Lindsey Moore Fields (’04, ’06 M.S., ’11 M.Ed.), who worked in various positions for 15 years at UNT, died April 24. Her allegiance to the Mean Green and college education began early. A trombone player, she played for the Green Brigade her freshman year – then went on to earn three degrees here. At UNT, she worked as an academic advisor and counselor; coordinator for academic initiatives and assessment; adjunct faculty; and assistant director for residence life. She also was a graduate teaching fellow while studying for her Ph.D. in higher education. In December 2020, she began working for Collin College as an advisor for their early college program – and even persuaded the carhops at Sonic to pursue college, according to her LinkedIn posts. Survivors include her husband, Matthew Fields, principal data warehouse architect for the Data, Analytics and Institutional Research (DAIR) team. Services are at 1:30 p.m. May 6 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 600 S. Jupiter in Richardson.

Jerome “Jerry” Farrington (’55, '58 M.B.A.), 87, who served as chairman of UNT’s Board of Regents from 1988 to 1999, died April 12 in Dallas. He created The Alfred and Johanna Hurley Military History Fund and The Farrington Fund for the information science department as a planned gift. He became a member of the President’s Council for his generosity and was a lifetime member of the Alumni Association. He began his career as a customer service representative of Texas Utilities Co. and climbed the ranks, becoming chief executive officer and president of TXU in the 1980s. He chaired the board of Texas Health Resources, served on the board of the Southwestern Medical Foundation and was active in many other organizations. He also holds an honorary Doctor of Public Service from UNT. He is preceded in death by his wife, Linda Young (’57).

Milly Marilyn Brack (’56), Gladewater. She met the love of her life, the late Albert Foster Brack (’57), while at North Texas. They lived in the Bryan/College Station area, where Al was a dentist and Milly was a sixth grade math teacher for Bryan ISD. After she retired, Milly continued to follow the growth of her alma mater while playing a mean game of bridge with her friends.

Forrest Watson (’57, ’61 M.Ed., ’72 Ed.D.), Keller. While at North Texas, he was a Geezle and worked his way through college by delivering Dr Pepper. He worked as a principal and superintendent while earning his master’s and doctoral degrees. He began teaching at Ferris ISD, then taught at Kopperl, Italy, Hamilton, Ennis, Pasadena, Alamo Heights, HEB and Keller ISDs. He earned several distinctions — including becoming the youngest superintendent in Texas schools when he was 27 years old and creating innovative practices in strategic planning and technology — and earned the nickname “father of modern school finance.”  

William 'Bill' Foxworth King, M.D. (’51), Denton. A biology major and pre-med student at North Texas, he earned his medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 1955 and served in the U.S. Army. He was a radiologist and ran a general family practice in Pueblo, Colorado, before working in Oklahoma and North Texas. While a student at North Texas, he was on the debate team, a member of Phi Alpha Tau fraternity, the Gammadions, Alpha Chi, Blue Key, Beta Beta Beta, the W.N. Masters Chemical Society and the Religious Council. He met his wife, Eugenia Ruth McKinney (’52) on campus, when she saw him in English class then took his physiology class to help him wash equipment and grade papers. Two of their three children attended the university, son William David King (’81) and daughter Ann Catherine King Durick (’85), who met her husband, Dennis Durick (’85) when she attended UNT. Their grandson is Will King (’14). Read about their love story.

Mary Adella Stanton (’79 M.L.S.), Katy. She spent most of her career working in libraries in Houston. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston University in 1977. She also received a Learning Resources Endorsement from North Texas.

John Murphy (’84, ’86 M.M.), 60, Professor Emeritus of jazz history and former chair of the Division of Jazz Studies, died March 8.

He taught at UNT from 2001 to 2020, serving as chair of jazz studies for 11 years. He designed the jazz major for the D.M.A. in performance and taught jazz history, research methods, styles and analysis, as well as serving on thesis committees in the ethnomusicology area. He was chair of the Division of Music History, Theory and Ethnomusicology from 2006 to 2008.

An ethnomusicologist, he was an expert on Brazilian music and the author of Music in Brazil (Oxford University Press). He published many articles on jazz improvisation and Brazilian traditional and popular music and was awarded Fulbright and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships for research in Brazil.

It was as he finished his degrees in jazz performance studies and music theory at UNT that he discovered his love for teaching, and he went on to earn a master’s and a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Columbia University, with a focus on Cuban and Brazilian music.

He taught at Western Illinois University before joining the faculty at UNT, and was known for his unwavering support of students and colleagues.

In 2019, he co-founded UNT’s Neurodiversity Initiative, which includes training, research, an employee resource group, and other programs and resources to support neurodivergent faculty, staff and students.

As a student at UNT, he was a member of the One O’Clock Lab Band, and he continued to perform in the DFW area, playing jazz on tenor saxophone and Irish traditional music on button accordion.

Survivors include his wife, Genene, also retired from UNT, and children Jack (TAMS '06), Peter and Gillian ('15, '18 M.Ed.).

A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. May 7 at the First United Methodist Church in Denton, with a reception following off-site.

Memorials may be made to the John Murphy Scholarship Endowment for Jazz Studies online (in the "Area of Support," select "The John Murphy Scholarship Endowment for Jazz Studies") or by check — list "John Murphy Endowment" in the memo line and mail to University of North Texas; University Advancement, Gift Administration; 1155 Union Circle #311250; Denton, TX 76203.

Franklin Russell Snow (’62), Pampa. As a student at North Texas, he ran on the track team under Winton “Pop” Noah and joined the Geezles. After graduating with an administrative management degree, he worked in the oil industry as a technical advisor and administrator for companies and was a private consultant to the oil industry until his retirement in 2016. His hobby was golf.

George ‘Joe’ V. Atkinson Jr. (’76), Victoria. He spent his entire adult life helping people and serving his community as a law enforcement officer for 22 years, a member of the Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission and a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. He was an avid sports fan and supporter of anything UNT. For his last game, he watched the Mean Green’s overtime, come-from-behind victory against Rice in November. He loved the Mean Green and the “Not So Mean Green,” as he affectionately called them during any downtimes.

David Compton (’49 M.S.), Athens, Georgia. He taught chemistry at West Texas A&M University, Colorado School of Mines and Prescott College in Arizona, and he also worked as a technical writer and editor. He wrote NASA's official history of Skylab in 1974 and one of the Apollo histories at Johnson Space Center's History Office. He wrote the chapter on NASA and space sciences in 100 Years of Science and Technology in Texas in 1986, published by Sigma Xi for its centenary and Texas' sesquicentennial. He was a writer/editor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory until he retired in 1993. He attended North Texas after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and serving as a Navy Aviation Radioman 3rd Class during World War II. He met the late Jane Walker (’50) at North Texas, and they married in 1950. He then earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin in 1956. He received an M.Sc. in the history of technology from Imperial College in London in 1972.