East Magazine - Calls Notes

Alumni Spotlights

Nearly the whole Nash County town of Bailey gathered recently to celebrate the 100th birthday of Sarah May Stallings ’29, who taught school there for more than 30 years. Her daughters, Celia Glover ’63 of Bailey and Betsy May ’69 of New Bern, helped arrange the community event attended by about 300 people. Stallings may be East Carolina’s oldest living graduate.

“I taught many a person here in Bailey. I taught two generations of students several times,” says Stallings, who retired in 1985. After retiring, she started taking art classes at Wilson Tech and continued for the next 25 years. She painted “until I had pictures everywhere and I got tired of it,” she says. Today, Stallings reads two newspapers daily and at least one book a week. She plays bridge and she makes it a point to walk outside twice each day, weather permitting. Besides eating sensibly (which includes an occasional meal at Parker’s Barbecue) and staying active, Stallings says it is important to “take each day at a time, because we can’t control tomorrow. Give the best to your Master and the best will come back to you. I have been very fortunate in my life. I’m very blessed.” She has two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

What were her most memorable experiences at ECTTS? “One is that in 1928 there were rumors going around that the world was about to end. Many of us girls were pretty scared. So, President Wright said that as many of us who could fit in there should come and spend that night in Cotten (Residence Hall). He brought a mattress and put it down in the hall on the third floor and spent the night there with us. Also, I remember when I first went to college, a lot of the girls were pretty homesick at first. Mr. Wright told us we should write a long letter home telling everybody how homesick we were and that we wanted to quit college and come home. But he said not to mail that letter but put it in a drawer and wait two weeks. After two weeks we could take out the letter and read it again. He said if we still felt like mailing the letter then, to go ahead. I didn’t mail mine and I don’t think any of the other girls did, either.”

DucNyugen.psd

It’s the most common family name in Vietnam, so it’s not surprising that few of the more than 30 Nguyens who have graduated from ECU since 1992 are closely related. But it does seem unusual that two of them are world-class chefs.

Duc Nguyen ’00 says that only one of the other ECU Nguyens is a relative—an aunt, Phuong Nguyen ’05. But he doesn’t have much time to talk because the lunch rush is about to start at his latest restaurant, Sanuki Japanese Steak and Seafood on Neuse Boulevard in New Bern. It joins the family’s two other restaurants, Musashi Japanese Steak & Seafood Restaurant on Glenburnie Road in New Bern, and another by the same name on Arendell Street in Morehead City. A fourth was expected to open in Havelock late this year or early next. Duc Nguyen, 32, is president of the family business that owns them all.

Meanwhile, food critics are raving about Wasabi 88, the trendy Asian bistro and sushi bar that Dai Nguyen ’01 opened in Greenville. Our State magazine recently named it one of the 100 Must-Places to Eat in North Carolina. Dai learned to cook from his mom at an early age and turned his passion for food into a business. He describes Wasabi 88’s menu as a blend of Asian cultures fused with American.

Born in Vietnam, Duc Nyuyen and a younger sister emigrated with their father in a wooden boat. After two years in refugee camps in Hong Kong and the Philippines, the family came to America with the help of a Catholic priest, the Rev. Donald Staib of Apex, and the family settled in the Triangle. While in high school in Durham, Nguyen worked in local restaurants to help support his family. A chemistry major at ECU, he didn’t plan to go into the restaurant business. He opened the first Musashi restaurant in New Bern about nine years ago. The family opened the Morehead City location six years ago.

Staib said he first met Duc Nguyen and his family while they were in a camp in the Philippines, and he helped to resettle them. “After they got jobs and things, they were on their own,” Staib says. “As you can probably tell, this family has done extremely well.”

"Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise” is one of the more appealing songs by the Avett Brothers. It’s a tune that hauntingly explores, as Scott Avett ’99 ’00 says, “the temporary nature of our buildings and our mentality.” Now there’s a video to go with the song produced by another ECU alumnus, New York artist Jason Mitcham ’02. The video is composed of some 2,600 alterations to a single picture. Shown in strobe-light fashion—you actually see 10 images per second—the video depicts an entire town arising, prospering and then declining to ruins. NPR called the song a “spare but stunning work of art.”

Avett and Mitcham, both art majors, were a few years apart in school here but knew each other and have kept in touch since graduation. While Scott Avett and brother Seth, a UNC Charlotte graduate, were paying their musical dues and gaining a measure of fame, Mitcham opted for grad school at the University of Florida, where he completed a master of fine arts degree in 2005. He currently operates a studio in Long Island City that he shares with his wife, who is also a visual artist.

“My story at ECU is pretty similar to Scott’s, minus the music,” Mitcham tells us. “I studied a lot under Leland Wallin, concentrating on painting the figure. I have the highest regard for all of the professors I worked with there—Leland Wallin, Michael Voors, Paul Hartley and Scott Eagle—among others. There seemed to be an amazing energy going on with the group of students that were there at the time. Both the faculty and body of students set up a really wonderful community that I feel was crucial to my development as an artist.”

Mitcham says the high point of his college experience was a study trip to Italy led by Michael Voors and James McElhinney. “We spent four weeks studying painting and drawing. We based ourselves out of a small town where we could develop an intense studio practice, while also taking trips to view works by Italian painters of the Veneto Region. It was the first time I had seen historical paintings like that in person, and it had a profound, immediate effect on me. Scott was part of this program as well.”

As a teenager, Michelle Congleton ’95 ’97 considered being a model, but the Raleigh-born daughter of a Wake County magistrate and a city councilman had other dreams, too. After completing a bachelor’s and a master’s here, she graduated from N.C. Central University School of Law and opened her own law firm, Congleton Law PC, in Raleigh. While being photographed for her firm’s web site, the photographer told her that local retailers like hiring models in their mid-30s because it adds a layer of authenticity. “I thought it could be a fun hobby,” Congleton says, “but I wondered how I could turn it into something more meaningful.”

So began Models for Charity, a group of professional men and women who raise money for Triangle charities through modeling. When they get paid work, a minimum of 25 percent of their wages goes to a local charity, with the tax benefit going to the employer who gave them the work. Models for Charity participated in about 20 fundraising events in the Triangle in 2010, including WakeMed Hospital’s successful Just for Kids campaign.

There are more than 30 members of Models for Charity, working in real estate, restaurant management, computer programming, law and other professions. Not all members walk the runway, but all are focused on benefiting the Triangle community. “I am so proud of our organization and all we have been able to do in such a short time for our community,” Congleton says. “The members of Models for Charity are some of the most fabulous people I know and I feel extremely lucky to be part of this group.”

Congleton is a third-generation Pirate. Her father is former Raleigh City Council member Mort Congleton ’70 of Raleigh; her grandmother is Alice Pelletier Tetterton ’33.

—The Raleigh News & Observer contributed to this report

Books by alumni

AA Voices.psd Take the U Out of Clutter
Penguin Books
272 pages, $16

Mark Brunetz ’85 won a daytime Emmy Award in June for his work as the co-star of Clean House on the Style Network, and now he’s co-authored a book offering his best tips on how to get rid of clutter around the home. Take the U Out of Clutter: The Last Clutter Book You’ll Ever Need is part how-to and part self-help. The objective of the book is to make readers recognize why they acquire so much stuff in the first place, and then motivate them to let go of the stories behind the things they save. Brunetz, who grew up in Raleigh where his mother still lives, says in the book that a cluttered home is a reflection of a cluttered mind. We keep objects not for what they are, he writes, but for the memories we associate with them. Brunetz, who broke into Hollywood making exercise videos for Jane Fonda before co-founding Fortis Films with actress Sandra Bullock (they were friends in college), became a co-host of Clean House in 2002.

It’s Not Just Who You Know
Broadway Books
320 pages, $23

Tommy Spaulding ’92, the former Up with People CEO and former ECU Leader in Residence, has written what’s being called the How to Win Friends and Influence People for the 21st Century. A New York Times bestseller, It’s Not Just Who You Know promotes the value of building powerful relationships in business and in life. With a foreward by Ken Blanchard, management expert and author of The One Minute Manager, Spaulding’s book takes Dale Carnegie’s classic philosophy to the next level, showing how, by developing deeper relationships through giving to others and putting them first, we benefit as well.

AA Voices.psd African American Voices from Iwo Jima: Personal Accounts of the Battle
McFarland
260 pages, $38

Clarence E. Willie ’94 ’99 received a 2010 Congressional Black Caucus Veterans’ Braintrust Award for his book, African American Voices from Iwo Jima: Personal Accounts of the Battle, and for his other works for black veterans. “After three years of laboring and toiling…the most important thing is to get these guys’ story out,” Willie said about the vets. “Each one of them is so happy to get their story out there.” The book tells the firsthand accounts of 11 black soldiers who participated in the World War II battle of Iwo Jima. The men talk about their lives during the Great Depression before they enlisted, their military training, their service during the war and their homecoming. These are stories that Willie and the executive coordinator of the Veterans’ Braintrust, Ron Armstead, were afraid could one day be lost. The book is “one of those nuggets, pearls of wisdom, that would have been lost to the ages,” Armstead said.

Sorority sisters often become best friends in college. Occasionally they set off together after graduation to seek fame and fortune. Rarely, they also become partners in a successful business. Jamie Lynn Sigler ’01 and Sarah Evans ’01 have accomplished that unusual triple play with J Public Relations, a bi-coastal public relations firm specializing in upscale hospitality clientele.

The Alpha Xi Delta sisters left Greenville for Southern California “because we wanted an adventure and we both loved sunshine,” Sigler says. A public relations major, Sigler ventured into the public relations business and co-founded an agency, J Public Relations, with new friend Kim Julin Guyader. Evans, a political science major who was always involved with the media, started her career in public relations as well. After several years Evans left laid-back California to the high-powered New York media scene.

When JPR decided to break into the New York market last year, Sigler knew where to find the perfect candidate to partner with on the new venture. Before she opened the firm’s New York office in 2009, Evans had spent years in New York City managing public relations campaigns for hotels around the world. “JPR has had such a presence in Southern California and we partnered up to make this more of a national agency and bring in clients outside of Southern California and also globally,” Sigler says. “I left an incredible position in the midst of the recession to launch this venture, but I knew in my heart it would succeed. Jamie and I both have a ‘take over the world’ mentality and I know that the sky is the limit. Working with a best friend makes the success that much sweeter,” says Evans.

Sigler, a specialist in traditional broadcast and print publications, focuses on the luxury travel and lifestyle industries. Most recently, Sigler was recognized by San Diego Metropolitan Magazine as one of its 40 Under Forty award for excellence in business and community service. She provides pro bono work to The New Children’s Museum, AIDS Walk San Diego, Mama’s Kitchen and St. Baldrick’s.

Evans has traveled to over 30 countries working with clients, including The Dorchester in London, Plaza Athenee in Paris and the Beverly Hills Hotel. She is a media specialist focusing on luxury travel, Evans, a member of the New York Junior League, lives in Manhattan with her husband, Eric, who also attended East Carolina University.

Pitt county teachers honored

MOLLIE MCKEITHAN ’06 was named Pitt County Teacher of the Year. Teacher of the Year finalists included SUE ANNE BLANK ’00 ’05, LAUREN BOWERS ’03 and RHYS MYRICK POTTS ’05 ’06. Teacher of the Year nominees for high school included ANN SCARBOROUGH MCCLUNG ’86, SUSAN PEARCE ’84 ’90 and RACHEL LEONARD SERVIA ’03. Teacher of the Year nominees for middle school included SARAH WILLIAMS ’02, JAMI BENDLE ’98 ’02, CORA GORHAM-WHITE ’92 and DEBBIE HUGGINS ’86. Teacher of the Year nominees for elementary school included TINA BEACHAM ’92, JULIE BRICKHOUSE ’88, TAMARA CAIN ’05 ’08, YVONNE CARROLL ’04, RUTH COLLINS ’87, LATONJIA MOORE COLUMBUS ’03, DAN CONGLETON ’79 ’86, TARA S. CRENSHAW ’97, JANET DRUESCHLER ’06, JOANN LANSCHE HOWARD ’79 ’85, CHRISTLE DOWDY MCKINNEY ’96 ’99 ’00, KAMARA C. ROACH ’99 ’04 ’09, AMBER SAULS ’05, AMY SHEPPARD ’89 ’90, RENEE SHEPPARD ’96 ’07 and LAURA MANNING WHITEHURST ’88.

It’s usually bad news when Robert Benzon ’71 gets a phone call. Often, it’s news that an airliner with dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of passengers has fallen out of the sky. Most are dead; everyone wants to know why it happened. That’s his job, determining what went wrong and how to fix it. As the senior air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, it’s a job he’s performed nearly 100 times over the past 26 years. Sometimes, a tense nation watches intently as he works, as in November 2001—just two months after 9/11—when an American Airlines flight with 260 passengers flamed out of the sky over New York and crashed into the water off Queens, killing everyone aboard. Terrorism was suspected; Benzon concluded the crash was caused by the pilot’s excessive force on a vertical stabilizer bar. His best day on the job? That probably would be Jan. 15, 2009, after a flock of geese crippled both engines on a US Airways flight just after take-off, and the pilot managed to glide the plane to a safe landing in what’s now known as the Miracle on the Hudson. The crew and all 155 passengers walked away unharmed. Amid the rejoicing, Benzon went about his work as always. He still had to find out what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. His steady focus on improving airline safety was recognized this year when he was a finalist for the 2010 Service to America medal awarded by the Partnership for Public Service to honor the commitment and innovations of federal workers.

Jim Cross ’64 ’65 roamed the world during a 23-year Air Force career but he always knew he would retire to Hubert, near Camp Lejeune, because that’s where his cars were. Over the years he bought several classics like this 1955 Thunderbird and stored them in a garage in Hubert. He’s had ample time to get reacquainted with his collection since his retirement in 1993. With the addition of a 1963 Chevy Impala Super Sport and three classic motorcycles, that garage is getting pretty crowded.

Director Antti J. Jokien ’92 makes his American film directing debut with The Resident, starring Hillary Swank. Jokien also co-wrote the script about a young doctor who moves into a Brooklyn loft, then discovers her landlord is a stalker. The Hammer Films release co-starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christopher Lee is Jokien’s first full-length feature film, although he’s widely known in Europe for producing TV miniseries and in New York as a sought-after producer of music videos. Jokien, who is 6’ 71/2”, came to ECU on a basketball scholarship and graduated with honors in broadcast and film. As a student he made a short film based on Jim Morrison’s poetry, Fist Full of Sand, which won a North Carolina Film Festival award. That got him noticed in New York and a job at MTV. After eight years producing music shows, he returned to his native Finland and co-founded Solar Films, which has grown into Finland’s largest TV and film producer. Lately he’s been busy in New York directing music videos for Will Smith, Beyonce, Eminem, Korn and Celine Dion.

It was close but no banana for Taylor Ross ’99, the Wilmington cake baker extraordinaire who competed on the Food Network Challenge. The television show pitted four teams of two cake makers against each other in a timed race to produce the best-decorated and most creative cake. Ross and partner Alison Meehan, who owns Alison’s Cakery in Wilmington, came close but weren’t chosen for the $10,000 prize. Neither have been professionally trained in baking; Ross’s degree is in art. Although they didn’t win, the judges were impressed. The Food Network invited them back.

Scott Avett ’99 ’00 earned degrees in communication and art at East Carolina while also charting a musical path that led to the creation of folk-rock band the Avett Brothers. Tireless performers and prolific songwriters, the Avetts capture the energy of their concerts on Live,Volume 3, released in October on mega-producer Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label. The album was recorded in August 2009 at Bojangles’ Coliseum in Charlotte, just down the road from Scott and brother/band cofounder Seth’s hometown of Concord.

Above: The Homecoming football crowd is reflected in the ECU Marching Pirates’ sousaphone. Photograph by Forrest Croce

Click here to send in your news Go to the obituary page

By Joanne Kollar

2010

BROOKE JACINDA BARTON ’10 wed JARED THOMAS MCGUIRT ’08 on May 22 in Lake Toxaway. She is pursuing an MBA at ECU. LEWIS FEREBEE is chief of staff for Durham Public Schools. He was regional superintendent in Guilford County Schools. MARY LINDSAY JAMES wed John Wiley Caron on June 12 in Greenville. She teaches in Pitt County Schools. CAROL ANNE MILLS wed Steven Ray Briley on June 19 in Black Jack. She works in the Pitt County Clerk’s office. TAYLOR CLAIRE NICHOLS ’10 wed PHILIP DAVID HERENDEEN ’08 on July 17 in Greenville. At ECU she was an Alpha Delta Pi, and he was a Pi Kappa Alpha. He works in marketing for the law offices of James Scott Farrin. AMANDA JILL PETREE wed Jason Alan Mabe on Aug. 1 at an outdoor ceremony at Lake Norman. She works at Forsyth Memorial Hospital in Winston-Salem and Stokes-Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Danbury. SHAUN LINWOOD RESPESS wed Alesha Nicole Lamm on May 8 at a home on the Pamlico Sound. At ECU, he is pursuing an MBA, and she is pursuing a graduate nursing degree. AMBER JEANNINE ROBINSON of Greenville wed Casey Lee Parker on June 19 at The Duncan House on the Beaufort waterfront. KYLE ROLLER, ECU first baseman and designated hitter, was selected by the New York Yankees in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball draft. LISA MICHELLE SHEPPARD wed Robert Dumais Kornegay III on May 22 on Ocracoke Island. STEPHANIE TURNER is the varsity volleyball coach at the Academy at the Lakes in Tampa Bay, Fla. She played volleyball at ECU from 2006-09, served as the team captain during the 2008-09 season and was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team in 2008. JENNIFER WELLS was the resident metalsmith for 2010 at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

2009

LAURA JEAN BAKER wed Scott Christopher Suttmeier on an Outer Banks beach with a reception in the historic Kitty Hawk Pier ballroom. She works for Wells Fargo Bank in Winterville. HOLLY KERNS CAMPBELL wed GRAHAM CLARKSON SMITH on July 31 at the Pergola in Airlie Gardens in Wilmington. She works at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, and he works for Kent Homes. MALLORY JOY CARTER wed DAVID NELSON ADAMS on May 15 in Greenville. He works for The Daily Reflector in Greenville. KRISTEN LEIGH ELKS ’09 wed MICHAEL VERNON BARBER ’08 on June 5 at Atlantic Beach. He is an auditor with KPMG in Greensboro. HOLLY ANN SAILORS had an exhibition of her paintings at the Berkeley College Gallery in New York City. She is pursuing an MFA in painting at the New York Academy of Art. KIMBERLY SCOTT received the Outstanding ECU Volunteer for Pitt County Schools award as coordinator of ECU Reads, a campus-based literacy initiative promoted by the ECU Volunteer and Service Learning Center to increase the reading levels of local children. She is the education curriculum specialist and education workshop facilitator for Academics Plus Education and Assessment Center in Goldsboro. CHRISTOPHER T. WHITE was promoted to director of business development for the building division of Barnhill Contracting Co. in Raleigh. He is on the advisory board for the ECU construction management department. AMANDA “MANDY” WILSON joined Boylan Healthcare at its North Raleigh office, where her interests are preventative care, total healthcare and women’s healthcare. She was a patient care technician at Rex Hospital in Raleigh.

2008

O’CONOR GOOLRICK ASHBY wed Marcella Allyson Mitchell on June 12 at the Fort Monroe Gazebo, Fort Monroe, Va. He is a sales associate with Best Distributing Co. in Richmond, Va. ELIZABETH AYRES BRILEY ’08 wed ROBERT THOMAS SEAWELL ’03 on June 5 at Rose Hill Plantation in Nashville. She is a registered nurse in the Surgical Intermediate Unit of Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville and is pursuing a master’s in nursing education at ECU. He is the sales and quality control representative for Ready Mix Concrete Co. in Greenville. SARAH CAMPBELL moved to the education beat at the Salisbury Post where she was a copy editor. She was a reporter and copy editor at the Kinston Free Press before joining the Post. CHARLES MATTHEW COX of Greenville wed Ashley Marie Zadnik at Breezes Grand Resort in Negril, Jamaica. He is working on his PhD in rehabilitation counseling and administration at ECU. DEE DEE EHRLICH teaches third grade at Midway Elementary School in Lexington. BOBBY LEE LENNON is a probation officer in Durham County. MELISSA MCDOUGAL joined the Salisbury office of Home Instead Senior Care as the retention and recruiting coordinator. CATHERINE COLE MURRAY wed Craig Shane Ziencik on May 22 in Spring Hope. She earned an MBA from Methodist University and works at Louisburg College. AMANDA OUTCALT’s original acrylic-on-canvas piece, “Amanda Enjoys Long Walks on the Beach,” won the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia’s annual Boardwalk Art Show poster contest. She is the museum educator for visual arts through the Portsmouth (Virginia) Museums; enameling instructor at Titustown Visual Arts Center in Norfolk; gallery teacher and instructor for the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and studio artist. LAUREN ELIZABETH SLUSSER wed TAYLORE DALAS LEGGETT at Duke University Chapel in Durham on May 1. She is a claims adjuster for Horace Mann Insurance Company in Morrisville, and he is a police officer in Raleigh. MARY ELEANOR STEVENS wed Benjamin Lewis Webb on July 31 in a seaside ceremony at the Coral Bay Club in Atlantic Beach. She teaches special education in Surry County Schools. ANNA LOUISE WOODRULL ’08 wed SCOTT ANDREW FINSER ’09 on June 19 in Smithfield. At ECU she was a Kappa Delta, and he was a Beta Theta Pi.

2007

SHAMMAH BARRETT is the principal of Falkland Elementary School where she was the assistant principal. BETH MARIE COREY wed ANDREW PAUL COOPER on March 6 at Rock Springs Center in Greenville. He is enrolled at ECU. SCOTT POAG ’07 ’09 is the existing industries coordinator for the Pitt County Development Commission. CHRISTOPHER S. MCDONALD teaches English and is the golf coach at the Oakwood School in Greenville. He taught and coached at Rockingham Middle School in Rockingham. DARRELL RICHARDSON is the principal of the Roberson Center for Educational Achievement in Tarboro. He was assistant principal at SouthWest Edgecombe High School. LEE SCHWARZ has two successful healthcare businesses, passed the CPA exam in Maryland and is engaged to be married. ASHLIE SHEPARD is a business assurance senior associate at Moore Colson, an accounting firm in Marietta, Ga. TONY SICELOFF is a senior associate at the public accounting firm of Goodman & Company, LLP, at their Danville, Va., office. BETSY ERIN STAINBACK wed Timothy Dwane Brinson on May 22 in Raleigh. She is a student at the UNC Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy. ALYSSA SUGAR joined the clinical staff at the Carolina Centre in Greenville. She is a licensed clinical addiction specialist and a licensed professional counselor specializing in the treatment of adults and teenagers with addiction disorders.

2006

ROBERT ALTON is a project manager at Carver Machine Works in Washington, N.C. He was with BE&K as a project engineer and assistant superintendent responsible for a $24-million detention facility expansion. ASHLEY KRISTIN BIGGS wed Stephen Ward Causey on July 10 in Greenville. She is employed by Pitt County Schools. JASON BROWN became a certified zoning official for the town of Garner. Dr. CHRISTINA DELUCA joined the Oconee OB/Gyn Associates in Seneca, S.C. WHITNEY GRAU ’06 ’10 joined Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, D.C., in their human resources department. REBECCA BLAKE HARBIN ’06 wed TOM PETTUS HARRIS III ’05 on July 24 in Wilmington. She is in ECU’s master in nursing program, and he is the owner of Harris Marine, LLC, in Morehead City. TRACY SANDS is the principal of Karns High School in Knox County, Tenn. She was principal at a middle school near Boston, Mass. DOUGLAS SCHILLER ’06 ’08 won Student of the Year for the class of 2012 at the Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Knoxville, Tenn. JOSEPH SIANO ’06 wed DANA REED SIANO ’07 on Feb. 14, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nev. They have a son, Greyson Mitchell, and live in Chesterfield, Va., where he is a lead estimator at Atlantic Construction Fabrics, and she works for Chesterfield County. AARON BURT SWINSON wed Morgan Leigh Hannan on May 22 in Chinquapin. He works for Dixie General Contractors Inc. in Wallace. CINDY TAYLOR, an occupational therapist at Therapeutic Life Center in Greenville, completed advanced training to become certified in therapeutic listening, used to treat children and adults with sensory processing disorders, poor balance or coordination, ADD/ADHD, autism/PDD or learning disabilities.

2005

TRAVIS ALFORD received the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. He teaches at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. ADAM L. BAKER was sworn in as an attorney at law and practices at Christian E. Dysart Attorney at Law, PLLC, in Raleigh. Air Force Airman LATORA BURROUGHS graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. JOSH CROWELL is director of the Health and Wellness Center in Warsaw. KAREN DAMERON is the interim assistant superintendent of human resource services for the Edgecombe County Public Schools District. JENNIFER LUPTON DELAMAR wed Charles Terry Goss Jr. on June 26 in Oriental. She teaches high school art at Harnett Central High School in Angier. SARA LOUISE EVERETT wed John Francis Boyle on July 10 in an outside ceremony at The Crest Center in Asheville. She is a massage therapist at the Grove Park Inn Spa in Asheville. KELLY MICHELLE JOYNER wed Steven Patrick Jacobs on July 17 at Kingston Plantation Resort in Myrtle Beach. She teaches at Pactolus School in Greenville. Dr. CHARLES “CHIP” LENNON graduated from Sherman School of Straight Chiropractic in Spartanburg, S.C. VATSAL NAIK opened the Indian restaurant Shalimar Tandoor Grill and Bar in Fayetteville. Before opening Shalimar, he interned at Sanderling Resort in Duck and also worked in Greek and Indian restaurants. KEVIN DANE PITTMAN wed Erica Carter Ellis on June 26 at the Winds Resort and Beach Club in Ocean Isle Beach. He teaches at Red Oak Middle School in Battleboro. CHRISTY NICOLE PRICE wed Robert Matthew Pannell on May 15 at Chateau De Chef at Ocean Isle Beach. Her wedding party included bridesmaids Melissa Britt ’04 and Amy Chandler ’06. She works at Pitt Community Hospital in Greenville.

2004

LISA BARBER was elected to the Meeting Professionals International-Carolinas Chapter board of directors as the director of fundraising. She is regional director of business development for the Greenville Convention Center. DANA MICHAEL BLAKE wed Lacey Lynn Mull in Shelby on July 18. He works at Blake Construction. SETH BROWN is the principal of Chicod School. He was principal of Ayden Middle School. KELLY NEALEY BULLARD, a third-grade teacher at Tabor City Elementary School, was named Teacher of the Year. ELIZABETH “BETH” ANSLIE GUNDERSON wed Alan Michael Roughton on April 24 in New Bern. She is a copyeditor at The Daily Reflector in Greenville. Dr. HEATHER RIVERA GUTEKUNST joined Wake Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in its North Raleigh office treating pediatric and internal medicine patients, and allergy patients. ROBERT ROSS is the athletic director at East Duplin High School in Beulaville. He was a physical education teacher and teacher for various online classes and coach at the school for three years. KORTNEY ROSS WILSON wed Kelly Denise Brinson on June 12 in the gardens at The Hall and Gardens at Landmark in Garner. He is a licensed financial specialist at Wachovia in Raleigh.

2003

JIMMY CARPENTER joined Capstone Homes in Delaware as a production manager. ELIZABETH WEEKS HOTT and Justin Thomas Hott had a daughter, Mary McCullen, on April 8. She is a pharmaceutical sales representative with Johnson and Johnson. KEVIN MABE is the principal at Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham where he was the assistant principal. He is pursuing a doctorate in education at NCSU. EMMA MCDONALD exhibited her photographs at Evergreen Studio in Charlotte, a public art show in which she was one of two art directors. DAVID MOODY ’03 ’10 is the principal of Comfort Elementary School in Jones County. In 2008, he began a two-year principal fellowship at ECU, spending the first year in the classroom and the second interning at Jones Senior High School.

2002

JOHN C. BACON is vice president and commercial relationship manager at TrustAtlantic Bank in Greenville. BROOKE BANSON joined semplesolutions, a full-service marketing and public relations firm in Greenville, as vice president and business manager. Previously, she worked in marketing and public relations for Prudential Commercial Real Estate in Wilmington, the East Carolina Bank and The Daily Reflector. AMANDA DAWN EDWARDS wed Brian Matthew McCarty on May 1 on the beach at the Beaches Sandy Bay Resort in Negril, Jamaica. She works at Children’s Health Services and The Allergy Relief Center of Greenville. Dr. CHENA FLOOD ’02 ’07 is the director of the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education. She was director of School Partnerships at the N.C. Central University School of Education. LINDSAY ANNELLE “ANNIE” GRIMES wed Mark Sloan Williams on Aug. 14 in an outdoor ceremony at the bride’s parents home in Welcome. She owns a custom art jewelry business, CopperTide. HOLLY ANN HALL ’02 ’07 wed EMMETT PAUL STARNES III ’05 on May 15 in Raleigh. She is a family nurse practitioner for Raleigh Neurology, and he is a superintendent for Adams Homes. KATHRYN KEMMER HICKS ’02 wed DANIEL HODGIN SHIELDS ’01 ’03 on Oct. 9. She is in her third year at N.C. Central Law School, and he is branch manager of RBC in Wake Forest. SHAKIRA MARIA LEE earned a JD degree from Florida A&M University College of Law. A member of the Florida bar, she works in the 20th Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office in Punta Gorda, Fla. CHARLES SHIELDS is head coach of the McMichael High School football team in Mayodan, Va. He was the assistant head football coach at Northern Guilford High School in Greensboro.

2001

JOE HASTINGS is the assistant baseball coach at Notre Dame where he coaches the infield and works with hitters and recruits. He coached with Notre Dame baseball coach Mik Aoki at Boston College. Hastings had a four-year playing career at ECU as a first baseman. VADDRICK PARKER opened Vaddrick Q. Parker Law Firm in Raleigh specializing in the needs of business executives, small business owners and entrepreneurs. Dr. MARTHA “MARTY” WELCH ’01 ’06 joined the Urgent Care office of Physicians East, P.A., in Greenville. She completed her residency in family medicine at Wake Forest University. DANIEL WIGGINS is a senior media buyer at Luquire George Andrews in Charlotte. He was a media planner/buyer at Bouvier Kelly Advertising in Greensboro.

2000

LANE FREEMAN ’00 ’01 and ANGELA K. FREEMAN ’00 ’05 had a son, Parker Timothy, on April 27, who joins brother William Lane, born in 2008. Both teach in Edgecombe County Schools. MIMOSA MALLERNEE HINES and Jason Cooper Hines welcomed a daughter, Ruby Natasha, on May 11. DOUG SMITH ’00 ’07 was elected as a board member of the Council of Alumni Membership and Marketing Professionals, where he will serve a two-year term as treasurer. He is the East Carolina Alumni Association director of communications and membership. KEVIN SMITH ’00 ’05 is the principal of Stokes School. He was the assistant principal of Belvoir Elementary School.

1999

KEVIN KELLEY is the head men’s and women’s cross country coach at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C. He is pursuing a master’s in curriculum and instruction with a physical education minor from Salem International University and continues to teach physical education at St. John’s Elementary School in Darlington, S.C. PETER MCCRACKEN was appointed to the Tompkins County, N.Y., Public Library’s Board of Trustees. He is cofounder and director of content and business development for ShipIndex.org. KEITH MCKENZIE is the principal of East Rockingham Elementary School in Virginia. He was principal of Fairview Heights Elementary School in Virginia. LAURA SUSANNE SUTTON ’99 ’01 wed Christopher Scott Young on July 17 in New Bern. She works for the Pitt County Schools and owns Laura Sutton Jewelry Designs. BETTY TOLAR is principal of Pactolus School in Pitt County. She was principal of Bethel School in Pitt County.

1998

KAREN STEVENS ’98 ’01 joined Therapeutic Life Center in Greenville. ERIC L. JOHNSON opened his own law office in Fayetteville.

1997

Army Maj. SCOTT COFFEY graduated from the intermediate-level education course at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kan. RICK CROOK is director of operations for Pioneer Frozen Foods in Prosperity, S.C. He joined the company in 2009 as manufacturing manager. GORDON RAWLS and wife, Amy, adopted Emma Nicole Rawls, born May 4, 2010. CAREY MEADOWS RIVERS and husband, Michael, had a third child, Presley Grace, on April 19 in Raleigh. CORY ROUTH published the second edition of his book, Kayak Fishing: The Complete Guide. TRAVIS SMITH of Lumberton is assistant vice president and business development officer at the St. Pauls branch of First Bank. JEFF THEUS ’97 ’04 is principal of Ayden Middle School in Pitt County. He was principal of Wellcome Middle School in Pitt County. WILLIAM WATSON is vice president at Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC in its Norfolk, Va., office where he works as a real estate analyst.

1996

KIM HARRIS ’96 ’05 joined Greenville Counselors where she specializes in counseling those with substance abuse and dependence related issues in addition to working with clients on a variety of disorders. MIKE HUMENIK is director of technical sales-industrial products for Herkules Equipment Corp, which makes material handling lifting systems and paint gun washers. KIM CRICKMORE OSBORNE received a PhD in nursing from ECU. She is the administrator of operations at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville. WILL PIERCE ’96 ’00 CPA is the controller in the Tarboro office of Barnhill Contracting Co.

1995

GENEA KORNEGAY ’95 ’06 is principal of Sadie Saulter Elementary School in Greenville. She was assistant principal at W. H. Robinson Elementary School in Greenville. JOHN PRESCOTT SABISTON wed Shannon Montgomery MacFadyen on July 31 in Raleigh where he works for Sears Holdings. Dr. CHRISTOPHER SKINNER is an assistant professor of religion at Mount Olive College in Mount Olive. He was an instructor of Biblical studies at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Maryland. LARANDA LEWIS TAYLOR, technology facilitator at Harkers Island Elementary School, was named the Certified Employee of the Year in Carteret County.

1994

Dr. JANET FUNDERBURK ALBERS ’94 ’00 is an assistant professor of recreation and leisure studies at Mount Olive College in Mount Olive. She was an assistant professor of recreational therapy at ECU. ERNIE GENE ASTON wed Amanda Susan Hudson on May 22 in a garden at Flair By Sharon in Washington. He is an environmental consultant. REBECCA BEAULIEU ’94 ’97 ’00 is principal of C.M. Eppes Middle School where she was assistant principal. LOU ANNE COLLIE wed Darryl Leon Black on April 24 in Wrightsville Beach. She is an occupational therapist with Legacy Healthcare. MARCELLUS GAINEY ’94 ’98 and Shannon Gainey had twins, Avery Anne and John William, on Aug. 2. GEORGE ELTON HENDRICKS ’94 ’00 received his PhD in human services from Walden University. He is chair of the Department of Social Work at Methodist University in Fayetteville. He is married to KELLY HENDRICKS ’93, a school nurse with the Cumberland County Health Department, and they have two boys, ages 14 and 9. STEPHEN TODD HOLLOWAY was selected to join the USA Eagles Football Club, also known as Team USA, to play American football against the national teams of European countries, Mexico and Canada. An offensive lineman, he was signed as a free agent with the Rostock Griffins in Rostock, Germany, as a player/coach for the offensive line and is also an All-Star center with the Georgia X-Treme Semi-Pro football team in Marietta, Ga., of the United South Football League. BOBBI MICHELLE WILSON LEMANSKI wed Frank Robert Lemanski in Raleigh on Oct. 25, 2009. She is a tax manager with Ernst & Young LLP in Raleigh. JULIE BELL PETRAK wed Christopher Petrak on Sept. 11. She owns a personal training business and acts locally in Connecticut films and theatre with her most recent appearance as Shelby in Steel Magnolias. TERESA WEBSTER is assistant principal at South Edgecombe Middle School. She was assistant principal at Princeville Montessori School. THOMAS WILSON ’94 ’09 is principal at Knotts Island Elementary School in Currituck County. He was director of the alternative learning program for Pamlico County Schools.

1993

CHERYL RAYE SMITH HEATH received her master of library science degree from ECU in May. BEN OWEN III had an exhibit, “Ben Owen III: Earth, Water and Fire: Works in Clay,” at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences Nature Art Gallery in Raleigh. NEIL GARDNER RAINS ’93 wed JULIE ANNE AVERY ’98 on May 15 in Asheboro. He is a financial crimes detective with the High Point police department, and she is a victim advocacy program coordinator with Family Service of the Piedmont Inc. in Greensboro.

1992

MARTY BAKER ’92 ’03 is principal of Ayden-Grifton High School in Pitt County. He was principal at North Pitt High School. VANN PENNELL is principal of St. James High School in Conway, S.C. He was principal at South Brunswick High School in Southport. In 2009 he was selected as the Southeastern Regional Principal of the Year, and in spring 2009, he was awarded the “Razor Walker Award” for educators by the Watson School of Education at UNCW.

1991

CHAD GRIER, former ECU quarterback, was hired to develop a new football program at Davidson Day School in Davidson. SUSAN JONES retired as Greene Central High School principal, the first woman named to that position. CHARLIE LANGLEY ’91 ’97 is principal of J.H. Rose High School in Greenville. He was principal of C.M. Eppes Middle School in Greenville. CHERYL OLMSTED ’91 ’01 is assistant superintendent for educational programs and services for Pitt County Schools. She was principal of Ridgewood Elementary School in Greenville.

1990

SUSAN DEANTONIO, a nurse manager in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, is the 2010 ECU Physicians Nurse of the Year. She has worked at the medical school since 2003. MICHELE ELKS ’90 ’94 is a full-time instructor in the medical office and office administration programs at Beaufort County Community College where she was a part-time instructor. SEAN M. GILSENAN of Durham was appointed to the N.C. Governance and Adequacy Investment Board by Gov. Bev Perdue. He is a financial planning advisor for VALIC.

1989

BRENDA ELMORE BROWN is interim head of school at Christ Covenant School in Winterville. In 2006, she retired as principal of Edwards Middle School in Rocky Mount after more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator. KELLY WISEMAN BURNETTE was one of five finalists for the Florida Teacher of the Year award selected from more than 180,000 public school teachers. She teaches biology and AP environmental science at Yulee High School in Yulee, Fla. SUZANNE BYRD ’89 ’90 is cross-country coach at Tusculum College in Tennessee. SANDRA MORRIS ’89 ’98 ’03 is principal of Wellcome Middle School in Pitt County. She was principal of Belvoir Elementary School. JENNIFER POPLIN ’89 ’95 is principal of E.B. Aycock Middle School in Greenville. She was principal of Stokes School. DELORES PORTER ’89 ’98 is assistant principal at Tarboro High School. She was at the Roberson Center for Education Achievement. NINA REPETA released her first CD, Good to Me. She played Bessie Potter on the television show Dawson’s Creek. RANSE STOKES ’90 ’93 is senior vice president of BB&T Wealth, where he is a wealth management team director for the Raleigh, Wilson and Pinehurst financial centers.

1988

KIMBERLY BROWN and husband, Michael, won world titles in tae kwon do, winning gold in sparring in their respective classes at the ATA/Songahm World Championships. They own and operate ATA Black Belt Academy in Fayetteville. BRENDA KISER ’88 ’96 was named the 2010 Nurse of the Year by Golden Living Center in Tarboro, where she has worked for 32 years. CHRISTOPHER RILEY ’88 ’90 is the president of Regions Bank South Carolina, which includes the markets of the Upstate, Columbia, Beaufort, Hilton Head and Charleston. At ECU, he was an All-American Scholar and captain of the golf team.

1987

ROBERT CHRISTOPHER DAVIS ’87 ’03 is an admissions counselor and community college liaison for N.C. Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount in the 2+ Wesleyan program. SHIRLEY DOVE retired as executive vice president of Lenoir Community College after 40 years as a student and an administrator there. Dr. LINDA D. HOFLER ’87 ’07 was named the chief nursing officer at Pitt County Memorial Hospital (PCMH). She has worked in University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina hospitals for nearly 30 years and for the past five years was vice president for the office of quality at PCMH. Capt. MICHAEL F. WHITE JR. assumed command of Coast Guard Sector Charleston and duties as captain of the ports of Charleston and Savannah. He is responsible for all Coast Guard missions throughout South Carolina and Georgia.

1986

D. SCOTT MCANDREW was transferred from Raleigh to Greenville as the executive sales consultant with Novartis Pharmaceuticals. He has been in pharmaceuticals since 1999. Dr. STEPHEN MESSER was appointed to the faculty of the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Fla. He was on the faculty at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md. JOHN MINGES III was appointed by the Greenville City Council to the Greenville Utilities Commission board of commissioners for a three-year term. He is president and founding partner of Minges & Associates LLC, serving as a management consultant for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. SANDRA “DEEDEE” PHILLIPS ’86 ’90 ’08, assistant principal of Beaufort Elementary School, was named Assistant Principal of the Year in Carteret County. JOHN H. SNOWDEN III joined the Center for Information Technology/Office of Web Services at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., as a web database administrator and senior IT analyst. He was the publisher and editor of The Independent newspaper in Currituck. MICHELE WOODSON is principal at Pleasant Grove Elementary School in Alamance County. She was assistant principal at Altamahaw-Ossipee Elementary School.

1985

Dr. STEPHANIE GRIFFIN ’85 ’90 joined the Urgent Care office of Physicians East, P.A., in Greenville. She was in private practice in Wilson.

1984

TERESA “TERRIE” LONG BEESON, principal of Bogue Sound Elementary School, was named the 2010-2011 Wachovia Principal of the Year in Carteret County. ELEANOR SPRAGUE GRADY moved to Asheville from Westport, Conn., where she was affiliated with the brokerage firm Smith-Barney. She would like to get in touch with classmates, particularly her Chi Omega sorority sisters.

1983

SUSAN FECHO ’83 ’84 ’88 exhibited her work at the Greene County Museum. She is chair of the Department of Art and Design at Barton College in Wilson. DOUGLAS WADE HUGGINS ’83 ’93 of Hopewell, Va., retired as a chief warrant officer after a 40-year career covering the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserves. He is the senior information assurance officer at the Defense Commissary Agency and holds several information systems security certifications. CASSINA HUNT was inducted as a member of the executive board of the N.C. Health Information Management Association. She is a past president of the association and was the 2005 recipient of the association’s Distinguished Member Award. She is the chief privacy officer/director health information management for FirstHealth of the Carolinas/Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. BONNIE WEST is director of the Kannapolis City Schools Exceptional Children’s Program. She was the system support specialist in the department. During her 26-year career, she was an exceptional children’s resource teacher at Forest Park Elementary, where she was named the school’s Teacher of the Year, and she was a finalist for systemwide Teacher of the Year honors.

1982

FRANK M. MAIORANO is president and CEO of Trust Company of America in Centennial, Colo., and was elected a director of the Association of Colorado Trust Companies. In October, he wed Katherine Holbrook, and they live in Denver, Colo. DENNIS TEEL ’82 ’84 ’88 ’92 became the first director of teacher induction and principal development for Pitt County Schools. He was principal of Falkland Elementary School.

1981

JERRY BAILEY was chosen for the Alamance Community College Board of Trustees. He is market president for Wachovia Bank in Alamance and Rockingham counties. He has worked for Wachovia for 29 years. LYNNE BALL CHAMBLEE and husband, David, operate a commercial landscaping and lawn maintenance business in Garner; are co-owners of Locked & Loaded Grill in Garner and operate a fishing charter business out of Cedar Point. DEBBIE PACE is interim director of exceptional children programs for the Edgecombe County Public Schools District. She was director of preschool programs there.

1980

GLENN JOYNER is on-site administrator for Greenville’s new Pope John Paul II Catholic High School after retiring as principal of Chicod School in Pitt County. ROBIN LOY is an authorized distributor in Greenville of the Miche Bag, a designer handbag that can be customized to complement most any outfit. She is a music teacher in Pitt County Schools. JOSEPH NELSON ’80 ’85 is principal of St. Peter’s Catholic grade school in Greenville after retiring as principal of Pactolus School in Pitt County. EDDIE RHODES, baseball coach at Farmville Central High School, was named The Daily Reflector’s baseball Coach of the Year after his team won the 2-A sectional championship, and Farmville Central made its first appearance in the Eastern Regional finals since 2005. LARRY STEELMAN is vice president, sales channels and programs, at Cox Business in Atlanta. He was vice president and had general management roles in Barco’s Out of Home Media and Security and Monitoring divisions.

1978

BILL FRAZIER ’78 ’93 retired as principal of Ayden-Grifton High School in Pitt County in December 2009. JAMES JAY JESTER ’78 ’81 is principal of Bethel School in Pitt County. He was interim principal of Ayden-Grifton High School in Pitt County. RANDY SMITH and DEBBIE LYNN AVERY SMITH retired from Pitt County Schools after 30 years of service. She is director of the Winterville Chamber of Commerce, and he is an associate with A-1 Promotions. JAMES WALKER JR. is chair of the Carteret Community College Board of Trustees, becoming the first African American elected to that post. In 2003, he retired after 36 years as a teacher, principal and administrator with Carteret County Schools. BARBARA SLATE WRIGHT retired after 32 years teaching in the home economic/FACS department at Scotland High School in Laurinburg.

1977

SteveBickley.psd GARY STEVEN BICKLEY, professor of art in the School of Visual Arts in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech, was conferred the “professor emeritus” title by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. On the faculty since 1978, he was responsible for installing permanent works of art throughout the campus landscape and interior structures. He created the university Millennium Mace, displayed at each commencement ceremony since 2000. As a professional artist, he participated in more than 180 exhibitions at art museums, galleries and art centers.

He taught courses in the sculpture concentration and studio arts program, including drawing, foundations and art education and advised and mentored students.

1976

LYNN F. H. CLINE, deputy associate administrator for space operations at NASA, was the keynote speaker at “Where Are the Girls: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education and Careers,” a summit in Terre Haute, Ind., aimed at attracting more young women to these fields. WILLIAM “BILL” H. SHREVE of Wilson was recognized by the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC) for 30 years of faithful participation in advanced education. He is among the first group to attain this milestone, which he earned through a series of exams and annual attendance at an approved CIC continuing education program.

1975

DAN KENNEY ’75 ’77, UNC Pembroke director of athletics, received the UNCP “Spirit of Unity Award” at the 14th Annual UNC Pembroke Business Vision Dinner. In 2007 he launched the UNCP football program and in the community helped launch two major road races and festivals.

1974

RICK ATKINSON won the 2010 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. He is the author of several books on military history, including The Long Gray Line, a history of the West Point class of 1966. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he has worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor at The Washington Post since 1983. JAMES “JIM” F. BUCKMAN IV of Washington, retired from banking after 35 years, 22 with Bank of America and 13 with FirstSouth Bank. In 2009 he opened Buckman Investments LLC, an independent financial services business specializing in retirement services, investments and insurance offered through Geneos Wealth Management, Inc.

1973

BOB GRECZYN, retired CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C., was named to the board of directors of Raleigh-based TrustAtlantic Bank and to the board of its wholly-owned subsidiary, TrustAtlantic Bank. He is on the ECU board of trustees and its immediate past chair.

1972

ROBERT ALLEN and wife, CHERYL WRENN ALLEN, moved to Roxboro from Virginia Beach, Va. In 2010, he retired after 35 years of federal civil service with the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army, and in 2008, she retired after teaching more than 20 years in public schools in Virginia and North Carolina. Their son, Christopher ’06, is a marketing director in Newport News, Va., and daughter, Amanda, is a PhD candidate at Louisiana State University.

1970

JOHN R. DIXON was inducted in the U.S. Army Infantry Hall of Fame at Ft. Benning, Ga. In 1999, he retired from the Army as a colonel in the Special Forces and worked as an executive with Merrill Lynch and served as an adjunct professor of political science at Peace College in Raleigh. He lives in Mebane. BURNEY WARREN, former head of mergers and acquisitions for BB&T, joined SCBT Financial Corp. in Columbia, S.C., where he will advise the parent of SCBT on growth strategies. He was chief executive of First Federal Savings Bank in Greenville, N.C., until it was sold to BB&T in 1990. He worked at BB&T until retiring in 2007. He is on the ECU Foundation board, chairing its real estate foundation. MICHAEL WINSLOW joined Craig Jackson Partners in a senior creative and management role. He worked at Rockett, Burkhead & Winslow until that firm declared bankruptcy in 2009.

1969

BILL PRINCE is assistant football coach at First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills where his younger brother is the head football coach. He was head football coach at Arcadia High School in Oak Hall, Va. At ECU, he was an offensive lineman for four years. WILLIAM JOSHUA “BILL” ROWE was inducted into the Kinston/Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame. In 2009 he retired from Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston as the winningest and longest-tenured prep football coach in Lenoir County history.

1964

ROBERT D. UPCHURCH began his third year of service as the conference lay leader for the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church to which he was elected in June 2008.

1962

LINWOOD HARTSELL was inducted into the Kinston/Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame. He coached football, girls’ basketball and track over a 30-plus year career in Deep Run. CHARLIE LEWIS was inducted into the Kinston/Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame. He was a three-sport star at Grainger High School, who scored 50 points in a basketball game for the 1958 Red Devils. At ECU he played basketball and was named all conference his senior year. JEAN WOOLARD ’62 ’64 of Plymouth was appointed to the State Board of Educatio n by Gov. Bev Perdue to fill the unexpired term of Kathy Taft ’81, who was killed in a Raleigh home in March 2010. A former teacher at Plymouth High School, Woolard is a lifetime member of the National Education Association, a member of the N.C. Association of Educators, the Association of Classroom Teachers and a director of the N.C. Association of Educators.

1963

GERALD T. LARSON ’63 ’64, a member of 1962 ECU golf team, received a U.S. patent on an unconventional type of golf course called the SelectPace Golf Course, which allows golfers to play at their own pace. A retired computer software developer, who worked at IBM, Eastern Airlines and EDS, he is a Vietnam veteran. He works part-time as a starter at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Fla.

1959

CHARLIE ADAMS ’59 ’62 was recognized by the naming of the Cary High School Gym in his honor. For 42 years he served in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, including 25 years as executive director, from which he retired in 2009. Among his honors, he is a member of the ECU Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame and a charter member of the Cary High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

1952

Dr. R. HARDEE RIVES ’52 ’53, an ECU professor emeritus of English, was the facilitator and speaker on April 12 at the spring meeting of the Senior Lawyers Division of the N.C. Bar Association in Halifax where he spoke about the Halifax Resolves, the precursor to the Declaration of Independence. Other speakers were MAXVILLE BURT WILLIAMS ’59 ’65, CARL BURKE ’98 and Guy A. Asterius of Greenville. In November 2009, Rives, who taught at ECU from 1962 to 1992, established the Hardee-Rives Award for Dramatic Arts in honor of his father, mother and grandmother, to be awarded annually to the person or institution best contributing to the promotion of drama in North Carolina.

1951

JAMES and HELEN WATSON KLEINERT of Greenville celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Aug. 21. They met and fell in love as ECTC students. After graduation, he worked for Dupont in Kinston as a senior technical assistant and taught math for the ECU Continuing Education Program. She raised four children and taught preschool at St. James Methodist Church for 18 years.

1948

DOROTHY MARIE BENNETT BONNER celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with husband, William Russell “Billy” Bonner, in May. A retired public school teacher, she taught one year in Forsyth County and 30 years in Beaufort County.