grants for their doctor visits and provided transportation for medical appointments. At UNC, she was
elected to Phi Beta Kappa. ◆ Dr. Sanford Webb
“Sam” Thompson III (’ 50 BSCOM, ’ 60 DDS), 82, of
Raleigh; Sept. 26, 2010. Thompson practiced dentistry in Raleigh for 50 years. He was president of
the Raleigh Dental Society and the Southern Academy
of Oral Surgeons and an adjunct professor in UNC’s
dental school. He served in the Air Force. At UNC,
he belonged to Phi Gamma Delta. ◆ William Clarence
Thompson (’ 55 BSBA), 88, of Black Mountain; Sept.
23, 2010. Thompson retired as financial comptroller
at Atlantic Research Corp. in Springfield, Va. In WWII,
he served in the Army. ◆ Herbert Logan Toms Jr. (’ 58
LLB), 82, of Raleigh; Sept. 8, 2010. Toms, a lawyer,
was chairman of the board and senior counsel for
United Title Co. He served in the Army. At UNC, he
belonged to the board of editors of Law Review. ◆
Javad Vakil-Zadeh (’ 59 MPH), 83, of Chapel Hill;
Aug. 26, 2010. Vakil-Zadeh was a real estate developer in the Triangle for 20 years. Previously, he was in
the medical profession as a veterinarian. He was a
research scientist of the N.C. Sanatorium System,
was on the faculty of Duke University Medical Center,
then was an epidemiologist and medical area coordinator at the International Fertility Research Program at
UNC, working with Australia, Canada, Iran, Pakistan,
United Arab Emirates and the U.S. ◆ Andrew J. Vero
(’ 56 MBA), 86, of Annapolis, Md.; Sept. 21, 2010.
Vero retired as director of a research consulting
group for Naval Facilities Engineering Command. An
artist, he had showings in Houston and Annapolis.
He served 14 years in the Army Air Forces, in WWII
and the Korean War, in a bomb squadron known as
The Grim Reapers. ◆ Dr. M. Mickey Vitols (’ 56 MD),
89, of Arlington, Wash.; Oct. 5, 2010. Vitols retired
as a unit clinical director at Western State Hospital.
◆ Shirley F. Weiss (’ 58 MRP), 89, of Chapel Hill;
Aug. 31, 2010. Weiss was professor emerita of city
and regional planning at UNC. She was the department’s first female faculty member. She received
UNC’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. Her specialty was urban research, and she served as associate research director of the Center for Urban and
Regional Studies. She also was acting director of
women’s studies. She and her husband, Charles, professor emeritus of UNC’s School of Public Health, provided financial support to more than a dozen programs at UNC. They created an interdisciplinary fellowship program, the Weiss Urban Livability Program,
GAA FILES
John Norris Woodell Jr. (’ 51 AB), 83, of
Brookneal, Va.; Oct. 22, 2010. Woodell owned
an insurance company. In WWII, he served in
the Navy. He was in the Air Force in Strategic
Air Command in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
At UNC, he belonged to Alpha Tau Omega and
played on the football team.
which has supported more than 150 graduate students. A little-known gift of the couple was a large
collection of opera posters from around the world,
given to the University Woman’s Club, which sold
them to benefit the club’s scholarship program. ◆
Dr. G. Thomas Wood III (’ 59 MD), 76, of Hilton Head
Island, S.C.; Sept. 2, 2010. Wood retired from Hilton
Head Hospital, where he was its first chief of surgery and was later chief of staff. He served in the
Army as commanding officer of a medical detachment in Germany. At UNC, he was president of his
medical school senior class. He was an Eagle Scout.
’ 60 Joseph Robert John Sr. (’ 60 AB, ’ 67 MA, ’ 71 JD) of Raleigh has been amed interim director of the N.C.
State Bureau of Investigation crime lab.
■ obituaries
Robert Wilkins Anderson (’ 60), 74, of Rocky Mount;
March 15, 2010. Anderson and his wife were co-owners of an after-school care program. Previously,
he worked at a pharmacy, was co-owner of a music
store and played rhythm guitar with a local band. He
served in the Army. ◆ Thomas James Brown (’ 60),
85, of Roxboro; Sept. 27, 2010. Brown retired from
the Person County school system, where he was a
high school principal. At the time of his death, he
was in his second term as Roxboro city mayor. He
was in the Navy Air Corps in WWII. ◆ Alston Grey
Cain (’ 60), 72, of North Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Sept.
14, 2010. Cain was the owner and president of his
own advertising company, which won numerous
awards for excellence. He was a longtime member
of Cape Fear Regional Theatre and acted in more
than 30 productions. ◆ William Randolph Call Jr.
(’ 60 AB), 71, of Wolfeboro, N.H.; Aug. 30, 2010.
Call owned a bicycle repair shop in Portsmouth.
Because he specialized in customizing bikes, he was
nicknamed “Bicycle Bill.” A guitarist and vocalist, he
had his own band, which performed in the Portsmouth
and Portland, Maine, areas. ◆ Howard Donald
Hemphill (’ 60), 74, of Greensboro; Sept. 23, 2010.
Hemphill retired from Guilford Mills. ◆ William T.K.
Johnson (’ 60, ’ 62 BSPHY), 72, of La Canada
Flintridge, Calif.; Sept. 8, 2010. Johnson was a scientist and engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
at Caltech and was involved in developing equipment
to study outer space. Recently, he helped develop
Earth-orbiting synthetic aperture radars. ◆ George
Kecler Jones Jr. (’ 60), 72, of Julian; Sept. 18, 2010.
Jones was a pioneer in the recycling industry, with
companies in Greensboro, Burlington and High Point.
He was active in real estate development at the
coast and mountains. He served in the National
Guard. ◆ Merritt Kellogg “Rhett” Mitchell (’ 60 AB),
72, of Old Greenwich, Conn.; Oct. 16, 2010. Mitchell
was president and owner of a real estate company
that had more than 100 brokers. He was president
of his area’s multiple-listing service and was on the
board of the Westchester County Board of Realtors.
He served in the Army and, at UNC, belonged to Phi
Kappa Sigma. ◆ Roy Jack Moore Jr. (’ 60), 76, of
Rougemont; Sept. 23, 2010. Moore was a real estate
agent, builder and appraiser. He was active at the
state and national levels of professional organizations. He was in the Army National Guard. ◆ Carolyn
Winberry Phillips (’ 60 MSW), 79, of Lexington; Sept.
10, 2010. Phillips retired as child welfare supervisor
for the Davidson County Department of Social
Services. She served on numerous task forces and
60s
committees dedicated to helping children and others
in need. ◆ Richard Skeffington Taylor (’ 60 BSIR),
72, of Midlothian, Va.; Oct. 5, 2010. Taylor retired
from Philip Morris as an international director. He
was a national junior golf champion in his native
Venezuela. At UNC, he belonged to Kappa Sigma. ◆
Diane Trammell White (’ 60 AB), 72, of Rock Hill,
S.C.; Oct. 14, 2010. White was director of the York
County March of Dimes and co-creator of the Come
See Me Gourmet Gardens event. To honor her work
in encouraging the holiday lighting, a tree was planted in her honor near the Veterans Memorial.
’ 61 F. Ivy Carroll (’ 61 PhD) of Durham has received a North Carolina Award in the field of science. Carroll, a director
and researcher in
organic and medicinal
chemistry at RTI International, was honored for his
work in the areas of biochemical addiction and substance abuse research. ◆ Rupert Tarpley Pickens
III (’ 61 AB, ’ 64 MA, ’ 66 PhD) of Lexington, Ky., has
retired as a professor of French at the University of
Kentucky, where he taught for 41 years. ◆ Clifton
Alexander Woodrum III (’ 61 AB) of Roanoke, Va.,
has been elected vice chair of the Library of Virginia.
Woodrum practices law at Woodrum Law Offices.
■ obituaries
Jean Alexander McNeely (’ 61 MA; ’ 75, ’ 74 MAT),
81, of Charlotte; Sept. 8, 2010. McNeely retired as
a biology teacher at South Mecklenburg High. Early
in her teaching career, she received a National
Science Fellowship for graduate study at UNC. She
was president of the professional sorority Alpha
Theta Kappa. ◆ David Drew Turnbull (’ 61 AB), 71,
of Arlington, Mass.; Aug. 13, 2010. Turnbull owned
an antiques business and courier service in
Somerville, Mass. Previously, he lived in Europe for
10 years, where he taught business management
for the European division of University of Maryland
in Heidelberg, West Germany. He worked for international banking concerns. At UNC, he belonged to Chi
Psi and was on the freshman wrestling team. ◆
Laura Lee Martin Vertrees (’ 61), 68, of Fort Smith,
Ark.; Jan. 27, 2010. Vertrees retired as accounting
manager for a media group. A rose grower, she had
more than 200 varieties in her garden and often
competed in rose exhibitions.
Class of ’61:
May 6–8, 2011
50 Reunionth
’ 62 ■ obituaries John Carson Caine Jr. (’ 62), 71, of
Pensacola, Fla.; Sept. 19, 2010. Caine was
employed by Southern Environmental and spent his
professional career in air-pollution control. He was
an advocate for protection of the environment. ◆
Terry Julian Pickett (’ 62 BSPHR), 71, of Archdale;
Sept. 19, 2010. Pickett was a pharmacist with Rite
Aid Pharmacy.
’ 63 Frederick Randolph Anderson Jr. (’ 63 AB) of Chevy Chase, Md., has received the 2010 Award for Excellence in Environmental, Energy and Resources
Stewardship from the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. Anderson, a partner in the law firm McKenna Long &
Aldridge LLP, is leading the team defending the nation’s
first offshore wind energy project, Cape Wind. ◆
