Tech Topics - Summer 2008 - (Page 38) Burdell&Friends Clark Gable. At Tech, he was a member of Chi Psi fraternity. Earl Lenard Lauber, EE 53, MS EE 54, of WinstonSalem, N.C., on Feb. 25. He retired from Western Electric as an engineering supervisor after 35 years. He was a member of the team that launched Telstar, the first telecommunication satellite in space. A World War II veteran of the Navy, he served as a radar operator during antisubmarine patrols in the South Atlantic and with occupation forces in Japan. He was a member of the marching band at Georgia Tech and later was the director of the Brevard Light Opera in Melbourne, Fla. He played second trumpet in the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, for which he also served as president, and played trumpet with the Salem Brass Ensemble, for which he served as director for 27 years. He also was a church choir director. James “Jim” Lilly, IM 58, of Gainesville, Ga., on April 5. He served 22 years in the Air Force, retiring as a full colonel. A National War College graduate, he flew 280 fighter jet combat missions in Vietnam. His last military assignment was vice commandant of the Air Force Command and Staff College. He and his wife served 10 years as home missionaries with the Montgomery Baptist Association. John F. Lyle, Arch 54, of Greensboro, N.C., on Jan. 5. Mr. Lyle retired as director of multifamily programs for the Department of Housing and Urban Development after a more than 30-year career. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and Odd Fellows and a charter member of Club 75 dance club. He served in the Marine Corps during World War II. Joe Wilbur Lynch Jr., MS ChE 51, of Inman, S.C., on Feb. 24. Following World War II, he became a civilian senior chemical process design engineer for the Department of the Army at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md. He retired in 1981. He served in the Navy in the Pacific theater from 1943 to 1946 and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. He was a former member of the American Chemical Bill Sayle Taught at Two Tech Campuses B ill Sayle, who for more than three decades taught Georgia Tech engineers at the Institute’s campuses in Atlanta and Metz, France, died Feb. 2 at the age of 66. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the fall of 2003. At Georgia Tech, Dr. Sayle was twice honored with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s outstanding teacher award, an honor he also received from the Institute. In 2006, he received the Distinguished Educator Award from the American Society for Engineering Education for his leadership in accreditation activities, development of global engineering education pro- grams and service to the society. Dr. Sayle joined the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1970 and served as associate chair for its undergraduate affairs from 1988 to 2003. Toward the end of his career, he taught at Georgia Tech Lorraine and served as its director for undergraduate programs during retirement. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD from the University of Washington. Memorials may go to the Georgia Tech Foundation for the Bill Sayle Fellowship Fund. Society and National Society of Professional Engineers and a life member of the Francis Scott Key post of the American Legion in Frederick and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. Pierce Merry Jr., ME 50, of Augusta, Ga., on Jan. 24. An Army veteran, he was chairman of the board of Merry Companies Inc. and retired as Boral Bricks Inc. chairman of the board. He had served on the boards of directors of Merry Land and Investment Co., Brick Institute of America and the Boys and Girls Club of Augusta; the advisory board of directors of SunTrust Bank; the advisory committee of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech; and the board of trustees of Presbyterian College. A president of the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce, he was a trustee of the Augusta Technical Institute Foundation and Merry Foundation and a trustee emeritus of the Augusta State University Foundation. Henry Dobson Reese Page, MS Chem 53, of Hartsville, S.C., on Feb. 12. He retired as manager of the converting group at Sonoco Products Co., where he worked for 34 years. He helped write a book on Sonoco Research Laboratory safety. He served in the Armed Forces from 1943 to 1946, fighting in France, Germany, Holland and Luxembourg. He manned an antiaircraft gun in Gen. Patton’s Third Army, 567th Antiaircraft Artillery and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. His thesis at Georgia Tech, “Phase Equilibria Studies with Bromine,” was published as a college textbook. He was chairman of the South Carolina section of the American Chemical Society, of which he was a member for more than 50 years. A member of Kalmia Arts, now the Black Creek Arts Council, he received a bachelor’s degree from the Francis Marion University in Fine Arts in 1993. He also served as a delegate to the state Republican convention. A Scoutmaster in Hartsville, he served as the city’s chairman of the Crippled Children’s Society. Charles R. “Toby” Proctor, IM 57, of Eatonton, Ga., on Feb. 6. Mr. Proctor retired as the founder and owner of the construction company Atlanta Commercial Builders Inc. He was drafted into the Army following graduation and served two years before joining Florida Power & Light in Miami. At Tech, he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Kenneth Louis Purtz, CE 50, of North Augusta, S.C., on Feb. 6. He was a naval officer in the South Pacific during World War II. An avid tennis player, he participated in many local tournaments, including the Augusta Open. He played doubles until he was 60 and was ranked highly in his age group in the South. He was a former member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association. Donald Hugh “Putt” Putman, ME 58, of Reidsville, N.C., on March 29. Mr. Putman was the owner of Don Mechanical Contracting and an Army veteran. James B. Scoggins, MS ChE 56, of Columbia, S.C., on Dec. 27. An Army veteran, Mr. Scoggins retired from Hahn Laboratories after 40 years of service. Robert William “Red” Smith, IM 51, of Atlanta, on Feb. 24. Mr. Smith’s insurance career with Pacific Mutual lasted for more than four decades. He was a certified life underwriter and a member of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council. An AllAmerican runner at Georgia Tech, he was the founder and head coach of the Northside Red Runners Track Club and a cross country and track coach at Holy Innocents Episcopal School in Sandy Springs, Ga. A Korean War veteran, Mr. Smith was a Cub and Boy Scouts leader in the Atlanta area. H.B. Terry, AE 51, of Vestavia Hills, Ala., on Feb. 19. Mr. Terry retired from U.S. Steel after 31 years of service. During World War II, he served as a technical sergeant in the Army Air Corps. Ernest Poole Tomlinson Jr., IM 55, of Dacula, Ga., on Feb. 24. He retired from Gulf Oil Corp. after 35 years as a product supply director. An Air Force veteran of the Korean War, he was a board member of the Hi-Hope Service Center in Lawrenceville, Ga. E. Day Wood, ME 52, of Dade City, Fla., on March 16. He developed many seafood processing procedures still in use today. During his 40-year career, Mr. Day was involved in many seafood organizations, as well as the University Club and Rotary Club of Ybor City. He was a Navy veteran. Joseph Laurie Young, M Arch 55, of Clemson, S.C., on March 14. He was a professor of architecture at Clemson University. A Navy veteran, he was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Tiger Brotherhood and Rotary Club and an adviser to the Numeral Society, later named Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. 1960s John C. Adams, TE 60, of Acworth, Ga., on Feb. 25. He retired as chairman, president and CEO of the Russell Corp. He had served on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board as well as the Institute’s Textile & Fiber Engineering and Engineering advisory boards. Charles A. Blackwood, EE 68, of Destin, Fla., on June 1, 2007. Mr. Blackwood was a retired sales administration manager with Hewlett-Packard Co. Ralph H. Cooper Jr., ChE 63, of Atlanta, on April 2. Mr. Cooper worked for the Coca-Cola Company for 35 years. A co-op student at Georgia Tech, he was a member of Delta Sigma Phi. Charles Wright Dulaney, ME 60, of Kingsport, Tenn., on April 14. Mr. Dulaney retired from the Tennessee Eastman Co. Richard W. Griffin, MS EE 64, of The Villages, Fla., on Feb. 10. After retiring from the Army in 1984 as a colonel, he served as director of admissions for the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and later for Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and received a commission as a second lieutenant in 1954. As an Army officer, he served overseas for several tours, including to TECHTOPICS | SUMMER 2008
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