Tech Topics - Spring 2008 - (Page 44)

Burdell&Friends Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he served as the Sugar Hill stake patriarch and a sealer in the Atlanta temple. Eugene B. Sedberry, EE 50, of Augusta, Ga., on Oct. 27. Mr. Sedberry was a retired electrical engineer with E.I. Dupont and a past president of the Forest Hills Golf Association. James R. Shutt, Cls 57, a resident of Stephens City, Va., on Aug. 1. Lawrence M. Simpson, Cls 56, of Snellville, Ga., on Dec. 23. Bobby Lee Sorrell, AMath 55, of Tyrone, Ga., on Nov. 19. Mr. Sorrell had a long career with the General Electric Co. and Honeywell Corp., where he was a pioneer in the emerging field of computer technology. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1944 to 1946. A longtime member of the College Park Presbyterian Church, he served for many years on the board of deacons. Gordon C. “Carl” Stapleton, ME 51, of Wrens, Ga., on Dec. 2. In 1984, Mr. Stapleton retired as a mechanical engineer from Monsanto Textiles in Pensacola, Fla., and returned to his hometown of Wrens. He taught a Sunday School class and was a member of the Wrens Kiwanis Club and American Legion. He served in the Army from 1950 to 1952. Haskel Cade Stratton Jr., IE 50, of Gainesville, Ga., on Nov. 26. Mr. Stratton was employed by J.D. Jewell Inc. before becoming an environmental specialist with the Hall County division of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, from which he retired. During World War II, he served in Japan in the airborne division of the Army. Thomas Edward Swilley Sr., EE 50, of New Orleans, on Nov. 28. In 1987, Mr. Swilley retired from Amoco as a petroleum engineer associate after a 15-year career with the company. He served as a consultant engineer for Greenhill Petroleum from 1990 to 1993. William Lee “Bill” Taylor, IE 59, of Tellico Village, Tenn., on Dec. 28, 2006. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Mr. John Firor, Early Climate Change Researcher J in 1980 and became director of ohn W. Firor, Phys 49, of its advanced study program. Pullman, Wash., former Born in Athens, Ga., Dr. director of the National Center Firor’s studies at Georgia Tech for Atmospheric Research and were interrupted by a stint in an early advocate of climate the Army, during which he change research, died Nov. 5 at served at the Los Alamos the age of 80. National Laboratory guarding In 1990, he wrote one of the radioactive materials. While first major books to address there, he talked with scientists global warming. “The Changing involved in the Manhattan Atmosphere: A Global FIROR Project and decided to become a Challenge,” which explained physicist rather than an climate change and ozone engineer. He received a doctorate in physics depletion in a style that could be easily understood by the public, was translated into from the University of Chicago in 1954. His 2002 book, “The Crowded nine languages. Greenhouse: Population, Climate Change Under Dr. Firor’s leadership, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in and Creating a Sustainable World,” which he co-wrote with his late wife, Judith E. Boulder, Colo., became a pioneer in research focusing on the impacts of human activity on Jacobsen, an expert on global population, focused on two challenges faced by the planet’s environment. Dr. Firor was humankind — climate change and a rapidly appointed director of the center in 1968 and growing world population. executive director in 1974. He stepped down Taylor, then a Navy lieutenant junior grade, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying low-level photo reconnaissance missions over Cuba. President John F. Kennedy personally decorated his squadron with the Navy Unit Commendation. For 34 years, he was a United Airlines pilot, retiring as a Boeing 747 captain in 1997. J. Lester Thompson, MS TE 58, of Clemson, S.C., on Nov. 6. Mr. Thompson was a retired executive with United Merchants and Manufacturers. A World War II Army veteran, he was a former member of the Beech Island Agriculture Club and Jesse C. Lynch Memorial American Legion Post No. 71. Richard Samuel Wigton, AE 58, of Fairfield, Calif., on Dec. 20. Before retirement, Mr. Wigton headed the Challenger Simulator Program at SimuFlight in Dallas. An Air Force veteran, Mr. Wigton later became a test pilot for Lockheed and chief pilot for the Clorox Co. and Rainin Instrument Co. Artemus Wilbur Wren Jr., Phys 50, MS EE 56, of Mount Lebanon, Pa., on Dec. 19. Mr. Wren retired from RCA as vice president of government services. He served in the Marines and attended Georgia Tech on the GI Bill. 1960s Dennis Frederic Doherty, IM 66, of Atlanta, on Jan. 13. He retired in 1994 after a long career with BellSouth Corp. in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C. A member of Chi Phi fraternity at Georgia Tech, he served in Army Intelligence and for a time was stationed in Ethiopia. Mr. Doherty regularly ran in the Peachtree Road Race. Malcolm Gordon Douglas, MS IM 69, of Playa Del Rey, Calif., in November, as a result of a fall while collecting butterflies in Peru. Mr. Douglas retired as vice president of operations for Professional Products Inc. He began collecting butterflies as a child and later started rearing them and curating his extensive collection. Win Freeman, CE 68, of Long Beach, Calif., on Oct. 10. He was the owner of Win Freeman Associates. Terry Edmund Haddock, IM 67, of Florence, Ala., on Nov. 2. A star athlete and co-captain of his high school’s football team, Mr. Haddock received a full athletic scholarship to attend Georgia Tech, where he was a letterman on coach Bobby Dodd’s 1963, ’64 and ’65 teams. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and later played in the Canadian Football League. Following graduation from Tech, he played U.S. Naval football for the Pensacola Goshawks. In 1983, he was named vice president of investments with A.G. Edwards and Sons in Florence. Mr. Haddock was inducted into the Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame and the Times Daily All Sports Millennium Team. He was past president of the Quad Cities Quarterback Club and commissioner of the Florence Housing Authority. John W. Israel, EE 60, of Dallas, on Dec. 11. Coleman J. Meadows, IE 65, of Jonesboro, Ga., on Nov. 7. Mr. Meadows was the retired general manager of Resource Materials LLC. Herbert Downs Patrick, IE 61, of St. Simons Island, Ga., on Dec. 10. After working in Lancaster, Pa., and Atlanta, he returned in 1990 to Brunswick, Ga., where he was the owner of Lighthouse Realty Co. He was a member and past president of the Brunswick Exchange Club, devoting much of his time to children’s charities. Angelo Michael Pitillo, IM 61, of Sandy Springs, Ga., on Nov. 22. A certified sommelier, he was the co-owner of Cafe Lily, a Mediterranean eatery in downtown Decatur, Ga., which won three consecutive awards of excellence from Wine Spectator. Mr. Pitillo worked his way through Georgia Tech as a dishwasher and by the time he graduated was a restaurant assistant manager. In 1961, he bought an Atlanta restaurant and presided over Angelo’s Napoli for three years before selling it and running Anthony’s Cabaret. He then moved to Texas, where he served as president of Black-eyed Pea Restaurants in Dallas and Watermark Restaurant Corp. in Houston. He and his son opened Cafe Lily, named for his granddaughter, in 1999. One of Mr. Pitillo’s other restaurants, Levi’s Key West Firehouse, is named for his grandson. He served in the Georgia Air National Guard. Frank B. Thompson, ME 61, of North Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 9. Mr. Thompson was employed by Pratt & Whitney for 39 years, retiring in 1999. L.H. “Ronnie” Thomson, EE 62, of Byron, Ga., on Jan. 13. In 1981, he founded the L.H. Thomson Co., which was best known for manufacturing high-end seat posts and stems for bicycles. The company was honored with such industry awards as the Boeing Silver Supplier and Bicycle Seat Post of the Year. Under Mr. Thomson’s direction, the company obtained numerous patents on its components. It has sold more than 1 million Thomson-label products. In 1968, Mr. Thomson started the Numerical Engineering Machine Company, which he sold in 1980 to the Boeing Co., becoming the first president of Boeing Georgia Inc. Charles Donald Turlington, IM 69, of Atlanta, on Jan. 11. He was a project manager for Scientific Games International. A former financial analyst with MCI/World Com, he was employed by Georgia Power (Southern Company) for 16 years, was a former project manager for Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydocking Co. and a former computer engineer for the Army. Thomas W. Williamson, IM 66, of Pansey, Ala., on Nov. 19, in an all-terrain TECHTOPICS | SPRING 2008

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Tech Topics - Spring 2008 Contents Mail Call Gold & White Honors Alumni House Sweet Spring Centennial Buzz Supreme Court Victory The Hill ‘Treasure Trove’ of Stories Living History Forget-me-not Fashion Student Life Investing in Graduates Giving Back Training the Next Generation Burdell & Friends Ingredients for Success Yellow Jackets Hockey Club Ices Georgia Tech Job Hunters Fare Well Real World

Tech Topics - Spring 2008

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