, of Dacula, Ga.; Nov. 25, 2009. Turner
worked in the building materials industry. At UNC, he
was a Morehead Scholar.
’ 71 Stephen Lucius Houser Jr. (’ 71 AB) of Waxhaw has received the Edward C. Roy Jr. Award for Excellence in K- 8 Earth Sci-
ence Teaching from the Geological Society of Amer-
ica. Houser is a talent development teacher at Provi-
dence Spring Elementary School in the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. The school
includes the 12-acre Branch Creek Nature Preserve,
certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a
schoolyard habitat for wildlife. u Scott Hanchet
Richardson (’ 71 AB) of Winston-Salem celebrated
the 25th anniversary of the restaurant business he
founded in 1984, Village Tavern. The restaurant
group now includes nine sites nationwide with five
more planned. u Walter R. Turner (’ 71 MSW) of
High Point has published Waterways to the World:
The Story of the North Carolina State Ports Authority.
In November and December, Turner, the N.C. Trans-
portation Museum historian, held a series of book
programs across the state. u Banta Hilyard Whitner
(’ 71 AB) of Jacksonville, Fla., has published This Con-
gruent Life: A Spiritual Ecology Practice. The book,
co-written with Whitner’s husband, Bruce Grob,
offers recommendations for small changes in daily
life that can lower impact on the Earth. Whitner, a
practicing psychotherapist for 30 years, served for
15 years as a clinical supervisor at the counseling
center for women she helped to found, the Women’s
Center of Jacksonville.
; marriage
Jack Wilson Rhyne (’ 71 AB, ’ 79 MSW) and Karen
Belue Poston of Chesterfield, S.C.
; obituaries
Samuel Williams Dixon Jr. (’ 71 AB), 60, of Roanoke
Rapids; Jan. 15, 2010. Dixon, executive director of
the mission arm of The United Methodist Church,
was attending planning sessions in Haiti to improve
medical services in the impoverished country at the
time of his death. Story above. u Frank Leon
Renfroe (’ 71), 61, of Atlanta; Nov. 7, 2009. Renfroe
was involved in several enterprises, including marine
travel, real estate and manufacturing.
’ 72 William Claud Bovender (’ 72 AB, ’ 75 JD) of Kingsport, Tenn., has been reappointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to the
board of professional responsibility. Bovender is a
partner in the firm of Hunter Smith & Davis LLP. u
Fred N. Eshelman (’ 72 BSPHR) of Wilmington has
received a William Richardson Davie Award from
UNC in recognition of his role in the transformation
of the UNC School of Pharmacy, the school that now
bears his name. Eshelman has served on the UNC
Board of Visitors and as an adjunct lecturer. In
2003, he pledged $20 million to the School of Pharmacy and, in 2007, committed another $10 million.
Eshelman is founder and executive chair of PPD
Inc., a global contract research organization. u
