Tech Topics - Winter 2007 - (Page 38) Burdell&Friends cantile division. He was a founder of Mount Sinai Hospital and the Jewish Home for the Aged and a Pacesetter at the Jewish Federation. He served as international president of the Jewish Vocational Service, which trains mentally and physically disabled people for jobs. During World War II, he served as an ensign aboard a battleship in the North Atlantic. William E. Beck, EE 42, of Savannah, Ga., on June 10. Robert E. Bissinnar, Cls 42, of Conyers, Ga., on Aug. 17. Mr. Bissinnar retired as a forecaster with Southern Bell after a 43-year career. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he retired as a lieutenant colonel and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Mr. Bissinnar was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. William C. Boyd, IM 48, of Whispering Pines, N.C., on Aug. 6. Mr. Boyd retired from AT&T after 34 years with the Bell System. Fred T. Bridges, IM 42, of Due West, S.C., on Aug. 11. In 1982, he retired as manager of administrative engineering with Reynolds Metals Co. in Richmond, Va., after 29 years with the company. He taught a course in government at a Danville, Va., high school and for 16 years served as a special lecturer in management at the University of Richmond. After graduating from Tech, where he was in ROTC, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps and served in World War II. He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 1981 as a lieutenant colonel. He was the co-creator of 12 educational religious board games. In 1989, he and his wife served for six months as management consultants to the president of the International Baptist Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. In 1997, he was elected charter president of the Due West Lions Club, which established the Fred T. Bridges Jr. annual award in his honor. Joseph Disraeli Brooks, AE 47, of Newport News, Va., on Sept. 2. He retired from NASA after a 36year career in which he worked on many research projects conducted in Langley’s various wind tunnels, ranging from the preliminary supersonic transport studies to the earliest studies on the moon-lander tiles. He served a tour of duty in the Marines before attending Georgia Tech. Nat B. Browne IV, Arch 47, of Stone Mountain, Ga., on March 16. Mr. Browne was a retired architect with Turner Associates Architects. Charles Rufus Cash Jr., Cls 45, of Memphis, Tenn., on July 22. He was a structural engineer for Fowler and Cash Engineers for more than 50 years. During World War II, he served in the Army Engineer Corps in the South Pacific. He received his engineering degree from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Darby W. Cusack, IM 49, of Florence, S.C., on June 24. He received a PhD from the Southeastern Baptist Seminary and retired as a minister with Ebenezer Baptist Church. Olene T. “Jack” Duggan, EE 49, of Huntsville, Ala., on Sept. 27. He retired in 1974 after a 25year career that included work on the Apollo and Skylab programs at NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center. During World War II, he served in the 104th Coast Artillery Battalion in the Southwest Pacific from 1941 to 1945. He retired as an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel. William H. “Bill” Edwards, ME 43, of Huntsville, Texas, on Oct. 20. In 1951, he joined the Superior Oil Co. as a corrosion engineer and began a career that would span four decades. He was a member of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers. He was a World War II Navy veteran and a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Dick Endress, IM 48, of Ridge Manor, Fla., on March 3. In 1985, he retired after a 25-year career as the supervisor of science for the Pasco County school board. He taught math following his retirement. Charles Edward Fancher, ME 48, of Miami, on Sept. 19. He served in the Army during World War II before attending Tech, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He officiated Florida high school football games for more than 20 years. William Darius Ferris Jr., IM 41, of Orangedale, Fla., on Oct. 12. He joined the general engineering department of Southern Bell Telephone Co. in Atlanta, later transferring to Jacksonville, Fla. He worked in the company’s engineering, personnel, financial, accounting and executive departments and retired in 1982. He served in World War II, attaining the rank of captain. He was a member of the American Legion, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Georgia chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, League of the South and Telephone Pioneers. Boyd Wyatt Fink, ME 49, of Jacksonville, Fla., on Sept. 26. Mr. Fink worked as a risk manager in the insurance and oil business for nearly 40 years, the first 30 of which were spent with Hartford Insurance Group. He served in the Navy during World War II. Joe H. Foy, Cls 48, of Kerrville, Texas, on Sept. 17. Mr. Foy, who retired as a senior partner of Bracewell & Patterson LLP, was influential in the passage of state and national legislation regarding the deregulation of natural gas and was featured in Texas Monthly for his efforts. He attended Tech while in the Navy. During World War II, he commanded a landing craft infantry. He received a bachelor’s degree and a juris doctor degree from Vanderbilt University. He served as general counsel for Houston Natural Gas Corp. and was its president from 1970 until its merger with InterNorth in 1985 to create Enron. Mr. Foy served as a U.S. representative when Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt during the Carter administration. John Kenneth “Jack” Giles, EE 45, of Monroe, Va., on Oct. 2. In 1976, he retired from the research and development division of the Postal Service as an electrical engineer after 30 years of service. He received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, where he served as an instructor in the Electrical Engineering Laboratory. A World War II veteran, he served as a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy. He was a member of Eta Kappa Nu fraternity. Robert Wilson Goree, Cls 43, of Atlanta, in September. The owner of several businesses in Alexander City, Ala., he owned Rusty’s Drive Inn & Chalet Restaurant in Atlanta from 1949 until the early ’70s. At Tech, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta and the freshman football team. He began flying at the age of 12 out of Hartsfield Airport and joined the Navy the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served as a naval aviator and remained an active reservist until 1955. Memorials in his name may be made to the Georgia Tech Foundation. William Angelo Grenga, Cls 48, of Newnan, Ga., on July 21. In 1981, he retired from the Postal Service after 37 years. During World War II, he served as a corporal in the Army Air Corps. At Georgia Tech, he was a captain and quarterback on the football team. He was inducted into the Coweta Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Robert C. Harriss, IM 47, of Chapel Hill, N.C., on May 27. Carter “Tony” Hart Jr., IM 49, of Edmonds, Wash., on July 23. After his military service, Mr. Hart worked as an engineer with Boeing. A World War II veteran, he served in the Air Corps as a bombardier in the 385th bomb group. He later served in the Air Force in the Korean War. Mr. Hart remained in the service for more than 20 years, retiring in 1967. Walton Neil “Skip” Hicks, IE 45, of Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 12. He was president and CEO of I.W. Phillips Co., a wholesale distributor of hardware and building materials founded by his grandfather in 1898. The company was acquired by Ace Hardware Corp., for which he served as Florida distribution general manager for 10 years before retiring. Mr. Hicks was a director of the National Wholesale Hardware Association and Southern Hardware Association and was named Hardware Merchandiser of the Year in 1971. A member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he served as its president at Tech in 1944-45. He also served in the Naval ROTC and earned an ensign commission in 1945. During World War II, he served in the Navy in California and in Norfolk, Va. He was a director and president of the Florida West Coast Georgia Tech Club and a president of the Marine Bank of Tampa and the Tampa Merchants Association. Mr. Hicks was an Eagle Scout, scoutmaster and district director of the Gulf Coast Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Victor M. Hovis Jr., ME 48, of New Market, Tenn., on Jan. 12. He retired as a mechanical engineer with Union Carbide Corp. William S. Johnson Sr., Chem 44, MS Chem 49, of Santa Fe, N.M., on Sept. 8. He retired from Eberline Instrument Corp. as president and chairman of the board in 1977. A pioneer in the field of occupational health and radiation protection, he began work at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in 1950. He later led a comprehensive health and safety program at the Atomic Energy Commission’s Nevada test site. During World War II, he served in the Navy as a lieutenant commander aboard the USS Denver and USS Unicoi. As a Tech student, he was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa honorary society, Delta Upsilon and Theta Chi fraternities and Anak. He also was a member of the basketball team and Blueprint staff. As TECHTOPICS | WINTER 2007
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