Thank you to all of the members of the Class of 1968 for sharing the story of their life’s journey since graduation.  It’s fun to read about one another’s families, careers, passions, Wake Forest memories and future plans.


Donna Jo Redding Abernethy

While at WFU,  my highlights were:  playing 2 ½ hours of 60’s music on the piano in the Magnolia Room……5 nights a week and on Sundays.   Also, singing in the Madrigals, an a capella group of singers.  FUN.   Lastly, I met David (DP) Abernethy and fell in love.  It was he, along with the Poteat guys that cheered me on to win Miss King 1968.

I went on to Graduate School in Chapel Hill,  School of Social Work, and received my Masters in 1970.   David and I were married in October of that year, and I was a new hire at Family Services, Inc. in Winston-Salem, as a therapist.   Received my NC Lic. in Clinical Social Work and  NC Lic. Marital and Family Therapist.   Practiced as a therapist, and ended my 37-year career as VP of Clinical Services, before retiring.  Served on the Board of the  NC Assoc. of Marriage and Family Therapy, was a COA reviewer for Council on Accreditation of Family Service Agencies across the USA.  Was a Deacon in our Baptist Church, as well as organist/pianist full time there.   We are members of Maple Chase Golf and Country Club  (formerly Pine Brook CC) and both are Kentucky Colonels.

David and I have 2 sons, Jason and Cody.  Jason lives in Camas, WA, and is employed with Fisher Investments.   He also went to WFU and was on the golf team under Coach Lewis, and later, Coach Haas.   He is married and has 2 children.       Cody lives in Fuquay Varina, and works in Sanford, building industrial robotics with Merteck Solutions.  Also has 2 children.

Along with my career as a clinician, I’ve enjoyed my music, continuing the style I cultivated at WFU….2-3 hours non-stop on the piano.   And ‘tho I’ve taken years of lessons, haven’t let them get in the way of my playing creatively…..my joy.    (Playing “by ear” so to speak)

After retirement, within 6 months, I developed CML…..chronic myelogenous leukemia.  After thinking about what I’d like to leave as my legacy,  I began making CDs of my piano music….Christmas, the 60’s, and inspirational…..and all were titled  “From Him, to you, through me”……I gave all proceeds to the Knight Foundation  (Phil Knight of  Nike) ….in Portland’s  Oregon Health & Science University, in honor of Brian Drucker, the researcher who developed the chemo, Gleevec, that I take and will take for life.   I’m grateful for every day God gives me.  I’ve been in remission for 10 years.

Then, in addition to being in remission, and with 37 years of clinical experience, I was to face another challenge.   My dad, DJ Redding, a custom home builder here in WS  area, was blessed in a unique way.   He had purchased property between the 2 railroad tracks in Rural Hall, a town just north of Winston and planned to build an office there.   One line (Cape Fear and Yadkin) ran from Richmond to Mr. Airy, NC. The other line ran from Wilmington to N. Wilkesboro, NC.  Both were later purchased by Southern Railroad and served both passenger and freight.     In 1980 Southern was going to tear down the depot (built in 1910) and build another more updated one.    My dad, through advocacy and a few dollars from the town of Rural Hall, moved the depot to his property to keep it from demolition.   He preserved it, restored it, turned it into a railroad museum, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Property.  He died 2 years ago.  I now am the proud owner of the Rural Hall Historic Train Depot and Railroad Museum.   Years of clinical work did not prepare me for this, so I’ve been on a fantastic learning curve, and just love it!  Railroads are great!

So, come to the Depot and tour it!   Big signature events are Santa-at-the-Caboose, May Preservation month, and lots of in-between special events that honor my mom and dad and keep their mission alive to educate future generations about the importance of railroads, their presence and the reason for small towns to emerge, and development of our country, all across the USA.

With the museum, visiting our families on the east and west coasts, church work, and piano engagements, David and I have full-time commitments.  He continues to work in the field of alcohol and drug addiction (probably will never retire!) and we volunteer for WFU football games, in guest services (me, in the gold lobby of the McCreary Tower; he, out front near the Deacon).  We enjoy the family home on Oak Island and our big black lab/Shepard mix – Deacon, of course.


Alfred Adams

Upon graduation, I taught and coached for two years in Winston-Salem and Montgomery County, Maryland. I graduated from Wake Law School in 1973 and practiced real estate law in Asheville, NC from 1973-94. In 1994, I returned to Winston-Salem and continued my real estate practice until retirement in 2015. During my career, I kept touch with “Mother So Dear” by serving on the Alumni Council (a Past President), being an Adjunct Professor of Law for 10 years at the School of Law, and serving on the Deacon Club Board.

In 1989, I married my wife Beth of Greenville, SC. I have two children (son and daughter) from a previous marriage who live in Westminster, CO. Mandy is a member of the Class of 2001. Mandy has two daughters. We love our trips to CO to visit our family and ski.

My main passion is community service. I have worked on the Winston-Salem revitalization on several fronts. Currently, I am on the Executive Committee of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, Chair of the Downtown Winston-Salem Foundation, am a Commissioner on the Housing Authority of the City of Winston-Salem. Finally, I just assumed the role of Chair of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the primary non-profit partner of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I am so very ”Proud to be a Deacon”.


Chuck Adams

WFU provided me with an excellent education and I am very proud to have my degree from Wake. Sometimes I wondered if I’d ever get it with those late night studies for exams. Extra circular activities at Wake included the Monogram Club as I was on the track team where I set the school record in the discus. I made friends with some great guys in Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
My work life started with Mobil Oil Corp. in my hometown of Charlotte, NC a year after graduation. Very soon after starting I was transferred to Greensboro, NC. The career journey took me to Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and south Florida and in 1980 a change to Mobil Chemical and NE Ohio. The division was plastics packaging and the product was stretch film and for 37 years it was my career. Mobil Chemical was sold and subsequent owners were bought but the job remained the same. The last transfer was back to the Charlotte area in 2001. In 2008 my wife, Gayla, and I started a rep business, C-III Packaging LLC. We sold stretch film made by IPG. In late 2017, I woke up one morning and said to Gayla, “it’s time to retire”. In April, I did just that.

Between us, we have three grown children and five grandkids, three boys and two girls ranging from 5-15years old. The grands live in Ohio and retirement allows us to spend time with them.
We love to travel, have seen Australia, UK, and we took River Cruise with friends Rick and Gini Wash on the Rhine. Rick is a lifelong friend, a fraternity brother, and a WFU Alumnus. Last month we took a trip with our oldest son and daughter in law to Poland. A favorite trip was with our twin grandsons to Yellowstone.

Gayla and I are involved with several civic and charitable organizations. She chairs a church committee delivers the children’s story during the worship service. She is a quilter and is on a committee for our town of Wesley Chapel, NC. In high school, I was involved with Young Life. It is my good fortune to be on the YL committee for Union County NC. I serve on the town Planning Board and have held positions of Vice Chair and Chair. It is rewarding to be a director of our local fire department. I serve on two committees at our Methodist Church and will chair a relatively new committee next year.
Fishing is a passion of mine. Every November a group of 58 men converge on Cape Hatteras to surf fish. We fish, fellowship and have fun and raise money for a very important organization on Hatteras, OBPA.

It seems that retirement keeps me busier than when I was working and that is a good thing. Gayla and I are trying to D. O. L. Doing Our Lives and that is a great thing.


Jerry H. Baker

It was only 60 miles from Kannapolis, NC, a mill town through-and-through, to the Wake campus. Little did I realize what that short journey would have on my life.

In so many wonderful ways, life expanded all of my horizons during the four years there. As we all know, it was a relatively small campus and we all seemed to get to know each other soon. I suspect by the end of our freshmen year we had probably met at least half the class.

By the time senior year came along, I felt it was time to expand my horizons again. One way of doing that, I thought, would be to get somewhere outside the South and, if possible, a different kind of university. So I explored graduate programs at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, and was lucky enough to be accepted at all, but the image of going to Harvard won out. And what a wonderful blessing that turned out to be. I arrived in Cambridge in September 1968, to begin what was an exciting three-year program at the Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Business School.

I met Cassandra Jo Martin from Rocky Mount our sophomore year. We were married three weeks after her graduation in l969 and now look forward to our 50th wedding anniversary next year.

During the years following my graduation from Harvard in 1971, we lived in Short Hills, NJ (a suburb of NYC), Miami, Stamford, Milwaukee, Ft. Worth and then settled in Atlanta in 1976 where we lived until 2010. Those 34 years in Atlanta were extraordinary in many ways. In 2010, we moved/returned to NC and now spend our time between our homes on Lake Gaston (NC/VA border about 80 miles north of Raleigh) and Highlands in the NC mountains.

Our daughter, Josephine (Josie), her husband and their two children live in Charlotte; she is a 1996 Wake grad and then received her master’s degree in statistics and demography from FL State. Our son, Martin, his wife, and their two children live in Winston-Salem; he is a 1999 grad of Wake.

My career has been one where I have now flown over five million miles, spent over 1,000 nights in Marriott hotels, and visited 46 states. My work: an executive search consultant, focusing on higher education. I have had the privilege to work with some 125 universities in the recruitment of over 500 academic leaders. I have been fortunate to have conducted searches for senior leaders at all of the schools in the Ivy League, most of the Big Ten, most of the schools in the ACC, and others. The firm was Baker and Associates. I merged the firm two years ago with the Buffkin Group in Nashville; it is now BuffkinBaker, and Martin Baker is one of the two Managing Partners; I continue to serve as Senior Advisor to the firm.

I have stayed active at both Wake and Harvard, having served as a Trustee at Wake since 1999; I have served as Chair of the Dean’s Council at the Harvard Divinity School and Pres of the Alumni Association.

It will be a joy to reconnect with all of you.


Beverly T. Beal

After graduation in 1968, I entered the U.S. Army and served for three years. In April 1969, I married the former Judy Ann Harris of Lenoir, a 1968 graduate of UNC-G. We have been married for 49 years. We have two sons and two grandsons, of whom we are very proud. After military service, I entered W.F. Law School in 1971 and graduated in 1974. I joined my father in the practice of law in Lenoir. In 1990, I was elected to the Superior Court bench. I retired in 2012 and was appointed an Emergency Superior Court Judge. I serve on the N.C. State Bar Disciplinary Hearing Commission and volunteer for local non-profit organizations in Caldwell County. I value the education I received at Wake Forest, the friendships made there, and the high values taught not only by faculty, but also by the experiences of my college life.


Jennifer “Jenni” Jacober Black

After graduation, I taught in the Mt. Airy area, then Raleigh, then moved to Greensboro where my husband of almost 47 yrs and I married. Then moved back to Raleigh area, and onto Summerville, S. C. where my 2 sons were born. After 6 years, we were transferred to Cobb Co., north of Atlanta, Ga., where we lived for 25 years before retiring to Lake Oconee, near Greensboro, GA. Seems I can’t get away from a Greensboro! Most of my career was as a stay at home mom, volunteer, and part-time worker (girl Friday for an experimental psychologist at N.C State when we were in Raleigh, and substitute teacher at Dickerson middle school in Cobb Co.). We have 2 granddaughters whom we enjoy so much! As with a lot of you, I have gotten into traveling, but also quilting, gardening, and being with family and friends.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone as my Wake years have a special place in my heart. Love the friendships that have continued through the years.


Jan (Wuertenberger) Blackford

Wake Forest has been important to me longer than just about anything else, including marriages and jobs. Franklin and I are celebrating our 40th anniversary this year, tucked right under this 50th reunion. After a career in banking with Wachovia, and a cruising adventure for my midlife crisis, a few years of self-employment (played a lot of tennis), I consulted and trained bankers on credit risk management. That job brought us to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1996 and I retired in 2006. Now I enjoy being a step-grandmother and am currently volunteering as president of the homes association in my neighborhood of 810 homes. Great way to get to know people, as we are raising money and borrowing money to build a new community center, resolving issues with neighbors, along with the usual poolside parties, holiday parades, and more. I foolishly worried about being away for this week, and when I said why, people just said, “Oh. Wow.” Then shrugged. Love the Bay Area, and can’t wait to be back on campus with old friends.


Becky Stevenson Bock

I headed to Wake Forest from Hickory, N.C. in September of 1964, not knowing another female student in my class. It is still amazing to me that I was able to feel comfortable in a very short period of time with my new surroundings, and I know that is because of the wonderful friends I made and the overall welcoming atmosphere on campus. I never regretted my decision to attend Wake Forest, and I treasure many special memories from my four years there.

After graduation, I taught high school English for one year in Woodbridge, Virginia, married in 1969, taught two years in Cary, N.C. while living in Raleigh, and then became a stay at home mom.

Our first son was born in Raleigh, and we moved to Louisville, Kentucky almost immediately. This was my second experience with moving to a new place and knowing no one except for my husband, new baby, and Old English Sheepdog, but I enjoyed that time also because of great neighbors.who were pretty much in the same stage of life as we were…We lived there for five years, our daughter was born there, and then we moved back to Raleigh, where we have been since 1977. Our youngest son was born the next year, and I stayed busy doing the normal mom things and volunteering in the children’s schools, church, and community – and driving carpools to sporting events, dance classes, etc. When the children were older, I helped my husband with his home building business and sold real estate. We all enjoyed time at the beach, snow skiing, and family activities.
My husband Paul and I will celebrate a 50th. anniversary next year. We are so lucky to have our four grandchildren living close by, and we still enjoy our church involvement, travel, family, and friends. The time is just passing much too quickly. I look forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.


Patricia (Pat) Carnes Carriker

After graduation, I went to work for Wachovia Bank and married my husband of 50 years, John Carriker. After he finished law school, we spent almost 2 years in Alaska thanks to the US Army. Our first son, Doug, was born while we were there. On returning to the lower 48, we settled in Wilmington, NC where John joined the DA’s office and I began volunteering in a preschool for developmentally delayed children. I eventually became a teacher there until our second son, Chandler, was born. I later went back to teaching preschoolers in a church preschool. After teaching for 12 years, I did lots of volunteer work especially with Partnership for Children and our church, St. Matthew’s Lutheran. In 2004 John retired as the elected DA and we moved to Alleghany County in the beautiful NC mountain. We are just about 4 miles from where the Blue Ridge Parkway crosses into VA. We are both very active in our little Lutheran~Episcopal congregation outside of Galax, VA. We are volunteer ushers at the Barter Theater and enjoy the many friends we have made up here. We also enjoy traveling to Matthews, NC, and Wilmington, NC, to help out with our three grandchildren, ages 6, 4 and 2. I treasure the memories of my years at Wake Forest and look forward to seeing many Wake friends at the reunion.


Vicki Morgan Curby

After loving every minute of my four years at WFU, I earned an MS from Florida State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.

My dedication to serving others based on the influence of Pro Humanitate motivated me to pursue a career in higher education administration with a focus on student affairs. My professional work began as assistant resident hall coordinator at Florida State University, continued as women’s activities coordinator at Southern Methodist University, then, Associate Dean of Students at Guilford College, and Dean of Student Development at Western Carolina University. I tried to be a pioneer in women gaining responsible positions in the academy and served as a role model for women students.

At the University of Missouri, I served as Coordinator in International Student Programs, Research Associate in Institutional Research and Planning, Assistant Director of the Learning Center, and Director of the McNair Scholars Program in the Graduate School. I had much joy in helping students who were poor, whose parents had not earned college degrees or who were minority students, achieve their academic goals. My faculty appointment was in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Additionally, I edited the MU McNair Journal, authored a book and articles, presented papers in the US and abroad, served on numerous committees, consulted with the US Department of Education, and participated in the UM Southern Africa Partnership with the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.

Serving others beyond my professional career, I was a Stand by Me Program mentor, Show-Me State Games volunteer, City of Columbia Planning and Zoning Commissioner, Women’s InterSport Network board member, Columbia Kennel Club treasurer, MU Intercollegiate Athletic Committee member, Wake Forest University Alumni Council member, and partner with MU medical students in the Heyssel Senior Teacher Educator Partnership.

Some of my interests include gourmet cooking, visiting all fifty states, traveling in all seven continents, being a sports fan and   bicycling throughout the US and abroad.  In the past, I was also a cattle woman and had a career showing basenji dogs resulting in over 80 AKC champions that my husband and I bred or owned. I enjoy getting together annually with a group of Wake Forest friends.

I met Jon Curby of Oklahoma City when I lived in Dallas and we married in 1971. Our daughter, Ann, is also a graduate of WFU (‘99). She and our son Peter, both have advanced degrees from the University of Queensland and reside in Brisbane, Australia. We have two young grandsons.


Chester David

Susan House and I were married in December after my 9th semester at Wake. Since I had been in Army ROTC, I knew I would eventually get orders for Vietnam. The Army sent us both to Germany for almost 2 years, a time that defined the rest of our lives. After the military and some soul seeking, we moved to Chapel Hill to attend graduate school, I in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling and Susan in German.

We moved back to Winston-Salem in 1979 with our 2-year old daughter, where we have lived ever since. I worked with adults with mental health and developmental disabilities for 30 years in an extremely rewarding profession. My wife taught high school German and Latin for 35 years. Following my career with State government, I was fortunate to work for an additional ten years with veterans with disabilities through the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.

During these years, we have had the opportunity to welcome many people into our home. We started in December of 1979 when my wife called the School of the Arts to ask whether they knew of a student who didn’t have anywhere to go for Christmas. Barbara stayed with us for two years and began a legacy where we now have opened our home to about 45 people. We certainly have been blessed beyond words to get to know so many guests who have become part of our family. We have had 12 exchange students, mostly from Germany. We still keep up with almost all of them. At present we are certified as foster parents.

Since our retirement in 2013, we have stayed quite busy as volunteers in the community. My passion is connecting people in the community with one another to empower and facilitate what God is already doing around us. I have encouraged adults to spend time to read to our children in the Title 1 schools. I enjoy bringing community resources to under-resourced areas of our city and developing leaders in these areas. We have participated in both “Deacs in Love” celebrations at WFU. Perhaps my greatest joy, as we are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary this year in 2018, is also being a first-time granddaddy. Our grandson was born in June.


Sara Umstead Davis

I really enjoyed my 4 years at Wake. My first job was in Richmond working for the state. I started getting postcards from Merley Glover from all over the world as she and Jay Hauck had gone straight to Delta as flight attendants. I decided I was doing this wrong and applied to Delta also. I started flying in Sept. 1969 and was based in New Orleans. I met my husband, Bill, there as we lived in the same apartment complex. We got married in Dec. 1971 and a couple of years later we moved across Lake Pontchartrain to Covington/ Mandeville. When our children were born I had to quit flying because we had no family nearby and Bill traveled as a furniture rep. We couldn’t both travel. In 1986 he changed companies and we moved to Gulf Breeze, FL which is a great town near Pensacola. I’ve worked several part-time jobs and for the last 20 years have been merchandising mostly books and magazines a few days a week in stores like Lowe’s and Michael’s. Bill retired a few years back and we stay busy with friends, church, our pontoon boat, and visiting grandchildren. Our daughter, Ginny, (FSU grad) and her family live in Jacksonville with son, 10, and daughter 8. Our son, Robert, (U of New Orleans grad) and his family live in Austin, TX and has a son, almost 4, and daughter, just who just turned 1. A great turn of events has been that my old roomie, Jan Crosswhite Page, and her husband Wes are still good friends with us. Their younger daughter moved to Pensacola a few years ago and has just had her first baby. So Jan and Wes have to come to town frequently to see the new granddaughter!


Sue Milam Dunbar

Leaving a small Georgia town to attend Wake Forest was quite an adventure for me. I loved everything about Wake—well, maybe not wearing a raincoat over my gym uniform. The education was top notch and making lifelong friends was even better. Our “Deaconess” group’s yearly retreat is one of the highlights of my year. After taking the only 2 computer courses offered in the math department, my career path was set—programming and systems analysis would keep me busy until retirement. Jimmy Dunbar, my husband of 50 years, has faithfully accompanied me every 5 years to our Wake reunions even though he is a graduate of the University of Georgia. Our son is a UGA bulldog but our daughter graduated from Wake Forest where she met her husband. I’m hoping someday, some of my 5 beautiful grandchildren will be Deamon Deacons. What can I say but “Mother so dear” is very special.


Arnold Edwards

Following graduation in June 1968, I completed my ROTC Summer Camp at Fort Bragg, NC. In August 1968, I moved to Nashville, TN to begin a training program with Aetna Life & Casualty. I began active duty in the US Army at Fort Knox, KY in June 1969 and completed my military service in August 1971 at Fort Bragg, NC and returned to Nashville, TN to complete my training program. I was transferred to Memphis, TN but felt a “tug” back to NC and WF. I was offered a job with INA in Charlotte during the wage-price freeze so changing jobs allowed for an increase in pay and to be back home for good.

I married Sara Ann Britton from Easley, SC and Brenau College in 1976 and we are still going strong after 42 great years. We have one daughter, Sydney Garrison Edwards, who just returned with her husband from her residency at the University of California-Davis as a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist after 15 years of higher education. She practices her profession at Animal Eye Clinic in Matthews, NC and we are so excited to have her back home.

I play a lot of golf since retiring in July 2016 from an insurance firm I started in 1987 that now employs 80 in NC & SC. Ann is a retired school teacher in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.
Since I can’t play golf every day, I volunteer with some buddies from my church to do handyman services primarily for charity cases.

I have kept up with many Wake Forest friends and for years had season football tickets with two dear friends that I had to serve as a pallbearer for. Norman Swenson and Marshall Vermillion are always missed when we make it to BB&T Field each fall. I look forward to seeing everyone who can make our 50th reunion.


Dayna Tate Elliott

54 years ago when I arrived at Wake from Atlanta, I knew no one but soon began friendships which have endured for over a half-century. I was lucky to have Patti Reed Head as my Freshman roommate; her Greensboro family became like my own. The value of an English major and a liberal arts education has sustained me (and gotten me jobs) for half-century in varied fields: insurance communications in Winston-Salem (office mate was Judy White Wicker); social work in eastern NC; publications in Atlanta and hospitality (restaurants/ culinary retail/ B&B in Charleston for almost 25 years.

My husband Dick and I married almost 42 years ago and we merged his 3 children with my twin boys. All “kids” are now through college and married; our 12 grandchildren range in age from 11 to 27. We moved to Greenville, SC, two years ago and would love to hear from Deacs who come this way.

Although I won’t be able to attend the reunion, I’ll be with you in spirit and gratitude for all that Wake provided when we were too young to appreciate it, but certainly do now.


Bill Eutsler

After graduation, I started my career with Burlington Industries in ‘Personnel’, now known as Human Resources. I was located in various manufacturing facilities in Cheraw, SC; twice in Burlington, NC; Rhodhiss, NC; Clarksville, VA; and Paterson, NJ. In 1980, I was assigned to the Merchandising Headquarters in NYC with additional HR responsibilities for outlying satellite operations and sales offices. I met my wife Barbara Cuccaro in NJ, and we wed in 1981. Since the Lord did not bless us with any children, we were both able to retire early, and began spending a good portion of the cold NJ winters in Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL. We both are long-term volunteers at our local public library, and spend quite a bit of time & energy as volunteers for several ministries at our church. In the future, we plan to move south to be nearer family & friends.


Austine Odom Evans

I left Martinsburg, West Virginia, that morning in September of ‘64 full of excited anticipation for wonderful future experiences. I arrived on campus knowing only one person, a freshman whom I had met and liked at camp, Nicka Thompson Thornton. Within hours at the pre-school retreat, I had met another West Virginian, Mike Queen, and some other amazing people. To name a few they were Judy White Wicker, Vicki Morgan Kirby, David Diamont, Anne Phillips and Jim Byrd. These impressive teenagers confirmed for me then that I had chosen the right college and with the passage of fifty-four years, I am sure!

Becoming a doctor was my intention and I majored in Biology, but a couple of years into those studies I learned that few, if any, women were being accepted to medical school. After graduation while my husband, Ernie Evans ‘66, ‘69 was finishing Law School, I completed the Masters in Counseling Program at Wake. Education in various venues became my career: Peace College-Director of Admissions; Hertford County High School senior counselor; and Chowan University-Vice President.

We are proud to say that our family has eight degrees from Wake Forest. Our daughter, Tina Wood ‘95, ‘99 graduated from medical school and is an Oncologist in Birmingham, AL. Our son, Brad, celebrates his twentieth reunion this year. He is a managing partner with the law firm of Ward and Smith and lives in Greenville, NC. Our four grandchildren provide great delight in our lives. “The Ern” continues to stay busy with the management of farm and forest properties in Ahoskie, NC (his hometown). When we are not traveling we both are involved at our church and in volunteer work of all sorts.

A great weekend is being planned for us to reconnect with those who were special to us during an important and memorable phase of our lives. I can’t wait to see you


John M. Garrity

After graduation, I reported to Ft. Knox and then on to Vietnam as an armored cavalry officer. While at Ft Knox, I met Linda Harris who is still my wife almost 50 years later. Returning from Vietnam, I earned an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill and began my career as a CPA. Six years later, I decided to follow my passion and became a home builder. In 2003, I retired after 25 years in home building and development.

Linda and I have a son and a daughter and five grandchildren. John II followed my path and is in land development. Meredith is a financial aid counselor with Warner University.

Our grandchildren range from seven to twenty-one years old, The oldest is an EMT first responder and is pursuing a degree as a paramedic RN.

Linda and I live on Clearwater Beach, FL.


Bob Grant

Bob Grant now sits as Chairman of the Board for the Retired NFL Players Congress. Where did our 50 years go?


Michael E. (Mike) Hammond

Before we graduated, I had my most traumatic moment in life. No, it was not a failure, or success, at romance. It was much more traumatic than that. I did not have a driver’s license or a car, so I had to ride the Greyhound bus to Charlotte. On May 10, a Friday afternoon, I boarded the bus in Winston-Salem, to go to Charlotte. There, my family would meet me and we would ride to Lancaster, SC, for the weekend. On this Friday, I was sitting with a young lady from Ft. Benning who was returning to base. She was married, so I decided to take a nap. When we got on I-85, a man wanted the bus driver to let him off at the next bridge. The driver told him that the bus was an express bus and only with an emergency would he stop. The man sat down across the aisle and began to curse. The driver told him to return to his original seat. He went to the back, and soon I heard the popping sound of three bullets being shot into a passenger. The man came forward and, thinking he had an emergency, I did not stop him. He went to the front of the bus and proceeded to shoot the driver in the back of the head. He then turned the gun on me, and I was petrified. As I regained my composure, I took the gun by the barrel. In the meantime, the bus swerves from the median to the side (never turning over). In what seemed like an eternity, the bus came to a halt and the shooter ran off. He was arrested. I was in a sort of shock. This was the most traumatic event that I have ever faced. Thank you for letting me share the story. This was the defining moment of my life.

I have tried to serve the churches that have called me. I finished an M. Div. Degree at Southeastern Seminary and an M. A. in Mathematics (I was a Math major at WFU.) I have pastored churches in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. I have taught Mathematics at several colleges and universities. I am thankful for the opportunities that I have had to serve humanity while here on earth. For the past 15 years, I have served as an Adjunct Professor at Wingate University.

Over 26 years ago I married Gail B. Williams who is now Gail B. Hammond.  We have served churches for twenty-five of those 26 years. We have not children but we do enjoy the time we have together. We are blessed!


Patti Reed Head

Dear Old Wake Forest….what a song and what a wonderful journey began there!

After my graduation, Allan and I continued to live on campus in the WF trailer park for another year while I taught Junior High science and he finished Law School.

The next three and a half years were in Germany with our first born son, David (WFU ’92). While there Allan served his military duty, we had our second son, Darryl (UNC’94), in Kassel Germany, and traveled. It became somewhat of a joke that if there was time off from duty, the Heads were out seeing Europe.

After coming back stateside, we made Raleigh home. Jayme, our daughter (WFU ’98), made our family complete. At least I thought so. I loved being a mom to our wonderful three, but then came being a MiMi to our 8 grands…all beautiful and brilliant.
Through the years, I supported Allan as Executive Director of the NC Bar Association, did lots of community volunteering—school, kids’ teams, church, various boards. I especially enjoyed my eight years on the Wake County Board of Education, the NC State Bar Council, the State Bar Council, and the State Bar Disciplinary Hearing Commission.

Lake Gaston is our “Happy Place” filled with thousands of great memories with friends and family. It is a place where we soak in the beauty of God’s creation and where I will make my home full time soon.

In Feb., I began a new journey. After 50+ years of marriage, work and play, Allan passed away following a three and a half year courageous battle with cancer. “The large “C” in Christ is bigger than the small “c” in cancer” has been our motto and is my comfort now.

I am sorry that I will not be able to attend the reunion, but know y’all will have a blast!

“We give thee of our praise,” Dear Old Wake Forest!!!


Kathryn Hocutt Hamrick and Jane Biggerstaff Hamrick

We were roomies all 4 years at Wake – and within a couple of years ended up marrying Hamrick boys from NC State who became farmers and moved us to Boiling Springs, NC. “Whoever assigned Jane and me to be roommates 50 years ago,” Kathryn says, “changed the course of our lives!”

JANE BIGGERSTAFF married Max Hamrick, who served nearly 50 years as councilman and mayor of Boiling Springs and is a trustee of Gardner-Webb University. Jane and Max are the parents of one daughter and have three grandchildren. Jane worked a few years and then became a full-time homemaker. Some may remember that at WFU Jane dealt with vision limitations due to Retinitis Pigmentosa. That disease progressed and has led to blindness. Jane continues to be active in the life of the community and is well-known for her overcoming spirit and her service to others.

KATHRYN HOCUTT married Cline Hamrick, and after being told she could not have children, promptly had four sons and now 11 grandchildren. The Hamricks owned and operated a dairy farm for 16 years, which turned Kathryn into a humor columnist for the next 30 years. In 2015 she compiled 100 of her humor stories into a book, The Farmer’s Wife, which has sold over 1300 copies. Kathryn has been very involved in her community and has had statewide leadership roles with NC Baptists and NC Baptist Hospital. After their farming days, Kathryn joined MetLife, retiring after 25 years as sales rep and then branch manager. In retirement, she enjoys going fishing with her sons and grands.


Richard D. Herbert

I have been fortunate to have enjoyed a varied career path. Upon graduation, I entered the U.S. Navy and was commissioned in Pensacola along with fellow grad Earl Trulove. Following the Navy, I worked In Greensboro, N.C. at Industrial Plastics along with another Wake alum Carlton “Butch” Baker. Briefly thereafter I returned to my hometown to join in family businesses.
We operated an LP gas company, a recreational vehicle sales firm, and a light manufacturing company. Following the sale of our business, I briefly worked in a consulting firm catering to start-up and small businesses. Then in a major departure from the business, I began a career in education at The Bolles School, Starting as a teacher, then the Dean of Students, I ended my career there as an academic advisor to freshman and as Director of Student Activities.

During our time in Jacksonville, My wife and I had a daughter, Blake. My wife was active in our businesses (later she too worked at the Bolles School). Interested in sports, I became Captain of the Jacksonville Quarterback Club and was a board member for seven years of the National Seminole Boosters (Florida State University).

In 2006, as a vehicle to follow daughter and grandchildren, My wife Dotty and I moved to Tallahassee to operate a Peterbrooke Chocolatier shop. Still in that position, I have enjoyed the maturation of my grandchildren now a senior and a junior in college.


Jim Hope

After graduation I taught (English, History, Civics) and coached (football, track, cross-country) at York High School in York, S.C. Upon receiving a call to ministry, I attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson Mississippi, graduating with a MDiv. Degree in 1976. I served Presbyterian churches in Andrews, Winnsboro, and Aiken in S.C., and Sylvania, Georgia. I retired in 2012 after 40 years of ministry. I still do occasional supply ministry for ministers who are sick, on vacation, etc. Also, believe it or not, my “retirement job” the last three years has been as a security guard.
My wife Rachel and I have three children (two boys and a girl). Our youngest, Fred, will be ordained this October in Newnan, Georgia, where he serves as an associate pastor. Rachel worked for many years as a social worker in several of the areas where I served. She is a graduate of Winthrop University.
Some of my favorite memories at Wake include the Romantic Poetry class, running track/cross-country (especially training runs through beautiful Reynolda Gardens).


Laura Mobley Jordon

I spent 35 years as a computer programmer. Tired of sitting at a desk, I took up whitewater kayaking. Later I became a jazz singer & mandolinist with a band called Hubris. I wrote a number of songs for this band. Now I am living in Brevard, where I read, knit and quilt. I am recovering from 2 hip replacements and a knee replacement.

Ask Ed & Emily Wilson if they remember going to hear the Rolling Stones in 1966 with Laura Jordon & Henry Malone!


Walt Kitchin

When I finished at Wake with no clear career path in mind I spent the next three-plus years in the USMC with time in Quantico Virginia, Southeast Asia and Camp LeJeune. After my tour with the Marine Corps ended and STILL with no clear career plans, I traveled in Europe for a few months on a Eurail Pass for almost nothing (do they still exist?) and then worked for a couple of years before beginning law school at Mother So Dear. I graduated and moved to Greenville, N.C.to work with a firm. After six years a friend, Mike Colombo, and I started our own practice and we have been at it ever since.

My wife Anne and I have four grown children between the two of us so we are loving the idea of spending more time on the road, in all directions. This includes, of course, traveling to Winston for the reunion and to revisit, either physically, or reflectively with other classmates, the old “haunts” which took up way too much of my time at Wake.


Becky Melton Kafer

A few days after graduation, I married Bill Kafer. We lived outside D.C. for the summer and returned to Winston-Salem in the fall for his third year of law school. I worked for the Department of Social Services as a social worker. After graduation he joined the Marines, we went to Quantico, Va., and Newport, Rhode Island. He had joined the Marines to see the world and was stationed for four years at Cherry Point, which is twenty miles from his hometown of New Bern, N.C. We decided to remain in New Bern, and have now been here almost fifty years.

We have three daughters, all of whom graduated from Wake! Our oldest daughter, Alison, lives in Austin, Texas, and will begin teaching at UT in January. She is now teaching at Southwestern in Georgetown, Texas. Our middle daughter, Lisa, graduated from Wake Medical School and is a pediatrician. She and her husband work for Coastal Childrens Clinic in New Bern. They have three children, ages 15, 13, and 9, for whom we have done lots of babysitting. Our youngest daughter, Katherine, and her husband own a bar, the Palm Room, in Wilmington, NC. They have two boys, ages 5 and 3, for whom we have done some babysitting. We love our grandkids!

I was fortunate to be able to stay home with our girls when they were growing up. I also volunteered in our church and in their schools. I did serve on our county Board of Education for twenty years.

Bill has now retired, and we enjoy traveling, boating, fishing, hiking, and being with our family and friends. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at Homecoming!


Robert Knapp

After graduation, I joined the US Naval Reserve, became a Naval Aviator, and completed my active service in 1972. Married Marcia Crist Knapp in 1972, joined Merrill Lynch in Boston and began a 35-year career that took us to Chicago and Carmel IN where we live today. We have two Children, Courtney(42)(Nashville) married with one granddaughter, Juliet(4) and Christopher(40) married living in Oregon.  We share time between Carmel and Boca Grande, FL, and will be moving to Nashville in the Spring.

Marcia and I love to travel, visit our children and stay active in our communities. I still enjoy hiking, tennis, biking, and golf with Marcia.

We have gotten reconnected to Wake through the Deacon Club Board and have really enjoyed watching Wake win the National Championship in tennis. We are so impressed with the progress Wake has made in all areas and look forward to celebrating many more championships in the future.


Cynthia Weathers Still Mann

I can’t believe 50 years has passed since we graduated! But then my husband, John Aaron Mann (’67, ’70) and I just celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary.  After graduation, I taught school in Bear Creek, NC while John got his M.Div. degree at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Old Wake Forest, NC. He was Pastor of the Tyson’s Creek Baptist Church, near Siler City.
After seminary, we moved to Richmond, VA where our son, John Christopher Mann (‘95) was born. Husband John served a church in Richmond, and I became a stay-at-home mom as well as the minister’s wife. In 1973, we moved to the planned community of Dale City in Northern Virginia to start the Hillendale Baptist Church. We were there for 25 years during which time we had our daughter, Krista Weathers Mann Manuel, a ’99 graduate of Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA. Krista received her M. Div. from Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond (BTSR) in 2013. While living in Northern Virginia, we were foster parents for 7 pre-adoptive babies and one pregnant teenager. I now have many more grey hairs!

I worked part-time as a substitute teacher and a florist. John was Holy Week and Easter Chaplain for 30 years on the ships of Norwegian Cruise Line and I went along to give him “moral support!”

In 1997, we moved back to Richmond while John had pastorates in Fredericksburg, VA and Chase City. VA. While in Richmond, I worked at the Boy Scouts of America, Heart of Virginia Council office as a fundraising specialist, retiring in 2008. We enjoy our 4 grandchildren, all boys, ages 2 to 16, travel, and cruising. It has been wonderful being married to a Demon Deacon for the last 51 years.


Robert Hayes McNeill, Jr.

After graduation, taught for several years, returned to Wake in 1971 for graduate work. Withdrew ’72 to join the family business. Returned to complete MA in ’79. Wrote, edited until returning in ’83 as Asst to Pres, Scales for 8 years, while teaching and managing the Special & Endowed Professorships. Later, designed and edited books, M&M Scriveners.

Married Gail Garrison in 1969, two sons, two grandchildren.

Interested in fine arts, liberal politics, and Special Collections at the ZSR Library.


Mike Queen

After graduation, I returned home to Huntington, WV and joined my dad in the supermarket business. Over the next ten years, we opened 10 new stores in WV, KY, & OH. After fulfilling my active duty requirement in the US Army Reserves, I married the ‘girl across the street’. Bobbie and I will celebrate fifty years this summer. In 1978 I felt a call to prepare for the Christian ministry and went to seminary on the old campus in Wake Forest, NC. After five years as an associate in Greensboro, we accepted a call to First Baptist in Wilmington, NC, where I served as Senior Pastor for twenty-five years. In retirement, I have been a congregational consultant with the Center for Healthy Churches and have served as interim pastor in four churches (currently at Ardmore Baptist in Winston-Salem). Bobbie and a friend own two Cold Stone Creamery ice cream stores.

Our son is a Wake grad (’94) and is a high school basketball coach in Wilmington. His wife manages pharmaceutical clinical trials. Our daughter works for a video production company, and her husband (a grad from Wake Law) is now a pastor also. We have four terrific grandkids, the oldest of which has applied to WFU for next fall.

Three members of our class (Austine Odom Evans, Jerry Baker and myself) have been privileged to serve as trustees at Wake Forest. Doubtless, they would agree when I say what an honor that has been. Really looking forward to a great weekend at Homecoming. Hope to catch up with a lot of you then. It’s been a fast fifty years! Go Deacs!


Douglas Reinhardt

I will make my resume brief.

Graduated from Wake with a Regular Army Commission obtained from R.O.T.C.

  • Received my M.A. in anthropology from Wake.
  • Reported to Ft. Benning for Infantry Training. After 4 months on active duty, I was sent home to join a Reserve unit because forces were being cut back in Vietnam.
  • Was employed by Campbell University to teach sociology/anthropology from 1972 – 1985.
  • Married Rita Roberts 1973 and acquired two step-children in the marriage.
  • Received Ph.D. in anthropology from UNC-Chapel Hill 1982.
  • Went into business for myself as an advertising agent using my photography and graphic artist skills – 1985-1991.
  • Employed by Surry Community College to teach Sociology/Anthropology. Was there from 1991-2005.
  • Went back into business as an advertising agent, added website production, video and social media advertising to my suite of services.
  • My wife Rita passed away from lung cancer in 2007.
  • Married Peggy Bivins, whom I re-met at a high school reunion, in 2012.
  • Teach computer classes part-time at Mitchell Community College in Statesville, NC.
  • I have two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, but adding the new ones obtained through marriage, we have 4 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
  • My experience at Wake has had a profound effect on my thinking and total development.
  • I meant to make my story brief – sorry, it’s hard to condense 50 years into a few bullet points.

Elizabeth (Beth) Ann Roseberry, M.D.

I am partially retired after 30 years of practicing pediatrics and neonatology in numerous locations throughout the U.S. I am working for the Opportunities for Ohioans’ with Disability reviewing medical charts for supporting evidence to grant the applicant disability benefits. I have been residing in Marion, OH since 2001. Currently, I share the house with two inside cats and two outside cats. Future plans include travel plans both inside and outside the country.

I did my DNA profile and discovered Welsh, Irish, Scottish, English, Scandinavian, Finnish, Spanish/Portuguese, and Greek heritage. The latter is really mind-blowing because that was a great-grandparent whom I have no information about. I must go back to Greece with a more intimate focus in mind! I hope to see many of you from the Class of ’68 at the reunion!


Debbie Snapp Sandstrom

Three weeks after graduation I found myself living in New Orleans which, after four years at WFU, was like stepping into an alternate universe. I took advantage of the opportunity to attend graduate school at Tulane and then taught English in New Orleans, Charlottesville, VA., and Connecticut. I also became a flight instructor which turned into a second job on weekends and during the summers.

In 1980, I moved back to Bethesda, MD, and started a new career in technology. It was an industry that was young, exciting, and rewarding. While working at my first technology company, a co-worker introduced me to his friend who also loved to fly and the following year I married the love of my life, Dr. Roy Sandstrom. We had 32 amazing years together before he lost his battle with Parkinson’s.

My job as the Major Federal Accounts Manager at companies like Apple and Sun Microsystems provided an opportunity to travel around the US since I managed accounts like NASA, the Dept. of Energy and the Dept. of Justice/FBI. Two of my technology companies were based in Silicon Valley and I enjoyed the weather on the west coast which is pretty much perfect all the time. The third was headquartered in Boulder, CO., and it was great fun to spend time in the Rockies.

My husband and I retired in 2010 and moved to Fredericksburg, VA. I am an officer in a wonderful ladies’ golf league and I’m really enjoying all the community has to offer.

I am grateful for the education I received at Wake. I look forward to pictures of the reunion and I hope many of our class choose to share where life has taken them since we graduated.


Douglas C. Sexton

To summarize 50 plus years, I am retired after 40+ years working in a Department of Defense audit agency in 6 different states including two tours at our headquarters in the DC area. I now live with my wife of nine years, Carol, mainly in Beavercreek, Ohio and as much as possible at Hilton Head SC. We are both career DoD civilian employees with past responsibilities as audit managers of offices issuing audit reports on large, medium and small defense contractors. We both earned CPA certificates, Master degrees and numerous awards during our careers.

I have two children from a previous marriage. Angela (34) graduated from Old Dominion University and William & Mary Law School. Angela is a private practice attorney who lives with her husband (also an attorney) and two children, Vivian (11) and Sebastian (9) in Virginia. Douglas Jr. (32) graduated from James Madison University and Penn State (masters). Douglas Jr. is a GIS manager (I have no clue) working for a county government outside DC.

Carol and I are enjoying retirement, being grandparents, and traveling.


Donald D. Smith

Wanting to return to the ocean, following graduation I taught school in Va. Beach for several years. Then decided maybe adventure was calling, I went to live and teach in Michigan and Colorado. I found my way back to Va. Beach and became involved in the hotel/ restaurant business. Finally figured enough roaming and late nights I signed on with the 3M company and was transferred to their Minnesota headquarters.

Mary Killen and I have been married for 40 years and have 2 children. Dawson, who is married and the CFO of a local Mt. Pleasant company and has our first grandson. Jack, soon to be married, is a partner in a physical therapy clinic in Costa Rica.
Fortunately for our family, 3M had a position in SC and we moved with them over 20 years ago and are now happily retired in Mt. Pleasant.


Tom N. Stuetzer

As of June 2019, Nancy Carol Bost (’69) and I will celebrate 50 years together. Praise the heavens!

In December 1969, I received an all expenses paid trip to Vietnam. As an Army Officer in the Military Police, we provided convoy escort from the seaports to Cambodia.

Upon my return in 1971, I began my career in Boston with IBM. After transferring from Maine to Atlanta in 1982, I retired from IBM in 2000. My wife and I started a consulting company in late 2000 and retired in 2012.

We have three sons (Tom WFU ’97, Master in Accounting, Football Demon Deacon, Ryan and Eric University of Georgia) and ten grandchildren, all living in the Atlanta vicinity. We stay active watching the grandkids grow into young adults.

Through the years I have treasured good times and memories with my Sigma Chi brothers and other Wake Forest friends.

Now, I take the trash out on Tuesday nights, and I am responsible for all things in the cellar and garage.


Jay Hauck Thompson

After graduation, Merley Glover(1968) and I went to Atlanta in search of teaching jobs although the Vietnam war had made teaching positions very appealing to male applicants and therefore difficult for young women to obtain. As a backup, we went to a job interview to be Delta Airlines “stewardesses” which we agreed if hired we would work for only one year and then begin our teaching careers. In July of this year, I celebrated my 50 year anniversary as a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines (Merley did go on to teach). In the course of my career, I earned a Masters in English Literature(thank you, Dean Wilson, for encouraging my love of the classics) and one in Applied Linguistics. And yet, my wings are not yet in the drawer, although in the words of a Japanese colleague, “You are vely, vely old fright attendant.” Ten years ago, I received a surprise call from Sue Milam(68) who told me that I had been lost for years and could I come to a Bostwick Hall annual 5-day reunion. And so, I have shared wonderful times and memories of Wake Forest, adventures and wine tastings with my dear friends: Merley Glover, Linda White, Ann Bowers, Judy Wicker, Suzie Hudson, Vicki Morgan Curby, Candy Pallandre, and Dayna Elliot. Don Thompson (68) and I will see you all this weekend!


Carl Tucker

Carl is CEO of CM Tucker Lumber Companies headquartered in Pageland, SC.  Three of his sons are Wake graduates.  He is currently on the Deacon Club Board of Directors and has served two years as President of the Deacon Club


Rebecca Ann Wall

After we graduated, I stayed at Wake Forest to complete the course work for a master’s degree in English and then became an instructor in English at Winston-Salem State University, completing my thesis and receiving my M.A. at the end of my first year of teaching. I continued teaching at WSSU for 40 years, with two years on leave to attend UNC-G to work toward a Ph.D. in American literature to 1914, which I completed in 1980.

During my years at WSSU, I taught courses in a variety of areas—world literature, American literature, first-year composition, advanced composition, and linguistics for secondary English teachers, among others. I particularly enjoyed working with the honors program, and my work in that area was strongly influenced by memories of interdisciplinary honors courses at Wake Forest. I became an Emeritus Professor of English in 2013.

My husband Bill Allen and I live in an almost 100-year-old house in the West End section of Winston-Salem. Writing and local history have become major interests for me since retirement, and I am currently writing an article about what happened in Forsyth County during the influenza epidemic of 1918. I am also greatly enjoying taking courses in Wake’s Lifelong Learning program.


Judith “Judy” White Wicker

After graduation, I worked at Integon Corporation in Winston-Salem as an internal communications editor (alongside fellow Deaconess Dayna Tate Elliott!). When my now husband of almost 50 years graduated from law school from that “other school” down the road, we married and spent the next 4-1/2 years in the Army JAG. From Fort Ord, California, Bob shipped out to Vietnam while I worked at the Winston-Salem Journal as a staff writer. The next three years that we spent in Stuttgart, Germany, instilled in us a passion for traveling and experiencing other cultures. It also showed us the importance of roots. All three of our children (Davidson, Elizabeth, and Drew) were born in Greensboro where we have lived since 1975.

While our children were young I stayed home and became passionate about our community. Most of my volunteer time was spent with the United Way, United Arts Council, Triad Stage, Salvation Army, Junior League, Kids Voting, Leadership Greensboro, UNCG Board of Visitors, and Guilford Education Alliance. When my youngest was entering middle school I joined the News & Record where I managed the paper’s community relations and charitable giving.

A highlight of every year is the time spent with nine other ‘68 alums at our Deaconess retreats. This friendship that was forged when we were on the same hall at Wake is truly special.

Now both retired, Bob and I enjoy traveling and spending time with our five grandchildren. Nothing finer!


Betty Anne Saeman Whisnant

The most important educational experiences I received from Wake Forest were outside of the classrooms. I was a lonely only child from Connecticut. I found friends, amazing activities like yelling my lungs out to cheer on the Deacons, and opportunities to make decisions for myself. I met and married my better half, Joe Whisnant. Along the way, we lived in Winston-Salem, in Lexington, Kentucky, on an Air Force base in Arkansas, and again in Lexington, before settling in Rocky Mount, NC in 1978.

We have three daughters… Jenny, the oldest, graduated from WFU but married a Ph.D. from Duke who went on to become a UVA Law Wall Street lawyer. (Oh the shame!) The other two have degrees from lesser institutions and no husbands, but they are taxpayers and we love them.

I, too, found a calling in Social Work (ECU MSW). Maybe it was the influence of Pro Humanitate, or maybe it was because I had never gotten a teaching certificate, but it enabled (seriously) me to learn even more about how the world works, and what people can and can’t do. That is still of great interest to me, although since retirement I am only an observer.

My fondest memories of Wake Forest? Sunning on the “beaches” of the dorms, marathon bridge games, ooey-gooey sticky buns from “Vegas”, wandering through Reynolda Gardens and the surrounding woodlands when there was still water in Lake Katherine, and most of all: finding a letter in my PO Box. No other campus could have offered such wonderful experiences.


Bruce Noll Williams

After graduation, I enlisted in the Army and became a forward observer qualified combat engineer. My orders to Vietnam were canceled and I left the Army in 1972. The best thing about being in the Army was I met my wife Rebecca and we have been married for 47 years.

I worked for a major oil company and we moved 3 times and we decided we were tired of moving. I entered the financial services industry. I retired in 2016. Rebecca worked and raised our 2 children. She was in auditing and used her skills throughout her working career. She retired in 2016. We both were active in our communities including youth sports, on nonprofit boards, and adult sports leagues.

For fun, we spend time with our 2 children and 2 grandchildren at Lake Gaston where we have owned property since 1975. We have done considerable traveling in the last 2 years and hope to keep it up. Presently we are building a home in Southport, NC.

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