University, from which she retired in 1992. She taught
at Woman’s College (now UNC-Greensboro) and
worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve
Bank of Richmond before returning to teaching. At
UNC, she served in student government and belonged
to Alpha Gamma Delta. ◆ Maximilian Gustav
Weber Jr. (’ 47 BSCOM), 92, of Evans, Ga.; Dec. 1,
2011. Weber retired as a commander in the Navy
Reserve and then worked for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. until 1984, when he retired as vice president of national sales. He served in the Navy in
WWII. At UNC, he belonged to Phi Kappa Sigma.
’ 48 ■ obituaries James Fulton Cray (’ 48), 86, of Charlotte; Jan. 28, 2012. Cray worked in electronics sales
with the Zenith Corp. and Allison Erwin and was an
advertising director with the Mecklenburg Times. He
was an Army pilot. ◆ Mary Parker “Polly” Dillon
(’ 48 BSLS), 84, of North Miami, Fla.; Aug. 30, 2011.
Dillon was an assistant professor in the University
of Miami School of Medicine and an associate director for its library program. ◆ Edith Glenn Hall (’ 48
AB), 84, of Durham; Dec. 3, 2011. Hall was a teacher
and a longtime employee of Duke University Hospital.
◆ Elizabeth Henshaw Hankins (’ 48 AB), 86, of
Greensboro; Jan. 1, 2012. Hankins taught English in
the Greensboro public schools from 1962 to 1983.
◆ Marilyn Meeks “Sally” Powell (’ 48, ’ 50 ABJO),
84, of Chapel Hill; Jan. 13, 2012. Powell was an
administrative assistant for Christopher Fordham,
dean of UNC’s School of Medicine, in the 1970s.
She later was a social research associate for the
department of social medicine at UNC. ◆ John Burns
“Bud” Simpson Jr. (’ 48, ’ 49 AB), 85, of Silver Spring,
Md.; April 16, 2011. Simpson was a lawyer in private
practice. He spent 24 years as an administrative
assistant to members of Congress. He served in the
Air Force and retired from the Reserve as a lieutenant
colonel after 28 years. At UNC, he belonged to Pi
Kappa Alpha. ◆ Nancy Idol White (’ 48 BSLS), 89, of
Carrboro; Nov. 28, 2011. White was a librarian who
retired from UNC in 1987 as head of serials cataloguing at Wilson Library. She managed the library’s
transition from the Dewey Decimal System to the
Library of Congress cataloguing system, as well as
the move from card catalogues to electronic records.
In the late 1970s, she served on the Carrboro
Board of Aldermen. She was in the Women’s Army
Corps during WWII. ◆ Frances Barnes Whitley (’ 48
MAEd), 92, of Keysville, Va.; Jan. 17, 2012. Whitley
taught in the Fairfax County, Va., school system.
’ 49 ■ obituaries Jack Gross Ashby (’ 49), 87, of Wilming-
ton; Dec. 10, 2011. Ashby retired from GTE Sylvania
Corp. after 38 years. He was a former member of the
board of trustees of UNC-Wilmington and chair of the
New Hanover County Airport Authority. In 1992, he
received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. He served
in the Army during WWII, receiving several medals,
and was a prisoner of war. At UNC, he belonged to
Kappa Sigma. ◆ Mabelle Virginia Fernandez (’ 49
CPHN), 87, of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Jan. 3, 2012.
Fernandez was a public health nurse and taught
reading at St. John’s School in San Juan before she
retired. ◆ William Alexander Fryar (’ 49 AB), 88, of
Gibsonville; Dec. 2, 2011. Fryar was a student at UNC
medical school when he left to run the family dairy
farm after his father died. He operated Bill Fryar’s
Pick-Your-Own vegetable garden for 25 years. He
served on the Guilford County board of equalization
and the Farmer’s Mutual board of directors. ◆ Earl
Horace Hartsell Jr. (’ 49 AB), 84, of Louisburg; Dec.
29, 2011. Hartsell worked in hospital administration
at Gravely Sanatorium at UNC and at Annie Penn
Memorial Hospital in Reidsville. In 1963, he was
named district coordinator of a statewide health
careers recruitment program. He served in the Air
Force during WWII and the Korean War and retired as
a captain. At UNC, he belonged to AFROTC. ◆ Thomas
Jerome “Jack” McGinn Jr. (’ 49 BSCOM), 88, of
Greensboro; Dec. 25, 2011. McGinn owned Brown-
hill’s Inc. and was a fashion consultant. He served
on the boards of the Greensboro Merchants Associ-
ation and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. In
the Army during WWII, he received the Silver Star and
Purple Heart. At UNC, he belonged to Sigma Nu. ◆
WILLIAM DAVIS SNIDER ’ 41 1920–2012
in
memoriam Editor Made His Mark as a Champion for Civil Rights
William Davis Snider ’ 41 once said he was never sure of what he wanted to
say in an editorial until he ran it through his
typewriter.
Snider, an award-winning journalist and his-
torian who died Jan. 28 at age 91 in Greensboro,
might not have known what would come out
when he sat down to compose an editorial,
but he believed opinions mattered — his as
well as others’. He covered North Carolina
politics and led the fight for civil rights in
“It reflected those ideals
of ‘light and liberty’
engrossed on the great seal
of UNC,” said Yoder, who
worked with Snider at the
GAA FILES
both published by UNC Press: Helms
& Hunt, The North Carolina Senate
Race, 1984; and Light on the Hill: A
History of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Greensboro newspaper and
won a Pulitzer Prize as a
columnist for The Washington
Post. “The leadership of the
Daily News was crucial to
the peace that now prevails.”
Greensboro, but he also was proud of being
one of the founders of the Conversation Club,
a Greensboro mainstay whose purpose was to
gather a roomful of opinionated people for
discussion over a meal and a glass of wine.
Snider grew up in
In 1974, Snider served as president of the National Conference of
Editorial Writers. He also was a
member of the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, a correspondent
for Newsweek magazine and served
on the Pulitzer Prize jury.
Salisbury, where as a boy he
started a neighborhood
newspaper. During World
War II he served with the
“Bill was thoughtful and courageous,” said
Army Signal Corps in
William Davis Snider ’ 41,
described as “thoughtful
and courageous” for his
civil rights stands, was
inducted into the N.C.
Allen Johnson, an editor with the Greensboro
India.
Journalism Hall of Fame
in 1983.
News & Record. “His tough, defiant editorials
during the civil rights era earned him a burn-
ing cross in his yard and a brick through a
bedroom window.”
He left his first job, as a
reporter for The Salisbury Evening Post, to
become private secretary to Gov. R. Gregg
Snider received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from UNC in 1977.
He served on the Chancellor
Selection Committee for UNC
(1956-57), the Board of Visitors
(1979-85) and the GAA Board of
Directors (1979-85). He was inducted
into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame in 1983.
Cherry and later administrative assistant to
As a student at UNC, he belonged to Sigma
Nu and Golden Fleece.
One of Snider’s shining moments came
during the civil rights turmoil of the 1950s and
— Don Evans ’ 80
’60s, journalist Edwin Yoder ’ 56 said at Snider’s
memorial service, when his editorials for the
ONLINE:
Greensboro Daily News championed the causes of
dignity for all and adherence to the rule of law
and provided a steadying influence on the city.
Gov. W. Kerr Scott. He returned to journalism
as associate editor of the Greensboro Daily News
and the Greensboro Record in 1965 and served
in that capacity and later as editorial page editor of both papers until his retirement in 1982.
He continued to write his Sunday column
for the News & Record and wrote two books,
Ed Yoder ’ 56, a friend and colleague, spoke
at Snider’s memorial service in January. His
eulogy reflecting on Snider’s life is online at
alumni.unc.edu/go/snider_eulogy.
