Information about the deaths of the following alumni was received in the Office of Development. Please send information to University of North Texas, Alumni Records, P.O. Box 311250, Denton, Texas 76203-1250, fax to (940) 565-4519, send e-mail to amayer@unt.edu or fill out the online form.

Click on the names for more information.

1930s [ top ]

• Oliver A. Koenig ('33), Brady. He was a pilot in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant. He retired after 28 years as the postmaster in Aubrey.
• Mary Ruth Sewell Perkins ('34), Midland. She received her bachelor's degree from North Texas in elementary education.
• Johnny Lawhon Sr. ('35, '40 M.S.), Denton. He was a retired band director and music store owner. A trombonist, he was one of the original members of 'Fessor Graham's stage band at North Texas.
• Rosa Jean Tannahill Robertson ('35), Fort Worth. She taught full time at Sam Houston State Teachers College and Mary Hardin Baylor and is credited with establishing the home economics department at Lamar University in Beaumont.
• Thomas Warner Porter III ('36), Pilot Point. He served in the Pacific during World War II and was discharged from the Navy with the rank of captain. He taught in Corsicana and Fort Worth and was an administrator with the Fort Worth and Galveston school districts, retiring after 43 years in public education.
• Woodie Eugene Beene ('38), Nixon. He was superintendent of Sunray, Claude, Canadian and Stamford school districts and was also the special education administrator in Eastland, Hill and Gonzales counties.
• Josie Shipp Johnson ('38), Arlington. She taught in Stephenville, Grapevine and Fort Worth, retiring after 40 years as a teacher.
• Creel Meredith Phillips ('39), Fort Worth. He was an industrial arts and science teacher at Meadowbrook Junior High School in the Fort Worth ISD.
• Leonora Pirkle ('39), Dallas. She was a teacher for 33 years, serving most of that time at John Quincy Adams Elementary School in Dallas. She played piano, taught Sunday school and wrote the annual Christmas play for the church she attended for more than 50 years.

1940s [ top ]

• Marguerite Lester Baird ('40, '64 M.Ed.), Denton. She was a teacher in Denton and other school districts for 34 years.
• Mary Melora High Evans ('40), Godley. She taught in Johnson County and at South San, Ogden and Brewer schools for 41 years. She was a member of the auxiliary of Baptist Child and Family Services.
• Russell S. Judson ('40), Waco. He served in the Marines for four years in the Pacific during World War II. He owned Judson Glass Co., retiring in 1984.
• Barrett Houston Reeves ('43), Lake Kiowa. He served in the Navy in the Atlantic during World War II. He was a high school coach at Electra, Pilot Point and Bryson and served as a public school administrator in Ponder, Sanger and Richardson.
• Dudley Buckner Mathers Jr. ('49), Dallas. He was a B-17 Air Force pilot in England during World War II and flew C-46s during the Korean War. He worked for General Cable Corp. as a national sales manager.

1950s [ top ]

• Sue Anne Perryman Gatlin ('550), Nashville, Tenn. She received her bachelor's degree from North Texas in speech and drama and was a retired teacher.
• Gerald Stockard ('50), Denton. He received his bachelor's degree from North Texas in physics.
• Albert Hollis Lacey ('52, '57 M.Ed.), Grand Prairie. During World War II, he served in the Merchant Marine for four years. He taught in the Dallas ISD for 20 years before retiring to become a full-time cattle rancher.
• Arturo Luis Gutierrez ('53), San Antonio. He received his bachelor's degree from North Texas in general business.
• Robert Justice ('55), Abilene. He was employed with State Farm Insurance Co. for 35 years and was a rancher. He was also an avid golfer and had played on the golf team at North Texas.
• Thomas C. Moore ('56), Corvallis, Ore. One of the first Sanger High School alumni to be on the school's Wall of Fame, he was a professor of botany and a biology researcher.
• Jack K. Curry ('57), Irving. He practiced law for more than 20 years in Irving. He was active in amateur theater, commercials and movies in the Dallas and Irving areas.
• Henry Bradford Keene ('57), Dallas. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. After retiring from Texas Instruments with 27 years of service, he was appointed chair of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. He later taught criminal justice at Collin County Community College and volunteered as a reserve officer with the Dallas Police Department.
• Dixie L. DeArmond Ball ('58), Dallas. She received her bachelor's degree from North Texas in elementary education and taught school in Sherman and Mesquite.

1960s [ top ]

• Alton R. Goddard ('61 M.S.), Tyler. He was an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and retired as a commander in the Naval Reserve after 20 years of service. He taught math and computer science at Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University and East Texas State University and retired in 1984 from the University of Texas at Tyler.
• Jacqulyn Barlow Irvan ('62, '65 M.S.), Dallas. She taught school at Pleasant Grove and was a principal at three Dallas schools before retiring in 1990.
• Lawrence Kucera ('63), Ennis. He was a teacher at Ennis High School for 34 years, teaching U.S. government and world geography. He also kept football statistics for the school.
• Ray M. Sewalt ('66, '71 M.Ed.), Fort Worth. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from North Texas.
• John Howie ('68), Dallas. He was a partner in the Dallas law firm Howie & Sweeney and was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2002 by the Dallas Bar Association. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of UNT in 2002 and also served on the UNT President's Council.
• Philip A. Lipton ('69), Dallas. He was employed at Centennial Fine Wine and Spirits after working for his family business, Lipton Staple Co., for 30 years.

1970s [ top ]

• Nita Gaddy ('70), Irving. She began teaching fifth grade at Brandenburg Elementary School in 1970, transferring to Lamar Middle School in 1979. She retired from the Irving ISD in 1999.
• Mark Alan Hoffman ('71), Carrollton. He received his bachelor's degree from North Texas in marketing.
• James ‘Jim' L. Cole ('79), Garland. He served as an aviation electronics technician in the U.S. Navy. For more than 20 years he was employed by VALIC as a retirement plan specialist.
• Joysue ‘Jac' Gans McNutt ('79 M.S.), Bedford. During World War II she was an Army civil servant. After earning her degrees she taught junior high science in Hereford and was a school counselor with the Dallas ISD.

1980s [ top ]

• Donna Roseanne Thomas (80), Dallas. She served in the Navy from 1983 to 1988 and was employed at EDS and U.S. Sprint before becoming a mainframe computer tape librarian at Fidelity Investments.
• Donald Wesley Black ('85), Round Rock. He received his bachelor's degree from North Texas in computer science with a minor in physics.
• Stanley M. Boswell ('88), Richardson. He was senior manager of marketing and training for Taqua in Richardson and was a member of Scuba Diving of Texas.

1990s [ top ]

• Ann L. Walker ('90 Ph.D.), Houston. Her career in physical therapy spanned three decades. She had taught at the Denton and Houston campuses of Texas Woman's University since 1975 and served as director of post-professional studies at the Houston campus.
• Richard Foster ('92 M.S.), Denton. He was a longtime employee of the city of Denton, working as a public information officer and more recently as internal auditor.

2000s [ top ]

• Franz Ellis Merrell ('02 M.M.), Salisbury, N.C. His master of music degree in music performance was awarded posthumously in May 2002. He had worked with the community music program at UNT.

University Community [ top ]

• Sam B. Barton, Denton, Professor Emeritus of economics, 1938-1973. Barton served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 in a tank destroyer unit. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1930, a master's in 1932 and a doctorate in 1937. He taught high school before joining the North Texas faculty and served as an economist and a consultant for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the leading labor economists in the Southwest during the 1940s and '50s, he was nationally known for his research on worker's compensation. In 1965 he was instrumental in starting UNT's Labor and Industrial Relations Institute.
• Grace Woodruff Cartwright ('29), Weatherford, North Texas regent, 1949-1955. Cartwright was the first woman member of the board of regents and a UNT Distinguished Alumna. U.S. presidents and Texas governors called upon her skills as a civic leader to serve on boards and committees. She was former mayor of Tin Top, an abandoned community she restored. As chair of buildings and grounds at North Texas, she transplanted hundreds of trees around Fouts Field from her ranch in Parker County. She also brought stones to form a rock garden between Willis Library and the Music Building. Her friends referred to her as "Amazing Grace."
• Margaret Binkley Collins, Fort Worth. Together with her husband, William W. Collins Jr. ('37, '38 M.S.), she established scholarships at UNT and was a life member of the UNT President's Council. During World War II, she worked for the ration board in Sherman, as a secretary for a heavy equipment manufacturer in Fort Worth and at the Naval Ordnance Depot in Pocatello, Idaho. She later worked as a placement specialist with Cloud Employment Agency in Dallas and was also vice president and secretary for the Binkley-Collins Foundation, which supports education.
• Giles Raymond Mitchell, Denton, professor on modified service and former co-chair of the UNT English department, 1962-2002. He began his teaching career in the Oklahoma public schools and served in the Army before pursuing his graduate degrees. He earned his bachelor's degree at East Central State College in Ada, Okla., and his master's and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Oklahoma. At North Texas he taught courses in American, British and world literature and specialized in psychological criticism. He wrote The Art Theme in Joyce Cary's First Trilogy and also published two collections of his poetry.
• Edward Louis Rainbow, McKinney, Professor Emeritus of music, 1966-1994. Rainbow, who helped start UNT's doctoral program in music education in 1971, was the first full-time double bass teacher at North Texas. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and his doctorate in music education at the University of Iowa. As a performer in the 1940s, he played with the Al Donahue Orchestra, Teresa Brewer, Dennis Day and the Freddy Martin Orchestra. He was also a bassist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra for 25 years. A UNT scholarship has been established in his name.
• The Rev. William Brevard Rogers, Denton, campus minister, 1955-1959. He was a Presbyterian chaplain who ministered to students at North Texas and taught classes in the Bible department. He wrote articles in scholarly journals and periodicals, including "Curricular Religious Studies in the Public Universities of Texas." He also wrote two books about his experiences as a combat pilot in the Pacific during World War II — he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his service. He earned bachelor's degrees from Davidson College and Princeton Theological Seminary and his master of theology and doctor of theology degrees from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.
• Janet P. Sholty ('63, '97 Ph.D.), Dallas, adjunct faculty member in the Department of English, 1988-2002. After earning her bachelor's degree from North Texas, Sholty received her master's degree in medieval literature from Marquette University. She returned to UNT to earn her doctorate and taught writing and literature classes off and on here for 14 years. During her career, she published several short stories and contributed to the Encyclopedia of the Novel and the Chaucer Encyclopedia. A scholarship in her memory has been established at the UNT Foundation.