ACU Remembers: Kirk, Merrell, Williams, Brockman, Dunn, Davis, Austin, Gee, Johnston Edward Lee Kirk (’45), 90, died Jan. 9, 2014. He was born Aug. 9, 1923, in Benjamin, Texas. Kirk earned his B.S. and M.S. (1957) from ACU and worked as a principal, coach and teacher in Benjamin (1947-54) and as a teacher, coach and assistant director of Abilene Christian Schools (1954-59). He taught in ACU’s Department of Teacher Education from 1959 until his retirement in 1986 as associate professor emeritus of education. He coordinated ACU’s American Studies Program (1960-75) and supervised more than 900 ACU student teachers. He is survived by a son, Oliver Kirk (’70); a daughter, Sandi (Kirk ’71) Hedges; two grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and two step-great-grandchildren. Martha Ann (Page ’61) Gaines Merrell, 76, died Jan. 9, 2014, in Abilene. She was born April 9, 1937, in Barbers Hill, Texas, and grew up in Baytown. She earned a bachelor’s degree from ACU and a master’s degree from Sam Houston State University. She taught in ACU’s health, physical education and recreation department from 1963-77, and began teaching reading and study skills at ACU in 1982. Martha is survived by her husband, Dr. David Merrell (’64); a son, Flynt Gaines (’80); three daughters, Dezarae Gaines (’83), Jocelyn (Merrell ’95) Furr and Phylliese (Merrell) Sawyer; a brother; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Dr. Kenneth Buck Williams (’50), 84, died May 8, 2014, in Abilene. He was born Jan. 18, 1930, in Petersburg, Texas, and graduated from high school in Durango, Colo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from ACU, a master’s degree in botany from the The University of Texas at Austin in 1959, and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Arizona in 1970. He married Norma Jean Tomlinson (’53) on June 6, 1952, in Canyon, and the couple lived in Waco while he served in the Air Force during the Korean War. Williams joined the ACU faculty as associate professor of biology in 1967, retiring officially in 1992 as professor emeritus of biology but continuing to teach part time until 2001. He was founding curator of the herbarium in ACU’s Foster Science Building, and also taught summer courses in biology, botany and pre-nursing for 19 years at the Navajo Nation’s Diné College in Tsaile, Ariz. He was preceded in death by twin infant brothers and a son, Brad Williams. Among survivors are Norma Jean, his wife of 61 years; a daughter, Sharol “Cherri” (Williams ’75) Goad and her husband, Jamie Dale Goad (’75), D.D.S.; a son, Mark Williams (’78); two brothers, Kevin Williams (’59) and former ACU art professor Dr. Arthur Williams; three sisters, Bennie Belle (Williams ’51) Price, Marquisette (Williams ’62) Strand and Priscilla Dick; and two grandchildren. John Clarence “Jay” Brockman (’49), 86, of Angleton died May 22, 2014. J.C. was born Dec. 7, 1927, in Houston and graduated from Boling (Texas) High School in 1945. Brockman served as a master sergeant in 1946-48 during World War II. He left college in Abilene to come back to Brazoria County to help with the family clothing business in West Columbia. Brockman married Roberta Gray Niblack (’49) in 1949 in Lubbock. He was president of Brockman’s Stores from 1954 until becoming board chair in 1982. Involved in the church and community his whole life, he was an elder, president of the Texas Retailers Association, a trustee on Angleton ISD school board, and a commissioner for the Port of Freeport. He served as president of the Angleton Chamber of Commerce, the Brazoria County United Way and the Angleton Rotary Club, where he never
missed a meeting in 56 years. He was a member of ACU’s Board of Trustees from 1977-92. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Mary Louise (Brockman) Haggard and Eleanor (Brockman ’42) Barton; and a great-grandchild, Eli Case Bouse. Among survivors are his wife of 65 years, Roberta Gray “Perk” Brockman; two sons, John Brockman (’72) and Mac Brockman (’76); two daughters, Mollie (Brockman ’74) LeMoine and Sara (Brockman ’80) Bouse; 10 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a sister, Billie (Brockman ’51) Arnold. Dr. Floyd W. Dunn (’44), professor emeritus of chemistry and one of the first Graduate School deans at ACU, died May 26, 2014, in Abilene at age 93. He was born Dec. 15, 1920, in Dayton, Ark. He hitchhiked from Conway, Ark., to Abilene in 1941 to attend ACU, where his brother, Frank, was enrolled. Following a year as a business major, he took an interest in biology during a class taught by Dr. Paul Witt (’22), patriarch of the science program at Abilene Christian. Witt’s influence proved far-reaching in Dunn’s life: He later changed his major to chemistry and married Witt’s daughter, Pauline (’44) on Oct. 27, 1944. The Dunns moved to Boulder where he earned a M.S. degree from the University of Colorado in 1946 and a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry in 1950. He was the first ACU graduate to earn a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in chemistry. The couple returned to Abilene in 1946 so he could begin a more than three-decade-long career teaching chemistry at Abilene Christian. He began the university’s first research program in chemistry and was the first faculty member to receive research support from outside granting agencies. He assisted Dr. Fred J. Barton (’37) in organizing ACU’s Science/Math Research Fund, served as dean of research and as chair of the ACU Research Council, and chair of the Health Professions Advisory Committee. While on academic leave from ACU, he began a decades-long relationship with institutions of higher education in Thailand. From 1958-59 he served as a consultant at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok with a team from The University of Texas at Austin. Many of the Thai institution’s lecturers studied with Dunn from 1963-65 when he was professor of biochemistry for the University of Tennessee Medical School. From 1965-68, the University of Illinois assigned Dunn to teach biochemistry in Chiang Mai, where Thailand’s first medical school outside of Bangkok was established. When Dunn returned to Abilene in 1968, he began to befriend and act as academic advisor to Thai graduate students who would eventually number more than 200 at ACU. He served as full-time dean of ACU’s Graduate School from 1972-84, succeeding Barton in the role, and retired in 1986. In 1996, Dunn was named Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand, and received an honorary doctorate from Chiang Mai University in 2005. A library at that university bears his name, as does the Dunn Conference Room in ACU’s Foster Science Building. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Frank Dunn (’40) and Harold Dunn; and a sister, Anita Knowles. Among survivors are Pauline, his wife of 69 years; two daughters, Shirley Dunn (’70) and Nina (Dunn ’75) Dikin; a son, James Dunn, M.D. (’71); three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Dr. Alvie Lee Davis (’55), namesake of ACU’s biochemistry research lab, died March 20, 2014, at age 83 after a struggle with cancer. He was born Jan. 22, 1931, in Richardson, Texas, and married Jana Showalter (’64) in 1961. Classes taught at ACU by Dr. Floyd Dunn (’44) convinced Davis to change his major from agriculture to chemistry, and he went on to earn a doctorate in the subject in 1960 from The University of Texas at Austin. As an ACU faculty member, he taught all but one of the full-time professors on the faculty of today’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Davis joined the ACU faculty in 1959, retired after 42 years of full-time teaching in 2001 but taught classes part time until 2009 –
50 years in all. Teaming with the late Dr. Tommy McCord (’54), the two partnered for almost 30 years on research funded by the Robert A. Welch Foundation. Their work included efforts to synthesize new amino acids such as lysine and phenylalanine, two of the building blocks of human protein. Davis served on projects for the National Science Foundation, wrote and presented dozens of scholarly papers, and helped the department earn its first accreditation by the American Chemical Society in 1971. Among survivors are his wife of 52 years, Jana; two sons, Jeffrey S. Davis (’90) and Jay Davis (’06); a daughter, Dr. Lisa (Davis ’94) Dudley; six grandchildren; and three brothers, John Caleb Davis Jr. (’54), John Wesley Davis (’56) and Oliver Leamon Davis. Dr. Clyde Neal Austin (’53), the Robert and Mary Ann Hall Chair and professor emeritus of psychology at ACU, died March 7, 2014, at age 82 in Abilene. He was born Dec. 5, 1931, in Karnes City, Texas, and married Sheila Ann Hunter (’53) on July 20, 1951. Among survivors are his wife of 62 years, Sheila; a son, Steve Austin (’84); daughters Jan Austin-Scott (’76), Marcia (Austin ’78) Moore and Joanna (Austin ’82) Rose; and eight grandchildren. (See related story on page 80.) Dr. Roger Don Gee (’53), died Jan. 26, 2014, at age 81 following two distinguished careers in education in public schools and at Abilene Christian University. He was born March 16, 1932, in Cromwell, Okla., and married Donna Huffman (’54) Sept. 5, 1962. He earned a degree in music from ACU and earned master’s (1957) and doctoral (1964) degrees in educational administration from George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University). He served in the U.S. Army from 1954-56, then began an education career that lasted half a century. Gee retired after 30 years of public school teaching and administration in the Sinton ISD (1953-54), Snyder ISD (1957-63), Wharton ISD (1964-66) and Victoria ISD (1966-85). He was a deputy superintendent in Wharton and a superintendent in Victoria, and served in several leadership roles in the Texas Association of School Administrators and the Texas Education Agency. In 1978, Gee was presented with ACU’s Grover C. Morlan Medal for outstanding teaching and leadership in education. He returned to ACU in 1985 as associate professor of teacher education. Before retiring from Abilene Christian, he was interim chair of the Department of Teacher Education, interim dean of the Graduate School, and graduate advisor for education. Gee served as an elder for three congregations. He is survived by his wife, Donna; two sons, Paul Gee (’82) and Greg Gee (’90); a daughter, Donna (Gee ’85) Petri; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and a brother, Frank Gee. Robert Lee ”Bob” Johnston Jr. (’53), longtime Bible professor at ACU, died June 24, 2014, at age 92. He was born June 10, 1922, in Spearman, Texas. He was a signalman aboard the U.S.S. Caldwell during World War II, later serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve until retiring with the rank of Master Chief. He married Vivian Skillings April 27, 1946. He earned a master’s degree in Greek in 1955, began teaching English and Bible at ACU in 1956, and moved to begin work on a doctorate at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was director of the Bible Chair for University Avenue Church of Christ. He returned to Abilene in 1961 to resume teaching Greek, Latin and Hebrew at ACU. Following retirement in 1988, he taught Latin in the Abilene ISD. He volunteered in the Boy Scouts, taught water safety classes, and had a deep interest in missions. He was preceded in death by his parents; Vivian, his wife of 62 years; and a sister, Wilma Nell Saunders. Among survivors are three daughters, Nina Johnston (’69), Jeannie (Johnston ’71) Mayeux and Alison (Johnston ’76) Peden; two sons, Brian Johnston (’78) and Lowell Johnston (’07); 19 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and a brother, Bill Johnston (’56).
AC U TO D AY
䊱
Spring-Summer 2014
79