Tech Topics - Winter 2008 - (Page 38)

BURDELL & FRIENDS William Harold Sibley, ME 32, of Atlanta, on Oct. 1. Mr. Sibley was a senior partner in the Atlanta firm of Burford, Hall and Smith. He served as a Naval officer during World War II, earning the rank of commander. serve. He received his commission as a pilot and became a member of the Strategic Air Command. He was a member of Mensa and Sigma Chi fraternity. William O. “Bill” Branch, Cls 44, of Fort Myers, Fla., on May 6. He was the president of Bill Branch Chevrolet Inc. Rhett B. Bryson Sr., Cls 41, of Panama City, Fla., on Sept. 24. Mr. Bryson spent his entire career at the Dothan Oil Mill Co., founded by his father. During World War II, he joined the Coast Guard, sailing on supply ships near New Guinea. Henry E. Dyke Jr., EE 42, of Hendersonville, N.C., on Dec. 6, 2007. Mr. Dyke was a retired distribution sales manager with Texaco Inc. Ralph Lee Edwards Jr., EE 47, of Huntsville, Ala., on Aug. 4. Following five years as a consulting engineer with Southern Engineering Co., Mr. Edwards, who served in the Army as a first lieutenant during World War II, joined the Army Missile Command in 1952, working in the research and development of missile systems until his retirement in 1976. From 1964 to 1967, he worked in The Hague, Netherlands, with NATO engineers, analyzing and developing systems for the defense of western Europe. Following retirement, he began a second career as an artist. Mr. Edwards served on the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity of Madison County. John Bertram Freeborn, CE 47, of Dunedin, Fla., on Aug. 7. A board-certified lawyer in wills, trusts and estates, he established Freeborn & Freeborn PA with his son and daughter. He was a fellow with the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel and served on the Morton Plant Mease Foundation board, Mease Hospital institutional review board and the Dunedin planning and zoning board. A member of Sigma Chi fraternity, Mr. Freeborn served in the Navy with the Seabee construction battalion before enrolling at Stetson Law School. Harold Joseph Gaines, Cls 48, of Marietta, Ga., on Aug. 10. Mr. Gaines founded Kem Manufacturing Corp., an industrial chemical corporation, and other companies throughout the world. He was a Navy veteran of World War II. William Gifford, ChE 47, of Dunwoody, Ga., on Oct. 8. In 1954, he founded Gifford Color Lab in Atlanta, a custom colorphoto-finishing business that did work for such clients as Coca-Cola Inc. He closed the business and retired in the 1980s. While serving as a navigator for the Army Air Forces during World War II, Mr. Gifford was shot down behind enemy lines in 1944. He was sheltered by a family that was part of the Belgian Underground. He stayed in touch with the family through the years. During the Korean War, he was an air transport navigator for the Air Force. Norman M. Giller, Cls 42, of Miami Beach, Fla., on April 18. An internationally recognized architect, he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Florida and founded one of the state’s oldest architectural firms, Norman M. Giller & Associates, now known as Giller & Giller Inc. Architects. He was a fellow in the American Institute of Architects, president of the AIA Florida South chapter and former chairman of the Florida state board of architecture. Dubbed by some as the “Godfather of MiMo,” or Miami modern architecture, Mr. Giller’s works include the Carillon Hotel, motels in Sunny Isles, housing projects for the Air Force, the colleges of business and education at Florida Atlantic University and the Giller Building. He founded InterAmerican National Bank, which later merged with Jefferson Bank, and served as vice chairman of the board and of the parent company, Jefferson Bancorp, until its sale to Colonial Bank. Founding president and chairman of the board of the Jewish Museum of Florida, Home of Mosaic, he was the Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce president and its 1974 Man of the Year and the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year in 1996. He wrote three books, “An Adventure in Architecture,” “A Century in America” and “Designing the Good Life: Norman M. Giller & the Development of Miami Modernism.” William Winfield Grier III, IM 42, of Danville, Va., on Sept. 7. Mr. Grier retired in 1985 from Dan River Inc. after 40 years in administrative management positions. During World War II, he served with the Army Air Forces as a first lieutenant with the 91st Air Service Squadron. He served as president of Glen Oak Golf Club, secretary of Grove Park Recreation and treasurer of the Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Society. Frank C. Hodge, EE 43, of Danbridge, Tenn., on Oct. 5. Mr. Hodge was a director of Appalachian Electric Cooperative for 30 years and served as its president for a number of years. He was an organizing director of First Peoples Bank. Mr. Hodge was named Jefferson Countian of the Year in 2004. During World War II, he served as an officer in the submarine service in the Pacific. In Memoriam 1940s Locke Paul Atwell, ME 43, of Boise, Idaho, on Oct. 7. He retired as vice president of the Bendix Corp. Mr. Atwell began his engineering career at Wright Aeronautical and later worked for Ford Motor Co. for more than 30 years. He joined the Merchant Marines in 1944 and served shipboard in the last days of World War II on the Halsey Task Force 57 in the Caroline Islands. John H. Baker Jr., EE 47, of Spring, Texas, on Sept. 16, 2007. Mr. Baker retired as a freelance engineering consultant. Allen Palmer Ballentine, ME 49, of Atlantic Beach, Fla., on Sept. 11. Mr. Ballentine was associated with Carrier Corp. and Florida Air Conditioners Inc. He was a charter member of the Jacksonville chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers. During World War II, he served in the Marine Air Corps. Carl F. “Tex” Branson, AE 49, of Golden, Colo., on Aug. 5. In 1967, Mr. Branson, who received a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Washington, formed the Branson Engineering Co. in the basement of his home. In 1977, it became Branson Aircraft Corp., which designed, manufactured and installed modifications for jets, planes and helicopters. He sold the company and retired in 2003. Attending Georgia Tech on a track scholarship, Mr. Branson was a member of the Ramblin’ Reck Club, Omicron Delta Kappa, Kappa Sigma, Tau Beta Pi, the Interfraternity Council and the Blueprint staff. In 1999, he was inducted into the Georgia Tech Engineering Hall of Fame and established the Carl F. “Tex” Branson President’s Scholarship Endowment Fund, which awards scholarships to out-of-state students studying aeronautics with a primary emphasis on fixed-wing aircraft. John B. “Jack” Bennett, Cls 48, of Miami, on Oct. 7. After practicing law for a year, Mr. Bennett became a commercial pilot, retiring from Delta in 1986. During World War II, he participated in the Navy ROTC program at Georgia Tech. He later received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a juris doctor degree from the University of Miami. During the Korean War, he joined the Air Force Re38 TechTopics | Winter 2008

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Tech Topics - Winter 2008 Contents Letters Buzz Around Town Alumni House Rockin’ Good Time State of the Institute The Hill Presidential Search Going Airborne Student Life An Architect’s Eyes Weight Coach Robot Burdell & Friends Ramblin’ Roll Rural Readers Leading Ladies Yellow Jackets Beyond His Years Leading Change Real World

Tech Topics - Winter 2008

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