Tech Topics - Fall 2008 - (Page 45) BURDELL & FRIENDS Clarence “Ivey” Lucas, Cls 51, of Dixie, Ga., on June 3. Mr. Lucas retired in 1985 following a 34-year career as an industrial sales engineer in which he worked for Standard Oil Co.; Shell Oil Co.; Manning, Maxwell and Moore Co.; and William Powell Valve Co. He also started his own business, Lucas and Associates. Herman “Hy” Mandel, MS Chem 51, of Palm Desert, Calif., on June 8. He worked as an expert in water chemistry before becoming one of the first computer systems analysts for the Department of Water and Power. Born in Poland, he immigrated with his family through Canada to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1928. He served in the Army from 1941 to ’45 and was sent to southern France, where he was captured and interned in Munich, Germany, at Stalag VII A. He was in the Active Army Reserve from 1949 to ’53. William Stephen “Bill” McClain, EE 59, MS EE 62, of Orlando, Fla., on May 19. Mr. McClain had served as president of his firm, FM Associates, since 1970. Early in his career, he worked with various companies supporting the NASA Space program. He served in the Army in the 101st Airborne, 501 regiment, the “Band of Brothers” unit, from 1954 to 1956. Archibald James “Arch” McNeill Jr., ChE 52, MS ChE 56, of Houston, on April 17. Mr. McNeill, who served as a commissioned officer in the Navy, worked as a project manager for large engineering and construction projects around the world. Memorials in his name may be made to the Georgia Tech Foundation for the Arch McNeill Fellowship in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Edward Muecke Jr., EE 51, of Sandy Springs, Ga., on June 8. He had a 40-year career with Southern Bell, retiring in 1982 as a district manager. A Navy veteran of World War II, he participated in the Boy Scouts of America, Little League baseball and Junior Achievement. Memorials in his name may be made to the Georgia Tech Foundation for the general scholarship fund. Joseph Perry North, Cls 50, of Atlanta, on June 17. Mr. North began his career as a commercial insulation contractor with his brothers’ company, North Brothers Inc., for which he served as Atlanta branch manager in the 1950s and ’60s. A chairman of the specification committee for the Southeastern Insulation Contractors Association, he helped to author “The Insulation Specification Book,” used by mechanical engineers throughout the Southeast. He enlisted in the Navy during World War II and served in the Pacific aboard the USS Queenfish, which received a Presidential Unit Citation. He was a member of the steering committee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Legislative Network and was named Volunteer of the Year in 1993 while serving as president of the DeKalb Georgia Tech Club. Memorials in his name may be made to the AlexanderTharpe Fund’s Homer Rice Endowment. James R. “Bob” Overby, Text 56, of Asheville, N.C., on July 13. He retired from the BASF Corp. in Enka, N.C., as the textile development laboratory manager. He was past president of the Reuter Center Singers. Forrest Ward Phillips, Cls 51, of Cordova, Tenn., on May 9. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service Southern Regional Headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., as a logistics systems planning officer. A former minor league baseball player, he coached recreational youth teams. During World Edwin Wesley Rumrill Jr., ME 50, of Sandy Springs, Ga., on May 26. He retired after a 33-year career with the Lockheed Corp. in which he registered several patents and was instrumental in the design of the hydraulics system on the C-5 aircraft. During World War II, he served as a Marine Corps aviator, pilot and aviation instructor. Jacques C. Sappington, IE 51, of Berea, Ohio, on Jan. 6. Mr. Sappington retired as a quality assurance supervisor with Alcoa. Jean V. Simmons, ME 52, of Mesa, Ariz., on May 6. Mr. Simmons served two years in the Navy before attending Georgia Tech. William Edward Starr, IM 59, of Macon, Ga., on May 11. Mr. Starr had been employed as an accountant at Plant Schearer. In Memoriam Erby Walker, Varsity Counterman E rby Walker, the iconic figure who called out “What’ll ya have?” from The Varsity counter to generations of Tech students, has passed away. Mr. Walker, who spent 53 years taking orders at the famed restaurant, died June 23 at the age of 71, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He retired from The Varsity in 2003 but continued working behind the counter a few days a week. He spent his career at the North Avenue landmark, which was founded in 1928 by Frank Gordy, who attended Tech before opening the drive-in. According to the JournalConstitution, Mr. Walker started at The Varsity in 1952, when he was 15 years old, first sweeping floors and then serving as a carhop before moving inside. He worked as many as 80 hours a week to support his wife and 12 children. He was known for the rapidfire way he rattled off The Varsity’s long menu. “This news has made me cry for the first time in a long time,” country music station deejay Rhubarb Jones wrote in an e-mail to The Varsity. “He is as much a part of the city’s history as Margaret Mitchell, Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola." War II, Mr. Phillips served in the Navy aboard a minesweeper. Garland Burns Porter Jr., IE 51, of Dunwoody, Ga., on April 29. After 15 years with Scientific Atlanta, he co-founded Scientific Control Systems Inc. in 1993. An Air Force veteran, he had worked for Lockheed and was a project engineer at the Polaris Missile Base in Charleston, S.C., from 1960 to ’65, obtaining his private pilot’s license. He was a residential builder in Dunwoody and east Cobb County in the ’70s. Lonnie D. Roberts Jr., IM 50, of Atlanta, on July 13. A tail gunner during World War II, he spent 37 years in management positions with General Motors in Doraville, Ga. William Earoll Roebuck, IM 52, on April 16. He worked in cryogenics. Carl S. Weinberger, ME 51, of Timonium, Md., on June 28. He retired from the Maryland Public Service Commission. He began his career with Lockheed Martin in Baltimore. His employment was briefly interrupted by service in the Army as staff sergeant at Fort Knox, Ky. He later joined the mechanical engineering department of Koppers Co. Survivors include his brother, Alan L. Weinberger, AE 59. 1960s Frank C. Adams, Arch 67, of Boston, on June 7. An architect and preservationist, he oversaw additions and renovations to historic buildings throughout Massachusetts, including the Townsend Memorial Hall, Old South Meeting House and the Maritime Museum in Salem. He also taught and TechTopics | Fall 2008 45
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