Alumni
| ’46 Jean Margaret McClenahan Bowman ’46 Helen Williams Miller ’46 Ross W. Stoddard Jr. ’49 William “Bill” Bassett ’49 Robert Garcia ’49 Jerry McCann ’49 Billy “Bert” Sherron ’51 Gene Coppedge ’51 Alice Campbell Risinger ’52 John Chester ’54 Joann Ragan Henson ’54 Mary Frances Evans Van Pelt ’55 Carolynn Hall Cobbs ’55 Stan Cobbs ’56 Bill Redding ’57 J. Ron Ferrill ’57 Frankie Jo Wall Little ’58 Charles Wayne Arledge ’58 George Cowden ’58 Clovis M. Swanner Jr. ’59 L.D. Allison Jr. ’59 Bert Allen Bronaugh ’59 Richard Jarrell ’59 Patricia Myers Polk ’60 Ruth Theresa “Tita” Bello ’60 James W. Hanna ’60 Hugh Kemp ’60 Dorothy “Dottie” Richardson Maines ’61 Maridelle Foster Crake ’61 Charles E. Smith ’62 Janyce Benton Cobb ’62 Lester Furry ’62 Thomas “Jerry” Gready ’62 Elmer “Lee” Grisso ’62 Rufus Head ’62 Margaret Estes McCord ’63 Donald Cates Baker ’63 Jim Rogers ’64 Don Moore ’65 Roy Alexander Bobo II ’65 Alice Martin Davis Day ’65 Elizabeth “Betsy” Johnson Pense |
November 4, 2020 February 13, 2020 August 28, 2020 May 31, 2020 December 14, 2019 December 10, 2019 June 1, 2020 December 5, 2019 May 27, 2020 August 14, 2020 September 26, 2020 February 11, 2020 January 19, 2020 June 8, 2020 August 22, 2020 December 13,2019 November 27, 2020 June 19, 2020 July 7, 2020 September 3, 2020 July 25, 2020 March 30, 2020 April 1, 2020 January 16, 2020 May 27, 2020 August 23, 2020 March 23, 2020 July 17, 2020 February 14, 2020 September 20, 2020 August 3, 2020 November 14, 2019 March 14, 2020 June 26, 2020 June 18, 2020 December 13, 2020 November 5, 2020 July 19, 2020 May 3, 2020 September 30, 2020 September 6, 2020 February 29, 2020 |
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’66 Gwendolyn Askew Bullard ’66 Jane Kelley Chapman ’66 James R. Dunn ’66 Jerry Wayne Durham ’66 Margaret Coslett Hill ’66 Sue Ann Martin Jarvis ’67 Bill Baker ’67 Carol Stuart Huelbig ’67 Linda Wolf Milbourn ’67 James Norwood ’68 Molly Fenton Hallmark ’68 Arlene Ratz ’68 Stephen White ’69 Susan Hill Cabrera ’69 Juanita Harris Grady ’69 Margaret Coslett Janssen ’69 Elizabeth Ann Granger Reagan ’70 Gus “Sparky” Greer ’70 Julie Ellis Starr ’71 Paul Bolton Jr. ’71 Beth Ann Olds Epskamp ’73 James Peak Downs ’74 Julie Shafer Kollhoff Ciuro ’74 Donald L. Gaffney ’74 Doretta House Nelson ’74 Gregg Miller Raymond ’74 Bruce Twaddell ’75 Mark Clark ’79 Camille DeSalme ’82 William H. Bowers ’84 Chris Elliott ’84 Dominic Tafelski ’85 Jay Wampler ’86 John Blake Crosby III ’87 Lora Elliott ’87 John “Carlyle” Greenfield ’90 Roy Brit Whittenburg ’92 Christopher Carver ’93 David Milam ’03 Katie Tipton Palmer ’08 Drew Kelly ’11 Sarah Ann Soret Nickodam |
December 12, 2019 March 7, 2020 August 30, 2020 November 20, 2020 February 18, 2020 April 16, 2020 June 25, 2020 July 8, 2020 June 22, 2020 June 22, 2020 May 26, 2020 October 23, 2019 April 26, 2020 January 4, 2020 February 4, 2020 February 21, 2020 August 17, 2020 December 18, 2019 December 7, 2020 December 31, 2019 May 11, 2020 October 10, 2020 August 6, 2020 September 3, 2020 January 28, 2020 December 29, 2020 November 25, 2019 March 12, 2020 August 17, 2020 April 6, 2020 September 17, 2020 December 21, 2019 March 16, 2020 December 27, 2020 June 27, 2020 November 22, 2019 November 24, 2020 February 29, 2020 July 6, 2020 April 22, 2020 June 15, 2020 September 7, 2020 |
Friends We Will Miss
Janet Heeter Bass, director of Student Life at Austin College from 1984 to 1995, died suddenly on December 25, 2020.
Marj Carpenter, who received an Austin College Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1992, died June 13, 2020.
Orange Hughes Jr. died August 3, 2020. He was a member of the College’s Physical Plant staff from September 1975 to March 14, 1997, when he retired.
Jim Lehrer, who received an Austin College Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1991, died January 23, 2020.
Jimmy Mansfield died July 16, 2020. He worked at Austin College from 1986 to 2005 as a plumber, painter, and finally, as Robbie Kubela Rogers Lake Campus Manager in 2005.
Darrell Reed, Manager of Austin College’s Robbie Kubela Rogers Lake Campus from 2005 to February 2019, died February 16, 2020.
Marilyn Wilson, “Miss June,” a former Austin College Continuing Education Program instructor, died October 25, 2020. After touring the world as a professional ballerina, she returned home to Denison, Texas.
Remembering Bernice Melvin
Dr. Bernice Melvin, Professor Emerita of French, died July 29, 2020, in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she had lived near family since retiring from Austin College in 2015. Her daughter, Alyssa, announced her mother’s passing as Bernice had requested, with little fanfare. Her most revealing comment about Bernice may have been, simply, “If you wish to honor her, please do so by remembering her unfailing kindness, amazing ability to find the best in anyone, and unflagging optimism and joy in life. On her behalf, thank you all for your friendship. Be well.”
The many, many responses shared publicly by students and colleagues did indeed speak of her kindness, treasured friendships, her love of teaching and of France, and her mentorship of students and fellow faculty. Bernice joined the Austin College faculty in 1980 and in 1984, was installed in the Margarett Root Brown Chair of Foreign Languages and Literatures. She served for several years as the Dean of Humanities and, later, as Director of the Johnson Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in Teaching.
Dr. Melvin was honored by the College with its Homer P. Rainey Award for Outstanding Achievement and Service in 2007. In 2013, she received Austin College’s Excellence in Teaching and Campus Leadership Award, recognizing her having “made a distinct difference in the teaching climate in areas such as classroom teaching, campus leadership, pioneering pedagogy, and instructional support.” In 2019, the Johnson Center named its continuing sabbatical lecture series the Bernice S. Melvin Sabbatical Series in her honor.
Senior Chris Miller
The Austin College community was saddened by the death of senior Chris Miller of Houston, Texas, on December 18, 2020.
Chris was hospitalized for the majority of Fall Term 2020 battling COVID-19, and his friends and family hoped he was headed for recovery when he was released in late October. Complications ensued, and sadly, he died December 18.
Completing a major in Business Administration and a minor in Art at Austin College, Chris was a member of the Class of 2021. An engaging, thoughtful, and outgoing friend to all, Chris was an active member and officer of Chi Delta Eta fraternity, a little brother of Kappa Gamma Chi sorority, and a member of Black Expressions.
Austin College Board of Trustees
The Austin College community celebrates the lives of three senior members of the Board of Trustees of the College who died in 2020.
Joseph Fallon Sr.
Senor Trustee Joseph Robert Fallon Sr. of Sherman died February 27, 2020. Fallon was an active member of the Austin College Board of Trustees in the 1970s and 1980s, and remained a senior trustee until his death. An influential Sherman business leader, he enjoyed a successful career in insurance for more than 50 years. He supported scholarships at Austin College during his board service, and his family encouraged memorials to the Joe Fallon Scholarship at Austin College.
Betty Robbins Hurst
Senior Trustee Betty Robbins Davis Hurst of Longview, Texas, died on June 13, 2020. She was elected to the College’s Board of Trustees in 1986 and served on the College Development Committee until she was named a senior trustee in 1994. She particularly supported student scholarships through her generosity to the College. She was an active business and community leader in Longview, with roles in oil and gas, travel, real estate development, and investments. She served various service organizations of her community, as well as Trinity Episcopal Church and Trinity School of
Texas. She also loved to travel the world.
Louis Zbinden Jr.
Senior Trustee Louis H. Zbinden Jr. died on September 11, 2020. The Presbyterian leader served on the active board and the College Relations and Church Relations committees from 1973 to 1985, and remained a member of the senior board until his death. A supporter of scholarships and various other Austin College projects, Zbinden also reinforced the long legacy of leadership between the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the College. He was very active in community service in San Antonio, where he was Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church from 1971 until 2004.