IN MEMORIAM Millsaps, she was a member of the Baptist Student Union and Alpha Epsilon Delta honorary. Helen Ball Lee, 1923, of Pearl died Dec. 1, 2001. She spent most of her life in Jackson, but lived in Washington, D.C., while her husband was in charge of claims with the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee. She was a member of Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church, Eastern Star, the Gavel Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Amity Luncheon Club, and the Wednesday Bridge Luncheon Club. While at Millsaps, she was a member of Kappa Delta sorority. Robert “Bob” E. Luckett, B.A. 1967, of Florence died Feb. 5, 2002. A career educator fondly remembered for his dedication to students, he had served for 19 years as the principal of Richland High School. He worked most recently as the director of special projects for the Rankin County School District and chaired the Mississippi Secondary Committee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. He received a M.Ed. degree from Mississippi College, a specialist’s certificate from the University of Southern Mississippi, and did additional graduate work at Jackson State University and Mississippi State University. He completed principals’ institutes at Millsaps and Harvard University, and was a visiting Fulbright educator in Cameroon in 1980. He began his career in 1967 as a history teacher at Wingfield High School in Jackson, then became an assistant principal at Jim Hill High School in 1971. He served as the principal of St. Joseph High School from 1973 to 1981, before moving to Richland High School. Luckett was named the High School Principal of the Year for Mississippi in 1997 by Met Life/National Association of Secondary School Principals. He served on the board of directors for the Mississippi Association of
MILLSAPS MAGAZINE
48
Secondary School Principals and the Mississippi Association of School Administrators. He coordinated the Mississippi/German Principal Exchange Program for the state secondary principals association and was a member of the international programs committee of the national association. He was an active member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church, where he served as a eucharistic minister, lector, and had been a member of the parish council. He and his wife, Jeanne, B.A. 1966, served as foster parents for 16 children over the years. While at Millsaps, he participated in athletics and was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Kathryn “Kathy” L. Lehmann Matheny, B.S. 1964, of Natchez died Nov. 3, 2001. A medical technologist at Natchez Pathology Laboratory, she completed training and licensure at Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans. She had also taught high school biology and chemistry at Trinity Episcopal Day School. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church, the Pilgrimage Garden Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. She was also a past secretary/treasurer of the Natchez chapter of Habitat for Humanity. While at Millsaps, she was a member of Phi Mu sorority.
James I. Lundy Jr., 1935, of Greenwood died March 9, 2002. He was a retired Leflore County farmer, World War II veteran, and cotton magnate. After graduating from Mississippi State University, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and served as a first sergeant in Great Britain and on the European continent. Following WWII and for the next 40 years, he and his brother farmed cotton and soybeans and raised cattle at Bonita Plantation, southwest of Sidon. As the commissioner of the Abiaca Drainage District, he helped provide for the maintenance of levees that protected Holmes County and parts of Leflore County from spring flooding. He served as the director and secretary-treasurer of the Leco Gin Co. in Sidon. Lundy was a member of numerous civic organizations, including the Delta Council, the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association, the Leflore County Board of Education, the Sidon Lions Club, and the Greenwood Elk’s Lodge. He was a past president of the Farm Bureau and a charter member and director of the Young at Heart social club. In 1986, he was named king of the Greenwood Junior Auxiliary Cotton Ball. He was a member of First United Methodist Church. At Millsaps, he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Otis A. Mayberry, 1931, of Jackson died May 4, 2002. After serving as a store manager with the Jitney Jungle Co. for 20 years, he began his own real estate firm. A member of the Blue Lodge, the Scottish Rite, The Shrine, and the Drum Corps marching unit, he also served as potentate of the Wahabi Temple. Lamar D. McQuirter, B.S. 1950, of Memphis died March 30, 2002. A retired vice president and account executive with the Bryce Corp. in Memphis, he was a member of Christ Methodist Church and a board member and life patron of Variety Club International. Mary Margaret Nail Murphy, B.A. 1995, of Atlanta died Dec. 16, 2001. She was the regional manager of technical support for Qwest Communications and a member of Senatobia Presbyterian Church. She graduated cum laude from Millsaps. While at Millsaps, she participated in the Heritage Program and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa honorary, Chi Omega sorority, Campus Ministry, and the tennis team. David W. Nonnemacher, B.A. 1973, of Jackson died May 1, 2002. He was a self-employed building contractor. While at Millsaps, he participated in the Heritage Program.
Joseph Creath Odom, 1943, of Jackson died Feb. 18, 2002. The founder and operator of Odom’s Optical of Jackson, he was a charter member and past president of the Mississippi Association of Dispensing Opticians. He attended Millsaps, Oklahoma State University, and Vanderbilt University as part of the U.S. Army Specialized Training Service. During World War II, he served in the 106th Infantry Division, assigned to the 424th Headquarters of the First Battalion. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. A longtime member of First Baptist Church of Jackson, Odom was active in the Fisher of Men Sunday School Class. He was a member of the Masonic Order and was a Shriner. While at Millsaps, he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity.
Johnnie-Marie Whitfield: Beloved professor and friend Dr. Johnnie-Marie Whitfield, a beloved Millsaps professor of chemistry and native Jacksonian, died Jan. 13, 2002, at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. The first of four children, Whitfield was a Millsaps alumna, B.S. 1965, and earned her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge in 1973. Her teaching career took her from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo to Peace College in North Carolina and, finally, back to Millsaps as an assistant professor of chemistry. As a student at Millsaps, Whitfield was the first graduate of the Millsaps Honors Program. In her professional career, she was a devoted member of the American Chemical Society, the Mississippi Science Teachers Association, the National Science Teachers Association, and Sigma Xi. Whitfield also served as a National Chemistry Week coordinator and as director and membership chair in the Mississippi Academy of Science. In recognition of her achievements in the field of chemistry and education, she was chosen as a scholar in chemical education at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, spending the spring of 2000 at foundation headquarters in Pennsylvania. Whitfield was director of the Summer Research Institute,the Master Teachers’ Program, and the Millsaps Science Teachers’ Institute, which was established in 1997 and offered summer workshops for K-8 science teachers from central Mississippi. She was also active in arranging internships for Millsaps students, placing them in professional and business offices throughout Jackson. “There is no wonder that Johnnie-Marie was loved by her students— not just the shy ones, but especially those who were shy and felt intimidated before others in the classroom,” said T. W. Lewis III, B.A. 1953, emeritus professor. “The ease with which she engaged Eudora Welty, her students, and her colleagues must have sprung from a soul that knew itself so well that she had no need for defensive maneuvers. . . . Johnnie-Marie was incapable of indifference toward the plight of anyone she might encounter. Her gifts and graces did not diminish with her illness. Even in its most difficult moments she conveyed to callers her love and gratitude for the moments they had shared with her.”
Dr. Marion P. Parker, B.S. 1949, of Jackson died Feb. 23, 2002. A retired anesthesiologist, he received his M.D. from Tulane University and completed his medical internship and residency at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. He served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force in Montgomery, Ala., prior to establishing his first medical practice in Rolling Fork. He then returned to Jackson, where he completed a residency in anesthesia at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He earned board certification from the American Board of Anesthesiology and maintained a private practice with Anesthesia Consultants of Jackson until his retirement in 1996. While at Millsaps, he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta honorary.
Catholic schools. At Millsaps, she was a member of Chi Omega sorority.
Cecilia “Cele” Burdette Peterson, B.A. 1942, of Lookout Mountain, Tenn., died Jan. 28, 2002. A homemaker, she was actively involved with children as a Brownie and Cub Scout leader and in her work with the Junior Auxiliary. She was a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and served in the mothers’ clubs of St. Francis Xavier and St. Aloysius
Albert Carpenter Pippen, 1941, of West Point died March 8, 2002. A practicing attorney and World War II veteran, he spent most of his life serving the municipality of West Point. After graduating from the University of Mississippi, he served in the U.S. Army as a member of the 79th Division during the European Campaign. Returning to West Point
following WWII, Pippen began practicing law in the office of the late J. E. Caradine. He later served 16 years as a Clay County prosecuting attorney and 28 years as a municipal court judge for the City of West Point. He was a member of the Clay County Bar Association and a charter member and the first president of the West Point Civitan Club. He was a member of First Baptist Church in West Point, where he served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. While at
FALL-WINTER
49
’02