Alumni Spotlights


The Avett Brothers—Bob Crawford, Scott Avett and Seth Avett.


Self Portrait, by Scott Avett. You can see more of his paintings by clicking here.


The Avetts
call the tune

F

or Scott Avett ’99 ’00 and his bandmates, 2007 was a busy year. The Avett Brothers—Scott, brother Seth, and Bob Crawford—released a new studio album, Emotionalism, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s Heatseekers Chart. They performed some 185 concerts, including spots at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado and the Coachella festival in Indio, California; a string of dates in the United Kingdom; and sold-out shows at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and Belk Theater in Charlotte.

They played to national audiences on NBC television’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien and the etown radio program. They were honored by the Americana Music Association as the duo/group of the year and the emerging artist of the year.

Performed on acoustic instruments—banjo, guitar, stand-up bass—the Avett Brothers’ music is an eclectic mix of roots and pop that defies easy categorization. The band’s current lineup was in place by 2002, and a steady stream of recordings followed. Music critics have praised the band’s unique style and heartfelt lyrics, while a growing fan base has developed thanks in large part to the band’s energetic touring schedule.

Scott Avett says that now more than ever, the band concentrates on creating work that has an emotional effect. “That is the true art we leave behind,” he says of the music, “so our goals, our focus, our eyes are set on that.”

“I never planned on being in something that had such a positive sort of energy and focus,” he adds, “and now I’ve realized that it’s a thing to be embraced and carried and emphasized.”

While his music career occupies most of his time these days, Avett, who played in bands around campus while majoring in communications and staying on for his BFA in art, also continues to hold painting and printmaking as passions. “The priority of what I’m doing I try not to let shift far from the title of artist, whether it’s in music or visual,” he says.

Now living in Concord, north of Charlotte, he maintains an active painting studio; two of his pieces were part of an exhibition at the Envoy Gallery in New York City during the winter. He regularly stays in touch with ECU art faculty and pays visits to the School of Art and Design on campus when rare breaks from touring and recording permit.

Through all the band’s songwriting, recording and performances, Avett agrees that honesty has kept its members grounded.

“The plain evidence of that would be in the lyrics—in kind of an unapologetic laying out of the words in a way that is plain, simple and straightforward,” Avett says. “That’s definitely how we started because we didn’t know any other way. Day by day, we have just found ourselves in many, many situations—businesswise, entertainmentwise, artistically—and we’re constantly rethinking it and getting together and trying to make the right decisions.” —Jimmy Rostar






Making crooked pols pay
Kim Westbrook Strach ’94 is getting used to testifying as a government witness in high-profile political corruption cases. Her work as the chief investigator for the N.C. State Board of Elections has led to prison terms for former House Speaker Jim Black and former Agriculture Secretary Meg Scott Phipps. Frequently quoted in newspapers and seen on the evening news, Strach is sending a message that the state’s new ethics laws will be enforced.

A recent article about her in the Raleigh News & Observer, headlined “State sleuth is 5 feet of tough,” praised her as “a relentless investigator who has a nose for where to look, and is resolute about bringing the powerful to justice.” The article also noted that she is a former beauty queen and described her as “a sharp dresser with a wardrobe mostly from Ann Taylor.”

How did she get from being Miss Kinston to the bete noir of crooked politicians? “The investigative skills I acquired are things I learned at East Carolina,” says Strach, who majored in criminal justice and was a member of the law society. She interned in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina after graduation and then worked for two years as a probation officer in her hometown of Kinston.

Then her career detoured a bit. In 1993, Strach started a dance school that she ran for four years. That seemed logical because she had grown up singing and dancing. She played the female lead in a community production of Grease and performed in many variety shows around Lenoir County to raise money for community programs. But then she spotted a help-wanted ad for an elections board investigator. “My career path has been a little unorthodox but it led me to the right place,” she says.

Honored by Common Cause for her role in uncovering the Jim Black scandal, she hopes the greater scrutiny being paid these days to campaign finances will lead to a cleaner state government. Politicians should know that they violate those laws at their peril, she says. “There are lots of eyes on elected officials and what they are doing. I hope that they realize that.”





Commended by Congress
Retired Navy Capt. David M. Fitzgerald ’66 of Richmond (above, left) received the Congressional Veteran Commendation in ceremonies marking Veteran’s Day. Congressman Eric Cantor (R-Va.) (right) presented the medal to Fitzgerald, who is a resident of his district. Congress created the Congressional Veteran Commendation program to honor veterans who have “served our nation with honor consistent with the finest traditions of military service.” The program operates with the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress to preserve oral histories of America’s war veterans.

And what a story Fitzgerald has to tell.

A member of the swim team for two years who was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity his junior year, Fitzgerald joined the Navy after graduation. He was trained as a SEAL and commanded a platoon of SEALs in Vietnam. In 1969 he commanded a team of Navy divers who led the ocean recovery of the Apollo 11 capsule after its historic moon landing.

He obtained a master’s degree in strategic intelligence and foreign affairs in 1972 and completed training as a naval attaché. He was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and was one of the last Americans to leave the embassy in 1975 when Cambodia was overrun by the communist Khmer Rouge.

He served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services from 1977 to 1980 and followed that with a stint as director of congressional affairs at the Department of Energy.

Recalled to active duty, Fitzgerald served during Desert Storm. When that war ended, he was hired as director of legislative affairs for Northrop Grumman Corp. Recalled to active duty again in 1995, Fitzgerald advised the secretary of the Navy on worldwide terrorism while serving as the chief liaison officer to the Central Intelligence Agency.

He retired in 2000 after completing nearly 20 years of active military service and 14 years as an active Navy Reserve officer. But after the attacks of 9/11, he was asked by the newly formed Transportation Security Administration to serve as director of recruitment and helped hire and train hundreds of screeners working at airports across the Northeast.

He shares his insights into military issues as a contributor to the op-ed pages of the Richmond Times Dispatch.





Boosting diversity
Cheryl Berry Stevens ’75, vice president of workforce and supplier diversity at Oncor Energy in Dallas, Texas, was elected board chair of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. WBENC, which is based in Washington, D.C., is the nation’s leading advocate of women’s business enterprises as suppliers to corporate America. Formerly WBENC board secretary, Stevens has served on the organization’s executive committee since 2004.

She’s passionate about helping companies owned by women and minorities to get ahead. “I’ve spent 17 years preaching the fact that when you buy something from a company owned by a woman or a minority you won’t pay more and the quality is just as great. I believe that there will be no economic freedom until we have social freedom.”

Stevens has worked at Oncor Energy, formerly TXU Energy, for 29 years. For the past 17 years she has been responsible for supplier diversity at the huge utility. She was promoted to vice president in 2000.

“Things definitely are better today for companies owned by women and minorities but we still have a lot of challenges. [WBENC] released a report this year that shows that women are starting to make purchasing decisions based on this issue.”

The WBENC survey found that among women consumers between the ages of 35 and 55, an overwhelming 79 percent said knowing a company buys from women businesses would compel them to try a company’s product or services if they were not a current customer.

Stevens was named a “Woman of Excellence” by Women’s Enterprise, “Minority Business Advocate of the Year” by the Small Business Administration, and received the MCompany “Catalyst Award.”  Minority Business News named her to its Supplier Diversity “Best of the Decade” list in 2000. She was named one of “Fifty Key Women in Energy” by Commodities Now magazine.

She is married to retired women’s basketball coach Don Stevens. They live in Carrollton, Texas, with their toy poodle Jackpot.

By Leanne E. Smith '04 '06

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Go to the Class Notes archives

2007
Kristen Leigh Bloodworth and Steven Lee Cox were married Sept. 15 at the groom’s grandparents’ house in Grimesland’s Autumn Lakes. She works at Greenville Veterinary Hospital. Thomas Blake Langston and Tracy Lauren Smith were married Sept. 22. He works for One Source Communications in Greenville.

2006
Katherine Egan is the athletic director and a health teacher at the Pennington School, an independent boarding school for middle through high school students in Pennington, Del. Egan was a teacher and coach in Plumsted Township School District. Karen Freeman was named one of the top 100 nurses in the state by the Great 100, a scholarship granting organization that recognizes excellence in nursing. She works at Tarboro’s Heritage Hospital in the labor and delivery, ICU, and emergency departments. Ashton Nelson James and Jennifer Lynn Hudson were married May 25. He works at PCMH and they live in Winterville. Crystal Shipley opened Crystal’s Elite Dance Studio in Rocky Mount in September. Tonique Tabron is a registered nurse and family nurse practitioner at the OIC Medical Center in Rocky Mount. Michael Paul Taylor and Heather Nicole Williams were married on Aug. 25. He is a superintendent with WIMCO Corp. in Washington.

2005
David Russell Gilbert and Heather Marie Suggs ’06 were married on July 21 in Indian Beach. He is in the BSOM class of 2020, and she teaches elementary school in Pitt County.

2004
William Autry, an assistant vice president at BB&T, was promoted to business service officer in the bank’s commercial loan department. He is enrolled in ECU’s MBA program. Christopher Gray Carawan and Courtney Michelle Kulers ’06 of New Bern were married on Oct. 13. He works for the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, and she is a registered nurse on the cardiovascular intermediate care floor at Craven Regional Medical Center. Willa Dickens is vice president for economic and workforce development for the N.C. Community College System. She has three children and two grandchildren. Jennifer Lauren Frazier and James Ray Mabe were married Oct. 13. She works at Grady-White Boats in Greenville. Kenneth Gregory ’04 ’07, a former Army medic supervisor, is a registered nurse and family nurse practitioner at the OIC Medical Center in Rocky Mount. Michael Stephen Harris and Mary Ruth Wingate were married on Sept. 8. They live in Ayden, and he is a validation associate at DSM Pharmaceuticals. Jonathan Locklear is a mortgage loan officer at the full-service branch office of First South Bank on Arlington Boulevard in Greenville. He previously worked with Household HSBC Group. Daniel Arrington Robinson and Heather Lynn Andrews were married on Sept. 29 in Williamston. They live in Oak City, and he is a sales rep for Dodson Brothers pest control. Ashley Ann Wagoner of Winston-Salem and James Edwin “Jimmy” Lentz III of Clemmons were married Nov. 10 in Winston-Salem, which is where they live. She is an associate project manager for Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

2003
Julie Elizabeth Blalock and Craig Jackson Walker of Winterville were married Sept. 15 in Hurdle Mills. She is a portable x-ray technician at PCMH. Krista Williams Bunting received her National Board Certification in 2007 and teaches online reading courses at ECU. Courtney Dare Elks ’03 ’05 and Joshua Isaac Yates were married on Oct. 13 at Yankee Hall Plantation. She is a counselor at Pitt County’s D.H. Conley High School. Valerie Hardy Galberth was named Pitt County’s 2008 Wachovia Principal of the Year. She has 28 years of experience in education, including six in her current position as Farmville Central High School principal. Altrice Gales, a Pitt Community College criminal justice instructor who lives in Grimesland, was chosen to participate in the North Carolina Community College Leadership Program, a six-month series of seminars on diversity, conflict resolution and leading through change. In 2006, she went to Seoul, South Korea, for a Rotary International-sponsored vocational and cultural exchange program. Brian Scott Jaeschke of Mackinaw City, Mich., received the director’s award from Makinac State Historic Parks, where he is registrar of collections. Paul Kaplar and his wife, Jessica, had their first child, Mackenzie Lee, on July 22, 2007. Paul lettered in football at ECU and is assistant vice president and commercial lender for Four Oaks Bank & Trust in Fuquay-Varina. John Nicholas Nazarchyk of Fayetteville and Tiffany Drema Few of Joshua, Texas, were married Sept. 1, at Medina Chapel on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He is an Army sergeant stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

2002
Collin David Batten joined the Chicago company of Blue Man Group in 2007, and in January 2008 transferred to the Las Vegas company of Blue Man Group. He also had an acting/dancing part in Across the Universe, a film released in October 2007. Timothy Gene Cornette ’02 ’06 and Rachel Virginia Harris ’03 ’06 were married on Nov. 3 in Norfolk, Va. Jeremy Allen Gore, a space and missile officer with the rank of captain stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, and Amanda Radford Gore ’04 had their first child, Jackson Asher, on Nov. 2. Dr. Jeffrey Todd Kornegay ’02 ’06 and Jennifer Leigh Russell ’03 were married on Oct. 20 at her parents’ house near Burlington. He is an internal medicine resident, and she is an occupational therapist, both at PCMH. Randy Minton and Ashliegh Bland ’07 of Winterville were married Sept. 15 in Morehead City. He works for Regional Acceptance, and she works at ViQuest. Susan Page Taylor and Matthew Joseph Lee married Sept. 15 in Wilson. She is a kindergarten teacher in Pitt County. Jennifer Beacham Worsley, an audit manager with McGladrey & Pullen, and Matthew Worsley of Rocky Mount had a son, Brandon Matthew, on April 19.

2001
Alan Dixon Dupree, a biology instructor, was named North Duplin High School teacher of the year and Duplin County teacher of the year for 2007–2008. He is also an adjunct professor in Mount Olive College’s Heritage Adult Education program and in anatomy and physiology for James Sprunt Community College’s Huskins program. Robert Chad Herring and Melissa Diane Tuttle of Mount Olive were married Aug. 19 in Las Vegas. He works for the family business, Herring Pork Producers and H-3 Grading and Excavating. The mother (right) of the New Year’s baby in Tacoma, Wash., says her newborn will grow up to be a Pirate. Second Lt. Sarah McCreight ’01 welcomed Evelyn Rose into the world a few minutes past midnight at Madigan Army Medical Center and quickly slipped a white knit Pirate cap onto her head. Mrs. McCreight is a signal communications officer stationed at nearby Fort Lewis. Husband Devlyn McCreight is a student at Seattle University’s graduate school of divinity. Nichole Lee Moore and Bryan Reid Pair of Wilmington were married on Sept. 22 in Washington. She teaches fourth grade at New Hanover County’s Eaton Elementary School.

2000
Jason Paul Annis ’00 ’05 and Lindsay Lea Jessup ’04 were married on Oct. 20 at Yankee Hall Plantation. They live in Winterville. He is a certified registered nurse anesthetist with East Carolina Anesthesia Associates, and she is a state probation and parole officer working with school partnerships. Lauren Renae Gast and Ashley Brian Jackson were married on Sept. 8 in Raleigh. She is research specialist in a molecular genomics and reproductive physiology laboratory at the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine. Kelley Paynter, originally of Southern Pines and now of Rocky Mount, is the public relations director at Nash Community College. She is also the Rocky Mount/Wilson Chapter Leader for the East Carolina Alumni Association and the Young Professionals Network board marketing chair. Andrew Wright and Shana Phillips of Winston-Salem were married Oct. 22, 2007, in Mount Airy. He is a lead pharmacy technician for Winston-Salem Health Care Pharmacy, and she works for Excel Imaging Inc.

1999
Jason Bryant debuted an exhibition called Fleshpot at the Like the Spice art gallery in New York. He converted from drawing to painting at ECU, became an assistant to Brooklyn artist Kehinde Wiley in 2005, and showed work in several states and England. His popular and consumer culture-themed works have appeared in several publications. Chena Cayton ’99 ’06 was named Pitt County Schools assistant principal of the year. In education for eight years, and administration for nearly half of her career, she manages in-school suspension and other disciplinary programs at J.H. Rose High School. Steve Gaskins, the Lumberton High School principal, was named 2007–2008 Robeson County Principal of the Year and received a trip to Senegal, Africa. His 26 years in the public schools include teaching social studies, coaching basketball, and being an administrator at several schools. Rob Howard is vice president at Cobb Financial Strategies, which is affiliated with the Wachovia Securities Financial Network. Rebecca Ann Reynaud and Jonathan Bailey Adams ’01 were married on June 22 at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, and they live in Apex. She is a regional human resources manager for Aramark’s higher education division, and he is a project manager for Royal Oaks Building Group. Susan Gregg Wallace ’99 ’00 and Jarrett Wallace had their first child, Christian White, on Dec. 6, 2007. Susan teaches first grade in Cumming, Ga., for Forsyth County Schools, and Jarrett is vice president of Horizon Construction Co. in Alpharetta, Ga.

1998
Craig Allan Brown of King and Crystal Gayle Payne of Thomasville were married Oct. 13 in Pinnacle. He works in research and development at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Terrance Evins, an Oxford native who is owner of and head instructor at King Tiger Academy of North Charlotte, completed the Ultimate Black Belt Test in Tae Kwon Do. Randall Martoccia and Christie Sayers Martin ’04 were married on Sept. 29 at Jump Off Rock near Hendersonville. He teaches in ECU’s English department, and she is the quality assurance director for Personalized Therapy. Steven T. Onufrey and Luciana Maria Gambino ’01 of Centreville, Va., were married on Sept. 15, 2007, in Fort Lee, N.J.

1997
Amanda Ross Mazey and her husband, Randy, had a son, Weston Aydan Mazey, on Dec. 26, 2006. Mazey was a WITN news/sports anchor/reporter for eight years and is now a freelance broadcaster in Fort Worth, Texas.

1996
Arneatha Gillis ’96 is an assistant district attorney for the Fourth Prosecutorial District, which covers Duplin, Onslow and Sampson counties. She previously worked as a counselor at a juvenile detention center and as a senior associate judge for the N.C. Court of Appeals. Stephanie Tara Martin and Ronald Steven Yoder Jr. were married Oct. 27 at  the Blockade Runner Resort Hotel in Wrightsville Beach. They live in Wilmington, where she is a research coordination manager with PPD, a global contract research organization that manages clinical trials for drug companies. Chad D. Sary and Tracy Maurer Sary ’97 ’06 had their second son, Nicholas Luke, on Oct. 25, 2007. Their first, Benjamin, is 21/2 years old.

1995
Deborah Cerrito and Patrick Dolan of Durham were married on Oct. 21, 2005, in Raleigh. She is a public health consultant with the N.C. Division of Public Health.

1994
Mary-Helen Roy Giles and Ellis Giles of Houston, Texas, had a son, Alden Samuel, on June 6. Dusty Sterling Gilliland of Richmond, Va., and his wife, Maria, had a son, Josiah Delsen, on Nov. 11. He joins siblings David, Daniel, Joshua and Makayla.

1993
Marvin Blount III, a Greenville lawyer, was reappointed by Gov. Mike Easley for an additional four-year term to represent the eight-county Division 2 on the N.C. Board of Transportation. Christie Hill is co-manager of The Absolute Studio, the first Pilates Reformer studio in Greenville. She was an instructor for cycling, water aerobics and group fitness at Gold’s Gym for 10 years. Mary Strickland of Nashville was named one of the top 100 nurses in the state by The Great 100, a scholarship granting organization that recognizes excellence in nursing. She owns Cedar Isle Dairy with her husband, volunteers with the Nash County 4-H, and recently became a certified nurse examiner. She previously worked in the NICU at Duke and taught nursing at Nash Communitiy and Barton colleges. Stephanie Hill Warren was promoted to chief operating officer after 21 years working at CopyPro in Greenville.

1992
Margaret Ann Jordan Moore of Farmville, an employment counselor at the Employment Security Commission, won the 2007 Harry Paine Jr. chairman’s award for excellence in public service. She received an all-expenses-paid trip to Sea Trail Golf Resort and three days’ paid leave.

1991
Linda Jean Strickland Brunson ’91 ’04 of Clinton was promoted to associate superintendent of human resources administration of Clinton City Schools in August 2007 and celebrated 30 years in education the next month. Steve Jones of Raleigh is RBC Centura’s market president for the Carolinas and Virginia and oversees 206 branches. He was president of the Eastern North Carolina and Virginia market starting in February 2007. Angela Proctor of Princeton received her National Board Certification for teaching in 2006.

1990
Gary M. Gore was appointed market executive for Virginia by U.S. Trust, Bank of America’s private wealth management division. He has more than 17 years of financial services experience and was a market executive with the company’s global commercial bank. He is on the boards of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Business Council.

1989
Maj. Anthony Fredric Bond of Durham is the commandant of cadets for Air Force ROTC Detachment 590 at UNC Chapel Hill. Traci Fisher Glass was featured in the September 2007 Southern Living magazine for her company, Whimsical Cookies. Her television interviews include appearances on the Style Network. Sandra Morris ’89 ’98 ’03 is the new principal at Belvoir Elementary School in Pitt County. She has 17 years of experience as a teacher and administrator, most recently as assistant principal at Grifton School. Bruce Proctor, the baseball coach at Princeton High School, led the Bulldogs to the 2007 1-A NCHSAA State Championship.

1988
Elizabeth W. Ellis is associate director of human resources with Biogen Idec in Research Triangle Park. She and her husband, Douglas V. Ellis ’87, who works with Wyeth Biotech, live in Sanford with their 7-year-old daughter Abigail.

1987
Glenn Harris was named the 2008 Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools’ Principal of the Year. A native of the area, he graduated from Northeastern High School and has taught elementary school music classes and served as assistant principal and principal at several schools, most recently at Northside Elementary School for six years. Alesia Kathryn Vick and James Michael Johnson, a funeral director, were married Oct. 31, at the Dunn Center for the Performing Arts in Rocky Mount, where they also had a Halloween reception. They live in Nashville, and she is a a senior training specialist with QVC. Ted Whitehurst of Tarboro was promoted to senior executive vice president and chief lending officer at Providence Bank. He is also a board member for the Edgecombe County United Way and coaches soccer for the Tarboro Recreation Department.

1984
Vada Palma was elected to the Atlantic Beach town council for a two-year term that began in December. A Raleigh native, she taught for 25 years in Raleigh and New Bern, and at Greenville’s J.H. Rose High School, and retired as a basic skills coordinator at Carteret Community College in 2004. Robert Webster Ross, a database administrator at ECU from 1984 to 1995, and his wife, LeAnn, of Barnesville, Minn., hosted Min-Gyu Jeong, a 15-year-old South Korean exchange student, for a year. For 12 years, Robert has been a database administrator for Wachovia. He and his wife have three children: Brady (13), Nathan (11), and Samuel (4).

1982
Norman Bryant is a commercial lines and life and health agent for the Southern Insurance Agency’s Greenville branch. He has 25 years of experience with the N.C. Farm Bureau, Parrott Insurance Agency, and outside sales. M. David Cogburn, a dermatologist in Asheville, was appointed to a four-year term on the UNC Asheville trustees. In 1986, he and his wife founded Carolina Mountain Dermatology, and he received the Thomas D. Reynolds Award for Service from UNCA in 2006.

1981
Diane Poole ’81 ’88, executive vice president of PCMH, received the 2007 ECU College of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award. She is in several professional organizations, and previously worked at N.C. Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill and Lenoir Memorial Hospital. Since 1982 has held several positions at PCMH and in the University Health Systems.

1980
William “Dino” Ellis ’80 ’91, principal at G.W. Carver Elementary School in Pinetops, was named Edgecombe County Public Schools’ Principal of the Year for the third time. He also won in 2004 at Carver and in 1998 while principal at South Edgecombe Middle School. Glenn Joyner ’80 ’85, is the new principal at Chicod School in Pitt County. He has 35 years of experience in elementary, middle and high school administration, most recently as principal at Belvoir Elementary School. Christy McBryde of Kinston is head of the health information management department and the Employee Experience team at Heritage Hospital in Tarboro.

1979
Nettie Evans ’79 ’83 was named vice president for patient care at Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie. A registered nurse with several professional certifications who also teaches in ECU’s School of Nursing, she spent 28 years in critical-care nursing and administration at PCMH and recently directed the University Health Systems Health Careers Programs. She was also a triage nurse in Waveland, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when she was on the N.C. State Medical Assistance Team II. David E. Leonard was selected to fill an unexpired term on the board for the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices. With 28 years of experience in property and casualty insurance, he worked in casualty underwriting for Crum & Forster and treaty reinsurance underwriting for Employers Reinsurance before joining RSUI Group in Atlanta, where he is executive vice president and chief strategic officer. Kieran J. Shanahan is principal of Raleigh’s Shanahan Law Group, which was named a 2007 Best Place to Work in the Triangle Business Journal’s small business category.

1977
Marvin E. “Mark” Garner Jr., a project manager who oversees feasibility studies in the municipal department at Rivers & Associates in Greenville, passed the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) examination. He has 30 years of experience with the firm.

1976
Brantley Armstead Brock Jr. of Morehead City and Deborah Anne Faircloth ’03 of Stedman were married on Sept. 22 in Fayetteville. He graduated from Fort Lauderdale Sea School as a master captain and works for Evans Marine Holdings as the captain of the motor yacht Laura Marie. She is principal at Stedman Primary School.

1975
Diane Stephens Gramann is area director of the Alzheimer’s Association of Middle Tennessee and is a board member for the Council on Aging and the Vanderbilt-Reynolds Geriatrics Education Center in Nashville, Tenn. As executive director for the Community Resource Center, she received the Marvin Runyon Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management and the Nashville Business Journal Award for Excellence in Communications. She traveled to China for the National Association of Social Workers and to Peru with a holistic team of healthcare professionals to study Inca cultural influence on current society. Valerie Hutcherson Sutton ’75 ’90 opened Benjamin Craig Stationers in August 2006 in Greensboro. The store’s stationery and printing services were featured in Signature magazine. Sutton previously taught high school English and French and college freshman composition for 20 years in northeastern North Carolina, and is a past president of the Greensboro Symphony Guild.

1973
Mary Anne Howard is a regional services associate for the new Sandhills Region division of the North Carolina Community Foundation. She retired as a tops sales performer after 18 years with Coeco Office Systems. Working from Raleigh, she now helps agencies and individuals create endowment funds, especially for underserved areas. Mike Phillips retired from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company after 33 years, most recently working as senior regional director for state government relations. David Wyso, a Belmont native and nationally known jewelry designer, opened a shop and studio in August 2007 at Lake Wylie, S.C., after working in Philadelphia’s jewelry district for more than 20 years. He worked for an international company, traveling from Egypt to Singapore on construction barges and offshore oil rigs. After breaking his leg and being forced to recover in New Orleans, he found jewelry design, switched careers, and sold pieces at Saks and Tiffany’s. He now creates two collections of high-end jewelry a year from gold, sterling silver and semi-precious stones.

1972
Georgia Joette Abeyounis ’72 ’75, a reading and technology specialist at South Greenville Elementary School in Pitt County, was named 2007 NC Technology Educator of the Year at the North Carolina Educational Technology Conference in Greensboro on Nov. 29, 2007.

1971
The Rev. W. Frisby Hendricks III was appointed Ecunemical and Interreligious Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida by Bishop Leo Frade. He will coordinate ecumenical efforts among the 83 congregations in the diocese, whose cathedral is in Miami. Hendricks, known as “Father Frisby,” is vicar of All Saints Episcopal in Jensen Beach, the oldest church in Martin County.

1970
Burney Warren retired from BB&T, where he worked starting in 1990 after the bank acquired First Federal Savings of Pitt County, of which he was president and CEO. He is on the ECU Foundation board and is active in the East Carolina Real Estate Foundation.

1969
Fay Jessup Cochran retired in June after teaching for 37 years, mostly as a fifth-grade teacher in Prince William County, Va.

1941
Eugenia Burr Allen Cross of Elizabethtown retired after 43 years teaching in La Grange, Whiteville and Elizabethtown. She served on the Bladen County School Board for 16 years, and received the Governor’s Award and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for outstanding contributions in education and leadership.