served in the Marines during the Korean War. At UNC,
he belonged to Alpha Tau Omega. ◆ Mary Louise
Stewart “Lou” Skulkety (’ 54), 89, of Spartanburg,
S.C.; Jan. 23, 2012. Skulkety was an accountant
who worked in Charlotte. She was a boater and a
member of Flotilla 17-05 of the Coast Guard Auxiliary
and editor of the group’s newspaper. ◆ Eugene
Stoddard Taylor Jr. (’ 54 LLB), 83, of Summerville,
Ga.; Jan. 12, 2012. Taylor was a lawyer who practiced
in Atlanta, Dalton and Augusta, Ga. He also served
as a Juvenile Court judge in Dalton. He hiked the
Appalachian Trail in 1992. During the Korean War,
he served in the Marines. ◆ J. Robert Ward (’ 54
ABJO), 84, of Florence, S.C.; Dec. 26, 2011. Ward
worked in commercial advertising and public relations.
He became director of public information at Francis
Marion University in 1973 and retired in 1990 as
vice president for development and college relations. At UNC, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
’ 55 ■ obituaries Nicholas A. Beninate (’ 55 MBA), 92,
of Cocoa Beach, Fla.; Jan. 12, 2012. Beninate retired
from the Army in 1967 as a full colonel and in 1970
began a 13-year career as an administrator at Bre-
vard Community College. He also ran a consulting
business until 1994. He entered the military as a
teenager and graduated from high school when he
was 27. He received a doctorate in education from
Nova University. He was a decorated veteran of WWII
and the Korean and Vietnam wars. At UNC, he
belonged to Alpha Kappa Psi. ◆ C. Avery Connell
(’ 55), 78, of Raeford; Nov. 1, 2011. Connell owned
his own insurance and real estate agency. He served
in the Army during the Korean War. At UNC, he
belonged to Pi Kappa Phi and was head manager of
the football team. ◆ Dr. Walter Thompson McFall Jr.
(’ 55 BSDEN, ’ 58 DDS), 78, of Chapel Hill; Dec. 16,
2011. McFall taught in the UNC department of peri-
odontics from 1969 until his retirement in 1994. He
was elected to the Dental Alumni Association and
the Dental Foundation of N.C. He helped establish
UNC’s graduate program in periodontics. As a stu-
dent, he belonged to Kappa Sigma. ◆ James Edwin
Yokeley Sr. (’ 55 BSBA), 78, of Charlotte; Jan. 4,
2012. Yokeley was CEO of Audnel America Interna-
tional, an ocean cargo carrier. He served in the Navy.
At UNC, he belonged to Pi Kappa Phi and NROTC.
’ 56 Martha Dow Fehsenfeld (’ 56 MA) of Chapel Hill received the Morton N. Cohen Award for a Distinguished Edi-
tion of Letters from the Modern Language Associa-
tion for her contribution as a co-editor of The Letters
of Samuel Beckett, Volume 1: 1929-1940.
■ obituaries
Dr. William Ewart Easterling Jr. (’ 56 MD), 81, of
Chapel Hill; Dec. 28, 2011. Easterling retired in
1998 as associate dean for continuing education
and alumni affairs at the UNC School of Medicine,
where previously he was a professor of obstetrics
and gynecology and an associate dean of clinical
sciences. He joined the faculty in 1964 and became
a full professor in 1972. He was associate dean for
clinical affairs and chief of staff from 1974 to 1989.
He was to receive the Distinguished Faculty Award
from the School of Medicine in April 2012. He served
in the Air Force. ◆ Daniel Iverson Mainer (’ 56
BSBA), 78, of Morrisville; Jan. 21, 2012. Mainer was
a district training supervisor with American Oil Co.
and a pharmaceutical representative with Smith,
Kline & French (now GlaxoSmithKline). He was assis-
tant executive director of the N.C. Medical Society
and head of the Peer Review Foundation. For several
years, he produced Homes & Land magazine in
Sanford, Southern Pines and Pinehurst. He served
in the Marines in the Korean War. At UNC, he played
defensive end for the football team. ◆ Romallus
Olga Murphy (’ 56 LLBJD), 83, of Greensboro; Dec.
21, 2011. Murphy was a lawyer who practiced in
Greensboro and Raleigh and was part of the legal
team that forced the General Assembly to create
opportunities for black lawyers to become Superior
Court judges. He argued a voting rights case before
the U.S. Supreme Court that involved Wilson and
contributed to Congress adopting the Voting Rights
Act of 1965. He was legal counsel to the State
Conference of Branches for the NAACP and worked
with civil rights lawyer Samuel Mitchell. He served in
the Air Force. ◆ Dr. Joe Baxter Roberson Sr. (’ 56
AB, ’ 60 DDS), 78, of Asheville; Jan. 27, 2012.
Roberson was a dentist for more than 45 years. He
served on the board of trustees of Asheville-Buncombe
Technical Community College for more than 35 years
SALLY WALTERS 1939–2012
in
memoriam
