East Carolina University
 
Class Notes


tugofwar
Sigma Tau Gamma tug of war during Greek Week, 1982
 


Gorham

Gorham becomes first
black general in N.C. guard


Gorham
In a ceremony in the Old House Chamber in the State Capital building, James R. Gorham ’81 of Kernersville (at podium and at right) was promoted to brigadier general in the N.C. Army National Guard.

State and Army officials congratulated Gorham on becoming the first African American to attain that rank in the state Guard. A vice president of First Citizens Bank, Gorham enlisted in the Army after high school and used the GI bill to earn a history degree from ECU. He’s been in the Guard for 34 years.

In 2004, his unit was deployed to Iraq for 15 months, where he was promoted to colonel. He told the Winston-Salem Journal that his latest promotion is as much about opportunity as race. He said it “gives soldiers the knowledge that they can go from private to general.”




LNC

Plenty of Pirates
in leadership training


Four Pirates are being groomed for greater roles in public service to the state as students in this year’s class of Leadership North Carolina. They are (from left) Robert S. Parker ’72 ’78 of Winston-Salem, vice president of special operations and community health at North Carolina Baptist Hospital; Jerry Beckman ’84 of Raleigh, South Atlantic Operations manager for Arcadis; Gayle McCracken Tuttle ’75 of Raleigh, director of strategic communications for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina; and John Cantrell ’92 of Charlotte, president of H.B. Cantrell & Co. insurance firm.

All four have deep ECU roots. The son of an alumna, Parker has a daughter who earned her nursing degree here in 1998. In recognition of ECU’s service to their family, the Parker Merit Scholarship was established several years ago and is now awarding a scholarship to a deserving student each year.

Beckman, a School of Technology graduate, started working for Arcadis while a junior at ECU and is still with the international consulting and engineering company. He’s a past president of the Pitt County Alumni Chapter and is active in the Pirate Club. He is married to Ingrid Lutman Bechman ’93.


Tuttle was the fall graduation speaker for the School of Communication. After serving as White House correspondent for the Pittsburgh Press, Tuttle became an entrepreneur. She started two businesses providing quality assurance and public relations consultation and services to insurers and health care provider organizations. Married to East magazine editor Steve Tuttle, she joined Blue Cross in 2004. They have a son who is a sophomore at ECU.


Cantrell, president of H.B. Cantrell & Co., a family insurance business started by his father, Henry B. Cantrell ’65, was tapped for LNC after achieving another life goal: becoming an ironman. He completed the Ford Ironman Wisconsin competition last fall in 13 hours and 45 minutes, finishing in the middle of some 2,100 men and women competitors. After swimming 2.5 miles in Lake Monona, Cantrell pedaled 112 more on his bike, then he ran 26.2 miles. Training for and then being in the ironman competition “taught me the importance of being present, of living in the moment,” Cantrell says. “Truly, it was a life-changing experience.”

The four will complete their LNC training in April.


Newsom

Virginia's top golfer


Roger W. Newsom ’86 made a lot of birdies as a member of the ECU golf team from 1982-85, and he’s still sinking long putts, as evidenced by his win at the 2008 SunTrust State Open golf tournament.

His July victory was followed by golfer of the year honors from the Virginia State Golf Association. Newsome, 44, is an ophthalmologist who practices in the Hampton Roads area.

After ECU, Newsom studied at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, then did his residency at the Wake Forest University Eye Center, where he won a fellowship to study plastic and reconstructive surgery of the eye at the University of Toronto.

He is especially skilled in cataract and implant treatment techniques and the treatment of other ocular problems. Dr. Newsom also serves as a diplomat on the National Board of Medical Examiners.



chalk

Bank honors Chalk
with major donation


After a 33-year career, W. Kendall Chalk ’68 MBA ’71 retired from BB&T in September and the bank honored his 33 years of service, most recently as chief credit officer, by donating $250,000 to East Carolina to endow two scholarships in the Access Scholarship program. The contribution creates the first two endowed Access Scholarships, which are given to students with the best academic potential and the least financial resources.

The grant is the latest in a long list of gifts to East Carolina from BB&T. Three of the five executives who helped transform a regional farm lender in Wilson into the nation’s 14th largest bank are graduates of ECU’s business school and the MBA program.

Of the three, only President and CEO Kelly King ’70 ‘71 still goes to the office every day. Henry Williamson ’69 ‘72, who also served as BB&T's chief credit officer, retired earlier. All three are active supporters of the university. Ken Chalk is a former chair of the ECU Foundation board and currently is co-chair, with King, of the board of the BB&T Center for Leadership Development within the College of Business.

 “I am very grateful to my associates at BB&T, the executive management team, and the board of directors for this recognition,” Chalk said about the grant. “The Access Scholarship program is essential to help students who could not otherwise afford higher education to attend ECU and become successful leaders in their communities.”

BB&T has contributed more than $1.6 million to date in support of ECU’s efforts to become the best leadership university in the state.


Whitehurst

Institute director honored
by management group


Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst ’66, director of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, won the prestigious Peter H. Rossi Award for contributions to the theory or practice of program evaluation.

The Association for Public Policy and Management presents the award annually. Whitehurst has led IES since it was established in 2002. He previously was assistant secretary for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

Before that he was chairman of the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is the author or editor of five books and has published more than 100 scholarly papers.

Whitehurst was born and reared in Washington, N.C. After majoring in psychology at ECU, he obtained a Ph.D. in experimental child psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is married and has two children.


Scharf

Scharf wins gold medals
at Senior State Games


Professor Emeritus and former swim coach Ray Scharf won five gold medals at the N.C. Senior Games State Championships in September and qualified for the National Senior Games to be held at Stanford University in San Francisco in August.

Competing in the 70-74 age group, Scharf placed first in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. He coached the ECU swim team from 1967 to 1981, winning 11 consecutive Southern Conference titles.

He trained more than 30 All Americans and sent more than 40 swimmers to NCAA championship meets. He was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002, the same year he retired from teaching after a 35-year career here.

He returned to competitive swimming in 2007 for the first time since graduating from college in 1961. Over the past two years he has won 10 gold medals in local competitions and three gold and two silver medals at the state level. Scharf and his wife now live on Harkers Island.



Kolkjen

Kolkjen starts online retail business

Breast cancer survivor Valerie Weathington Kolkjen ’80 has launched an online business selling fine soaps and other skin care products, many of which she discovered while undergoing radiation treatment. Her business, www.finegiftsoaps.com, also offers a blog and a newsletter with tips and encouragement for women suffering from breast cancer. Kolkjen also has a day job as vice president of Atlanta-based Sales Performance Group.




By Leanne E. Smith
04 06

By Leanne E. Smith '04 '06
Click here to send your news to Leanne

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In Memoriam Class Notes Archives

2008
MAGGIE O’NEIL is the new executive director at Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corp. From Raleigh, she previously was deputy town clerk in Garner; town clerk and finance director in Bethel; and a management intern in Ayden, which was named a Small Town Main Street Town during her time there.  

2007
AMANDA FAYE HAlL of Fayetteville and John Delanion Fisher II of Stedman were married May 24 in Fayetteville and live in Buies Creek. She teaches business at West Johnston High School in Benson. LESLIE ANN HART and Jason Scott Mozingo were married July 12 at Yankee Hall Plantation in Pactolus and live in Winterville. She works at Golden Living Center of Greenville. EMERY DEREK SMITH and Sonya Nichole Edens of Grifton were married June 28 in Winterville. He works at West Greene Elementary School in Snow Hill. LACI LEE STANLEY of Fuquay-Varina and Justin Keith McDonald of Winston-Salem were married Oct. 11 at the Cape Fear River Deck in Wilmington and live in Morrisville. She teaches at the Ballet School of Chapel Hill and Cary Ballet Conservatory.  

2006
APRIL PAUL BAER, originally of Benson, is the project coordinator for university wellness at Frostburg State University in Maryland. Her latest project is Creating Healthy Informed Lasting Lifestyles, where he will manage modeling a biomedical and health initiative that may be used at universities across the county. NICK D. KISTLER is the new corporate sponsorship sales executive with ISP Sports’ University of Southern Mississippi property in Hattiesburg. Kistler was assistant general manager with a collegiate summer league baseball club in Edenton. CLAYTON MCCULOUGH is the youngest inductee for the J.H. Rose Walk of Fame at J.H. Rose High School in Greenville. After playing baseball and football at Rose and baseball at ECU, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians, made AAA Buffalo, worked as a hitting coach and manager for minor league baseball operations in the Gulf Coast League for the Toronto Blue Jays, and now manages the rookie league Lansing Lugnuts in Michigan. JOANNE MORACE is a nurse practitioner at Eastern Psychiatric & Behavioral Specialists. An RN for 15 years, she worked with critical care patients at PCMH.  

2005
CELESTE AMSTUTZ and DAVID LEICH ’06 were married July 26 at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington. At ECU, she was in Alpha Xi Delta, he was in Kappa Alpha, and both are in the MBA program. AMY BRIT ASKEW and Stephen Douglas Craft III were married Sept. 20 in Kinston and live in Greenville. She is office manager of Hometown Pharmacy of Greenville. NICHOLE DUN ’05 ’08 is a student counselor at Edgecombe Community College. She was a rehabilitation counselor at Vocational Rehabilitation in Rocky Mount. JEF GADIS is a maintenance sales consultant at the Greenville office of Piedmont Air Conditioning. He previously worked with a property management company. ERIN MARIE SOWELL and David Charles Davis of Greenville were married Nov. 1 in Wilmington. She is an advertising executive with Inner Banks Media.  

2004
JASON MATTHEW ELDRIDGE and KENDRA NICOLE CLEMENT ’06 were married Oct. 18 at the Village Inn Golf and Conference Center in Clemmons, and they live in Mount Airy. He is a graphic artist with Encore Group in Winston-Salem, and she is a court counselor with the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Stokes County. MICHAEL HOLT is a vice president and commercial banker in the Greenville office of The Little Bank. He worked for First Citizens Bank and Albemarle Bank & Trust. MARIAN IONE LOWE ’04 ’06 of Raleigh and DARYL ROS KENNEDY ’05 of Goldsboro were married Oct. 25 in Winston-Salem. A 2001 debutante and member of Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Omicron Nu honor societies, she is an early intervention service coordinator for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services in Smithfield. He is a project manager for Hine Sitework in Goldsboro, where they live. KRISTIE MICHELE PETERSON of Pfafftown and JONATHAN BRUCE COMER of Yadkinville were married Dec. 6 in Winston-Salem and live in King. In Winston-Salem, she is an R.N. at Forsyth Medical Center, and he is a quality engineer for BE Aerospace. WILLIAM LEE PERCISE II of Snow Hill is an attorney with White & Allen, a regional firm based in Kinston. He received his law license on Sept. 8. ERICA LYN STOCKS and Christopher Brian Evans were married Aug. 2 at Yankee Hall Plantation and live in Greenville. She is self-employed.

2003
CHRISTINA LYN CRAWFORD ’03 ’08 and Frederick Casey Edwards of Ayden were married Oct. 4. She works for Pitt County Schools. DENA MARSHAL and Jeremy Konkel of Apex had a son, Nolan Adam, on May 2. She is assistant director of public affairs at the N.C. Medical Board. LEIGH ANN POTTER and KELLY CHRISTOPHER HODGES ’04 of Wilmington were married Oct. 11 in Greenville. She works at Cape Fear Academy, and he is a project superintendent with Harold K. Jordan Construction. BENJAMIN TAYLOR WILLIAMS and JEANNE NICOLE HORNE WILLIAMS ’04 of Pinehurst had a daughter, Kenley Nicole, on Sept. 6.  

2002
Dr. JOHN HOWARD BROOKS, a cardiologist at Scotland Memorial Hospital and a Pembroke native, opened Lumber River Cardiology in Laurinburg. At BSOM, where he completed a three-year cardiovascular-disease fellowship, he received the PCMH Presidential Service Award. STEVE SETSER of Belhaven was promoted to vice president and auditor for The East Carolina Bank. He was a staff auditor for four years, completed his third year at the N.C. Bankers Association School of Banking, and is in ECU’s MBA program.

2001
PATRICK F. ABRAMS of Mount Olive was promoted to banking officer in the Warsaw office of Southern Bank. He previously was a repairman at Buddy’s Jewelry in Mount Olive. JENIFER DIANE ANGEVINE and James William Gentry of Winterville were married July 19 in Wilmington. She works at the N.C. Biotechnology Center in Greenville and is in Pitt Community College’s nursing program. MELISSA DAWN BARRINGTON and Matthew Douglas McClelland of Raleigh were married Aug. 23 in the Preston Woodall House gardens in Benson. She is a realtor for Keller-Williams in Raleigh. MELISA DAWN CASPER ’01 ’04 and Christopher Aaron Reaves were married Sept. 17. She is a financial analyst for Time Warner Cable in Wilmington. LAURIN LEONARD DEATON and ZACHARY NORRIS DEATON ’04 ’07 had a son, Luke Zachary, on Nov. 6. TOD ALSTON HALES ’01 ’05 and Emily Kelly Fleming of Greenville were married Aug. 9 and live in Durham. He is a project analyst with PRA International. APRIL NICOLE HERING ’01 ’02 and JOHN PATRICK GARVER ’03 of Goldsboro were married Nov. 8. She is marketing director at Southco Distributing Co. in Goldsboro. He is a sales representative with Eastern Turf Equipment in Fayetteville. BRYAN HOLEY ’01 ’07 of Wilson, a fourth-grade teacher at Corinth-Holders Elementary School in Zebulon, received the Milken Family Foundation National Educator award, which includes $25,000 and a free trip to the Milken National Education Conference in Los Angeles. The award goes to no more than 80 teachers each year, and since the program’s start in 1985, 43 N.C. teachers have received the award. JOSEPH HOOVER was promoted to assistant vice president with BB&T in Raleigh. From Greensboro, he joined the bank in 2005 and is an investment counselor. DONA WELLER STALLS was promoted to vice president at BB&T. Since 2001, she was process and quality manager in BB&T’s branch operations department in Wilson. CHAD TRACY, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ third baseman, visited Clark-LeClair Stadium for the first time during Homecoming 2008 and talked with the ECU baseball players. He is married to KATIE MARTIN TRACY ’03. ASHLEY WRIGHT of Newport News, Va., and Morgan Ryan Terry of Dallas, Tex., were married in Williamsburg, Va., on Nov. 1 and live in Charlotte. She is a transportation planner with PBS&J, a national planning and engineering consulting firm.

2000
DONA DEES ALDREDGE, a Chi Omega sister, had a son, William Beecher Aldredge, on Jan. 23, 2008. RICHARDSON COWLES TALY of Oakland, Calif., and Elise Marie Kopesky of Camden, Maine, were married July 27 outdoors at Garre Vineyard in Livermore, Calif., and live in Oakland. He is patron services manager for the Berkeley Symphony.

1999
TAMIKA “MEEK” JACKSON and Onjeinika “Polly” Brooks, sisters originally from Wilmington, founded Polly & Meek Partnership, a book writing company. Their first book, Sisters Are from Heaven, includes Meek’s photos and Polly’s lessons for children. Jackson works in biotechnology in Washington, D.C., and owns Portraits by Tamika, a company specializing in affordable location and small wedding shoots.

1998
DEBRA ANN BARD and Gregory Thomas Fowler Jr. of Raleigh were married Oct. 4 at Haywood Hall in Raleigh. She is a pharmaceutical representative with Merck & Co. IAN ANDREW CARY and JENIFER JOY PREVATT CARY ’99 of Statesville had their first child, Callum Andrew, on June 12. JOY EUBANKS started the Marley Fund in 2001 to memorialize her cat who died of feline leukemia, and the Greenville-based program has expanded to the Triangle with a foster program called Marley’s Cat Tales for cats with feline AIDS. TED LOCKAMON is recreation services supervisor for Henderson, Nev. There since 1998, he is married to ELIZABETH BRUSOCK ’95. EDWARD WILIAM TURCOTTE III and Meghann Rae Stubbs were married July 12 on the promenade deck of the Henrietta III in Wilmington. He is a sales associate with Carolina Jewelry in Wilmington, where they live. RUSSELL VERNON of Wentworth was named Rockingham County Schools 2008–2009 Assistant Principal of the Year. He taught science, and since receiving his master’s from Appalachian State in 2006, has been assistant principal at Wentworth Elementary School. CHRIS WALKER of Greensboro launched Produce-A-Pic, a company that sells film promo packs to help finance independent films in preproduction stages. Walker also owns 5Rings Design, a branded content development company, and Ve-Shan, a documentary and feature film company.

1997
MATTHEW CAVE was promoted to senior project manager for the Target store construction team with John S. Clark Co., where he has worked at the corporate office in Mount Airy since 2003. He and his wife, EMILY CAVE ’05, live in Dobson, manage a family farm, and have three daughters. JENNY GAY and Jason Everett of Huntersville were married Sept. 13 in Clinton. She works with Stone Properties of Huntersville. AMANDA ROSS MAZEY and her husband, Randy, had a daughter, Sierra Maranda Mazey, on Aug. 24. A WITN news/sports anchor/ reporter for eight years, Mazey is now a freelance broadcaster in Fort Worth, Texas, and also works for The Mountain Network. JANIE SOWERS TAYLOR is a licensed marriage and family therapist and an approved clinical supervisor at CareNet Counseling East in Greenville, and she is working on her doctorate in medical family therapy.

1996
DEBRA DAVIS BAILEY ’96 ’00 became director of student loans at ECU in July after eight years as the financial administrator at Philippi Church of Christ. KATHY FLICK ’96 ’97 of Atlanta founded It’s Her Team, a women’s line of sportswear. JENNIFER HEMINK is the new owner of A Proper Setting in Greenville’s Arlington Village after teaching middle school for nine years. Dr. SCOTT ALAN KENDRICK ’96 ’02 is a nephrologist at the Greenville office of Eastern Nephrology Associates after completing his residency in Maine and fellowships in Alabama.

1995
LISA WRIGHT CARTWRIGHT and CLAY CARTWRIGHT ’96 expanded their 10-year-old Halloween Express franchise to two locations in Greenville for the fall 2008 season. Lisa also owns Debu Cafe and Catering. CLAIRE CULBREATH of Winston-Salem started a new career as a singer-songwriter. A music therapy major, she went blind from juvenile diabetes in 1998 at age 28, and underwent years of rehabilitation that included learning to play piano by ear with the help of Michael “Zoo” Zeoli of the band Joe Next Door. She plays jazz, sacred and popular songs in a band called Shadowbox Two. WILLIAM HUNTER LLOYD JR. and KATHRYN ELIZABETH LENOX ’01 of Greenville were married Nov. 22.

1994
MATT HOLDER returned to Greenville, reopened his hair salon and expanded his Matt Holder Hairstyling products to 14 shampoos, conditioners, sprays, mists, foams and smoothers. A stylist for 20 years, he was a product formulation educator for Joico in California, but left for lack of sweet tea and barbecue. He plans to start an apprenticeshipstyle education alternative to community college beauty school programs. BRIAN JOHNSON and Jamie Rothman of Raleigh and Jacksonville, Fla., were married Oct. 25 at Old St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville. They work for a local television station. CHARLIE LEE MEEKS JR. of Newport and Erin Ruth Bradley of Garner were married Oct. 18 at Jones Chapel at Meredith College in Raleigh and live in Morehead City. He is a probation officer in Jacksonville. JEAN M. SUGG ’94 ’06 of Grifton is a legal administrator with White & Allen, a regional law firm based in Kinston.

1993
KIM HAMPTON ’93 ’05 is the new student support specialist at Edgecombe Community College. She was a counselor and taught French and Spanish at Southwest Edgecombe High School. LISA SPIRIDOPOULOS HERMAN and her husband, Josh, of La Quinta, Calif., had their first child, Mackenzie Barbara, on June 17. MICHAEL POLLARD ’93 ’06, assistant principal at Greenville’s Hope Middle School, was named Pitt County’s assistant principal of the year. In education for 16 years, he was president of the N.C. Bandmasters Association Eastern District and helps coordinate the “Stang Power” mentoring program.

1992
CHRISTIAN KEIBER of Los Angeles guest starred as Boston wise-guy Paul Reilly on TNT’s Raising the Bar, as ex-mobster Paulie on ABC’s General Hospital, and federal marshal Panicali on NBC’s ER in September. KENNY STRICKLAND of Fayetteville was appointed to the ECU Board of Visitors. KENDRICK WHITEHURST was promoted to senior vice president with BB&T in Greenville. From Wilson, he joined the bank in 2001 and is a group director in the private financial services department. He is president of Literacy Volunteers of Pitt County and treasurer of the United Way of Pitt County.

1991
DAVID CRUMPLER of Greenville was promoted to assistant vice president for East Carolina Bank marketing, which works with all 24 ECB locations and ECB Bancorp. He previously was a marketing and public relations consultant in Wake County. MARK A. MOORE of Raleigh co-produced a surf-rock album, Encomium In Memoriam Vol. 1: Jan Berry of Jan & Dean, with Cameron Michael Parkes of Box o’ Clox. The album includes more than 20 guest artists, five of whom played or sang for original Jan & Dean material in the 1960s. It was also featured in The News & Observer.

1990
SUSAN LANEHART RHODES of Fuquay-Varina received her National Board Certification in school counseling. She has 16 years of experience as a teacher and counselor in Wake County Public Schools. She and her husband, MICHAEL RHODES ’04, have three sons. DOUG WALKER, a Miami, Fla.-based steel drum artist, released a 17-track CD titled Caribbean Christmas: Holiday Songs in a Steel Band Style.

1989
MARK KLAICH is the new manager of the ReStore at Habitat for Humanity of Pitt County. He previously worked with design and installation of commercial security systems. He is married to KAREN KLAICH ’83. NANCY MCNEIL PETERSON ’89 ’93 and Jeff Peterson of Wilmington had a son, Chase McNeill Peterson, on Aug. 5.

1987
CHARLES PILKEY of Mint Hill exhibited his sculpture The Sound of Waves at the Mint Hill Arts November show “Three in One.” After growing up in Hillsborough, working for an oil company, sailing the East Coast, bartending in Wrightsville Beach, living in Japan for 15 years and teaching at Kyushu Sangyo University in Fujuoka, he paints and sculpts at his home studio. He teaches part time at Central Piedmont Community College and Spartanburg Community College; he has exhibited pieces in Japan, China, Korea, Turkey and Italy.

1986
KAREN J. RENZ was a finalist for Cincy Magazine’s ATHENA Award for women professionals and community leaders in the Greater Cincinnati Area. A partner in Graydon Head & Ritchey law firm, she co-chairs the firm’s communications and information industry and women’s professional development groups. She is involved in the Cincinnati Area Senior Services Board, Leadership Cincinnati Class XXVIII, Executive Women’s Golf Association, and volunteers in pet therapy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and with VITAS. The West Chester Chamber Alliance named her a Woman of Excellence. OLIVIA SCOTT founded a promotional products company, Promotional Partners, in 2007. Based in Cary, it supports two high school intern programs, PTA school improvement teams, and business alliance committees. As an Apex Chamber ambassador, she is on an education committee that develops opportunities for youth and business leaders to interact.

1985
KATHEE BROWN STATON ’85 ’88 and Boyd Ingram of Nashville, Tenn., are married and live in Lebanon, Tenn. They were regulars on the Renfro Valley Barndance show in Kentucky, where he was a lead singer for The Casinos and she recently hosted the annual Alumni Day performance.

1984
TOM HALES of Greenville received the Regional Service Award from the N.C. Association of Realtors. He was president of his local association in 1994, director and chair of the Legislative Committee and Professional Standards, and for 20 years has been a member of the Greenville-Pitt Association of Realtors. BETH A. WOOD of Raleigh, a Durham CPA, was elected North Carolina state auditor. It was her first run for office. When not crunching numbers, she enjoys shag dancing, snow and water skiing, and reading bestsellers.

1982
JAMYE BORCHERT COOPER is a major gifts officer for UNC Asheville. She previously was executive director of the international festival Folkmoot USA and chief financial officer for the Daniel Boone Boy Scout Council in Asheville. SUSAN FREELAND PAPARAZO of Morehead City got her master’s at Old Dominion University, has two daughters aged 23 and 25, and is a nurse practitioner at Western Carteret Medical Center in Cedar Point.

1981
DAWN SINGLETON ’81 ’93, principal at Wintergreen Primary and Intermediate schools, was named Pitt County’s principal of the year. She was on the State Department of Public Instruction’s Testing and Accountability Compliance Commission for four years.

1980
WALLACE “BUTCH” DAVIS was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame. He lettered in baseball for three years, leading the team his senior year in batting average (.362), home runs (12), and RBIs (27). RUFIN MCNEIL JR., originally of Lumberton and now of Lubbock, Texas, is defensive coordinator for the Texas Tech football team. At Tech since 2000, he was linebackers coach before his promotion to assistant head coach in 2003. He is married to ERLENE MCNEIL ’79. JAMES M. RANKINS received the Amy Carroll-Sherry Little Award for excellence in physical education in Pitt County Schools and was selected to coach the East team in the N.C. High School Athletic Association East-West All Star Game. He and his wife, DORIS KORNEGAY RANKINS ’79 ’88, have a teenage son, Tyler. THOMAS CRAIG WILLIAMS ’80 ’83, formerly of Jacksonville, Fla., is vice president for global organizational effectiveness with Wal-Mart and is based at the company’s home office in Bentonville, Ark.

1978
WILIAM JOSEPH ETHERIDGE ’78 ’86 ’03, principal of Phillips Middle School in Battleboro, was named 2008–2009 Edgecombe County Public Schools Principal of the Year. He has more than 30 years experience as a teacher, counselor, instructional support specialist, and administrator.

1977
JACK D. LAIL, news director of innovation for the Knoxville News Sentinel, was elected to a one-year term on the Associated Press Managing Editors board during the group’s annual conference in Las Vegas. REGGIE PINKNEY was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame. A defensive back who played in the NFL for five years, he set the school record of 197 yards in interception returns his senior year. His son Patrick is an ECU quarterback.

1976
MIKE RADFORD and Maureen Ryczak of Wilson celebrated their 30th anniversary on Dec. 29. A diabetes care specialist with Novo Nordisk, he has 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. They have two sons, Brian and CHRIS RADFORD ’07.

1975
ROBERT BAREFOOT retired as Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation director after 30 years in parks management. He was parks and recreation director for Harnett County and Wake Forest before becoming the Fayetteville-Cumberland superintendent of parks in 1983 and director in 1988. GLENN EURE, the Nags Head artist who created the original design for Greenville’s Pirate statues unveiled in 2008, was featured on WRAL TV’s “Tar Heel Traveler” news segment in October. IRA “GLEN” CUTREL JR. retired from Pitt County government after 30 years with the tax assessor’s office, the last nine years as tax assessor. He works part-time in marketing with Tax Management Associates of Charlotte. H. GERALD PITMAN of Kenly retired Nov. 1 after 30 years as an accounting manager with the City of Wilson.

1972
TONY ROBERTSON BANKS of Winterville pledged $100,000 to the ECU College of Education. EDWARD V. ENGLISH retired as director of children’s outpatient services at Edgecombe-Nash Mental Health Center in Rocky Mount. He also ran a private psychology practice. MICHAEL “MIKE” DAVID JAREL retired to Southern Pines after 35 years in the brick industry, the last 13 as director of national sales for Triangle Brick Co.

1971
DAVID L. BEST, owner of David L. Best and Associates since 1990 in Clinton, received his certification as a Social Security Disability Law specialist from the N.C. State Bar.

1965
Dr. MARIA H. KOONCE of Cocoa, Fla., published a book, Loving the Gringo: A Bicultural Life, about multicultural issues in her and her husband’s lives. She and BILL KOONCE ’68 met at the 1962 orientation dance behind Flanagan after he left the Navy and she arrived as a Fulbright Exchange student from Uruguay, and they pursued education careers. JERRY TOLEY ’65 ’66 was named to the 2008–2009 class of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

1961
BARBARA KELY of Keswick, Va., retired after 38 years as assistant athletics director at the University of Virginia. She also helped create the ACC women’s basketball tournament and co-founded U.Va.’s Women’s Faculty and Professional Association. She was the first woman on the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame board and was named one of ECU’s 100 Incredible Women.

1960
DAVE THOMAS was inducted into the Wingate University Sports Hall of Fame in October after being inducted into the N.C. Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 2005 and the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. He retired in 2003 after 42 years in education and is now on the Wayne County Board of Education.

1953
WILLIAM “BILL” H. ROWLAND received the Willie Parker Peace History Book Award from the N.C. Society of Historians for Through the Eyes of Soldiers: The Battle of Wyse Fork, Kinston, North Carolina, March 7–10, 1865, a book that documents Union and Confederate troop movements and battle lines and describes the largest mass capture of Union troops in North Carolina during the Civil War