To send us information about the deaths of North Texas alumni, fill out and submit the online form, send e-mail to north_texan@unt.edu, fax to (940) 369-8763 or mail to The North Texan; University of North Texas; University Relations, Communications and Marketing; P.O. Box 311070; Denton, Texas 76203-1070.

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1930s [ top ]

• Oleta Miller Airhart ('36), Anna. She earned her bachelor's degree in English from North Texas and was a member of Alpha Chi and the Ides Club.
• William 'Bill' Wheat Collins Jr. ('37, '38 M.S.), Fort Worth. He was an economist with the Federal Power Commission and served in the Navy during World War II. He later worked for the Public Housing Administration, the Housing and Home Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He played trumpet in the Aces of Collegeland as a student and was a founder and president of the Floyd Graham Society. A Distinguished Alumnus of UNT, he also received the College of Music's first Dean's Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Musical Life of the College. He played trumpet in a Dixieland band until shortly before his death. Memorials, payable to the UNT Foundation, may be made to the University of North Texas, Division of Advancement, Bill Collins Jr. Trumpet Scholarship, 1155 Union Circle #311250, Denton, Texas 76203-5017.
• Kenneth Martin King ('39), Fort Worth. He worked at Voertman's store, where he learned salesmanship, and after graduation spent 33 years at W.A. Sheaffer Pen Co. as a sales representative. He served in the U.S. Army for three years during World War II as a military policeman before resuming his work with Sheaffer Pen. Two of his three children also graduated from North Texas.

1940s [ top ]

• Mary Evelyn Burden Dotson, Riverside, Calif. She attended North Texas in the late 1930s and earned her teaching certificate in 1940. She worked for the Social Security Administration for 32 years, retiring in 1976.
• George Clifford Richey, San Angelo. After attending North Texas from 1940 to 1941, he embarked on a long and successful career as a tennis professional. He attained the No. 8 professional ranking in the world in 1952 and World Tennis magazine ranked him as one of the top three coaches in the world. Among his pupils were his son and daughter, Cliff and Nancy Richey, who became No. 1 ranked pros in the United States in their respective divisions.
• Austin Jackson Jernigan ('42), McKinney. He retired as chief psychologist of the Dallas Veterans Administration Medical Center in 1979. He held a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Kentucky. Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Jean Gibson Jernigan ('46).
• Albert Hollinger ('43, '47 M.M.), Harker Heights. He earned his bachelor's degree in music education from North Texas. His wife was the late Hazel Mae Taylor Hollinger ('42).
• Ruby Lee Slayden Buchholz ('46), San Angelo. She met her husband, the late Robert G. Buchholz ('50), while working as a dietitian and foods instructor at North Texas. She also served as a dietitian at Baylor Hospital in Dallas and was a junior high and high school biology teacher for almost 30 years.
• Frank Gioviale ('46), Orange. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was a teacher and a band director for 30 years with the Port Neches-Groves ISD. He initiated the fight song and the traditional marching "I" there and was instrumental in developing the high school drill team.
• Albert Machel ('46), Nacogdoches. He retired from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he taught chemistry for many years.
• Betty Alford Degan ('47), Austin. After graduating from North Texas, she worked as a dietitian at a campus dormitory until marrying and moving to Lewisville. She was an avid bird watcher who loved to travel and photograph wildlife. She also was a talented hand weaver. Memorials may be made to the University of North Texas, North Texas Exes Alumni Association, 1155 Union Circle #311250, Denton, Texas 76203-5017.
• Dorothy Simpkins Dement ('49), Sweetwater. She earned her bachelor's degree in music education from North Texas.
• Edward V. Thompson ('49), Lufkin. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, a retired self-employed rancher and a co-owner of the Thompson School of Dance.

1950s [ top ]

• Kenneth Guinn DuBois ('50, '54 M.A.), Dallas. He served in the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston in the Surgical Research Unit. He established a family medicine practice in Irving after graduating from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1961. In 1970, he joined the Medical and Surgical Clinic of Irving, where he remained until his retirement in 1995.
• Vera Lee Brown ('51, '53 M.B.Ed.), Dallas. She served in World War II and was in the WAVES reserves from 1946 to 1973, retiring as a lieutenant commander. She taught business in the Dallas ISD from 1951 to 1981 and was an accomplished watercolorist and painter.
• John H. Kelly ('51), Orange. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and worked as a Boy Scout executive until the early 1970s. He then became a Watkins Products dealer for many years. He was a 20-year member of the Lutcher Theater Guild and helped in the soup kitchen at his church, where he was an elder and deacon.
• Loleta Joyce Perkins Stephens ('54), Denton. She was a first-generation college student who grew up in the Mustang community near Pilot Point. She taught in the Sadler, Ponder, Prosper and Sherman schools before becoming a full-time mother. She also volunteered in the Denton schools and taught Sunday School. She was a member of the UNT President's Council, and with her husband, Elvis ('58, '59 M.B.A.), established the Elvis and Joyce Stephens Scholarship in the College of Business Administration.
• Doyle Ray Caughey ('57), Dallas. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He began his career in sales and later opened a construction business in Houston in 1971 with Kickerillo Development, building more than 400 homes and commercial buildings. He also served as president of Synergism's residential and commercial construction in Abilene and established an insurance business in Dallas. He sang with the Vocal Majority Men's Chorus in Dallas. At North Texas, he was a member of the Trojans fraternity.
• Jerry Evrage ('58), Hobbs, N.M. He attended New Mexico Military Institute and was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He was a resident of Hobbs for more than 30 years and was active in the Hobbs Bass Club.
• Carolyn Ann Raiford ('58), Fayetteville, Ark. She taught at North Texas and Purdue University before joining the faculty of the program in communication disorders at the University of Arkansas in 1974. She retired as Emeritus Associate Professor in 1998.

1960s [ top ]

• Arthur Murrin ('60), The Woodlands. He earned his bachelor's degree in general business from North Texas.
• Joe Brown ('62), Mobile, Ala. He taught elementary school math for seven years in Dallas and received an award for teaching excellence. In Mobile, he worked for Horace Mann Insurance Co. before becoming an insurance broker and owner of B&B Insurance Agency. He was a '71 Rookie of the Year and taught licensing courses.
• Betty Bryan Wehrle ('63 M.Ed.), Mineola. She received her counselor's certificate from North Texas in addition to her master's degree and taught in the Abilene and Dallas public schools. After retiring as evening dean at El Centro College in Dallas in 1981, she substitute taught at the college and taught classes for jailers and inmates.
• Anna Grace Brown Burk ('65, '72 M.Ed.), Gainesville. She was a retired school teacher who earned business and education degrees from North Texas.
• John C. Garth ('66), Temple. He was a teacher and principal and served as a judge in Bell County from 1979 to 1999. He was instrumental in the creation of the Bell County Expo Center and other facilities. He also brought videoconferencing technology to the county and worked to preserve the water supply. Survivors include his wife, Becky Simmons Garth ('73).
• Thomas E. "Tom" Shuford ('66), Marfa. He was a writer, journalist and teacher whose father, C.E. Shuford, founded the journalism department at North Texas. Tom taught at UNT and Tarleton State University, and taught journalism for nearly 30 years at the University of Texas at Arlington, specializing in public affairs reporting and media law. He continued to work as a freelance journalist, and his stories appeared in a number of Texas magazines and newspapers. He served as a director of the Texas Freedom of Information Foundation and was the principal author of a handbook on media law for Texas journalists. He published a newsletter on Texas open meetings and open records law. He moved to the Big Bend in 2003 to help found the Desert-Mountain Times newspaper.
• David Donald Bonnick ('67 M.Ed.), Oklahoma City, Okla. He moved to the United States from Panama and taught school in Cuero, Mexia and Fort Worth. He worked for the city of Fort Worth's Community Action Agency and the Department of Labor in Boston, Mass., before retiring as director of civil rights for the Federal Aviation Administration in 2004 after 30 years of service.
• Doris Jean Crews Jenkins ('67 M.Ed.), Longview. She taught elementary school in Bastrop, Cleveland, Slaton and Brownsboro before spending the majority of her 31-year teaching career in the Longview ISD. She enjoyed painting, quilting and writing letters to her granddaughters.
• Robert Reeves ('67), Carrollton. He received a bachelor’s degree in business from North Texas.
• John Grady Twyman ('69), Plano. An Episcopal priest, he was serving as a retired member of the clergy at Christ Church in Plano at the time of his death. He had served at churches in Dallas, Gainesville, Fort Worth and Grand Prairie.

1970s [ top ]

• Mary Nell Jennings Schad ('70), Opelousas, La. She taught for 20 years in the Richardson ISD and also taught American history and government to military children in France for one year and in Oxford, England, for four years. She was instrumental in sending medical supplies to the children's cancer center in St. Petersburg, Russia, traveling twice to Russia to oversee the donations.
• Sharian L. Deering ('71), Jacksonville, Fla. She served as a faculty member at the University of North Florida Department of Exceptional Student and Deaf Education for 29 years. Her service there included directing the Urban Teaching Residency Partnership grant.
• Cynthia Anne Rose Ogden ('75), Queenstown, Md. She earned her degree in speech pathology from North Texas and had taught in Kaufman and Mesquite.
• Linda Lee Thronesbery Kraeger ('77 M.B.A., '92 M.A.), Knoxville. An author and humanitarian, she died after a shooting at a Knoxville church. She was an English instructor at Grayson County College in Denison for 25 years and served as the national president of Sigma Kappa Delta English Honor Society, establishing its first national literary magazine. At UNT, she wrote her thesis on Dostoevsky's idea of the origin of human evil and co-wrote a book on the subject. She also published works on early Christianity and theologian Roger Williams.
• Weldon Flanery ('78 M.P.A.), Haslet. He served as clerk and treasurer for the city of DeQueen, Ark., before moving to Texas where he worked for the city of Dallas for 30 years. As vice president of Foundation Development Consultants Inc., he helped school districts establish education foundations. He also worked for Threshold Land Services.

1990s [ top ]

• Camille Stout ('91), Dallas. After earning her degree in advertising art, she had a career as an advertising executive. She loved all animals, especially dogs.
• Charles John Hearn ('97 M.S.), Bedford. He was employed as a clinical research scientist by Covance Pharmaceutical Co. He enjoyed hunting.

2000s [ top ]

• Daniel Michael Henry, Denton. He was a physics doctoral student and teaching assistant who had attended UNT since 1999. In addition to astronomy, he enjoyed gaming and comics and was a member of the Dallas-Fort Worth area shadow cast for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

University Community [ top ]

• Hazel Harvey Peace, Fort Worth, namesake of the School of Library and Information Sciences Hazel Harvey Peace Professorship in Children's Library Services. Peace, 101, received UNT's Honorary Alumna Award in 2005. She worked for more than four decades at I.M. Terrell High School as a teacher, counselor, dean of girls and vice principal and later worked at Bishop College in Dallas for nine years. She also taught summers at Paul Quinn College in Waco, Huston-Tillotson College in Austin and Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View. She was a stong proponent of education and literacy, known for her work promoting reading among young children. The UNT professorship is the first at a four-year public institution in Texas named for an African American woman.
• Stefan Bardas, 93, Professor Emeritus of music who worked at North Texas from 1955 to 1980, died April 29. He was born in Germany to a musically prominent Austrian family and survived the Holocaust by attending the Conservatory of Saint Cecilia in Rome, earning his bachelor's degree in music. In New York he played popular music in piano bars before teaching at Carroll College, Wesleyan University and Northwestern University. He came to North Texas as artist in residence, and was well known for his performances of the 32 pieces in the Beethoven Cycle of Sonatas. He was one of fewer than 1,400 pianists worldwide carrying the distinction of "Steinway Artist." He continued to teach piano part-time at El Paso Community College, was an adjunct faculty member at New Mexico State University and taught private lessons. Memorials to a scholarship in his memory, made payable to the UNT Foundation, may be sent to the University of North Texas, Division of Advancement, 1155 Union Circle #311250, Denton, Texas 76203-5017. For information, call (940) 565-2243 or e-mail elida.tamez@unt.edu.
• Ben Gerald Harris, 67, professor of biology from 1968 to 1982 at UNT and Regents Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology at the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth, died May 26 in Burleson. Harris earned his bachelor's degree from Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Okla., and his master's and doctoral degrees from Oklahoma State University. He also did postdoctoral work at Rice University and served as a visiting professor at the University of Konstanz in Germany. For nearly 40 years, he conducted research in biochemistry at UNT and the Health Science Center. His work was funded by the NIH and the National Science Foundation and included interests in the regulation of energy metabolism in parasites and the structure of proteins. He received the Bueding-Von Brand Memorial Award for Excellence in Biochemistry Research on Parasites from the American Society of Parasitologists in 1996 and the Benjamin L. Cohen Award for Outstanding Research Achievement in 2003. He was named a Regents Professor at the Health Science Center in 2004.
• Lloyd Nicholas Jeffrey, 89, Professor Emeritus of English who worked at North Texas from 1955 to 1983, died June 19 in Corinth. During World War II, he served as a captain in the 101st Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and received numerous decorations. He participated in the battles of Normandy and Eindhoven and was seriously wounded at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. Jeffrey earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas, where he was named Phi Beta Kappa. At North Texas, he specialized in the Romantic poets and Shakespeare. He published articles in many scholarly journals, including the Southwest Review and Western Folklore, and was the author of the book Thomas Hood. He was listed in the Dictionary of American Scholars and was a member of the Modern Language Association of America and the College Conference of Teachers of English, among other organizations.
• James Anderson Reid ('76 Ph.D.), Albuquerque, N.M., director of development, 1971-1979. He taught in Pasadena and Midland schools and worked in development at Southwestern University and the University of Texas before joining North Texas. In addition to consulting work and teaching, he wrote poetry and prose, including a children's book, and was involved with several performing arts organizations. He was an avid canine enthusiast and had a love of classical music, regularly attending the Santa Fe Opera.
• Mack D. Vaughan Jr. ('42, '49 M.A.), 87, Professor Emeritus of art who worked at North Texas from 1965 to 1989, died June 18 in Denton. He earned his bachelor's degree at North Texas and served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II before returning for his master's. He later earned a doctorate from Columbia University. He taught at Henderson State Teachers College in Arkansas, the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Northeastern Louisiana State College before joining the art faculty at North Texas. He also spent two years in Beirut, Lebanon, introducing an art program at Ecole des Arts et Metiers, and traveled extensively in the Middle East and Europe. During his tenure as chair of what was then the art department from 1967 to 1971, the department added undergraduate and graduate courses to begin offering art history and bachelor of fine arts degrees. Also during that time, the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board approved the offering of the doctorate, and plans for a new art building were begun.