Oak Ridge Today

Obituary: Louise Carson Honeycutt

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Louise Honeycutt

Louise Honeycutt

Louise Carson Honeycutt passed away on Tuesday, January 20. She was 89.

Louise and her husband Presley came to Oak Ridge during the war, where she worked for a brief time at the K-25 plant. The two of them enjoyed gardening, particularly growing their own vegetables.

Later in her life, Louise worked as an aide at the Daniel Arthur Rehabilitation Center. After retirement, Louise and Presley enjoyed traveling and visited all of the states except Hawaii.

Both Louise and Presley were long time members of Central Baptist Church in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Obituary: Joanne Stern Gailer

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Joanne Gailer passed away January 19 at her home.

She was born January 30, 1925, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Percival and Ethel Stern.

Joanne was a diversity coordinator for Union Carbide. [Read more…]

Obituary: Eleanor Louise Felts Hunter

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Eleanor Louise Felts Hunter

Eleanor Louise Felts Hunter

Louise went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, January 20, passing peacefully at home surrounded by family and loved ones.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Gerald and her brother Roland Felts.

Louise was a member of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church and spent most of her life as a witness for the glory of God. Her works included over 30 years as a representative of the American Bible Society. [Read more…]

Obituary: Mary Earline Smith Banic

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Mary Earline Banic

Mary Earline Banic

Mary Earline Smith Banic, age 90, of Oak Ridge passed away Thursday, January 22.

Earline was born in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, on September 3, 1924, and moved to Oak Ridge in 1946 after graduating from Winthrop College. She worked for Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Division of Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation in the Plant Lab until 1953. She met and married George Banic while working in Oak Ridge.

Earline was very active in First Baptist Church, singing in the choir and working in many mission activities. She was instrumental in working with the women in the Briceville area, teaching them sewing skills and ministering to them.  [Read more…]

Obituary: James Eugene Livesay

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James Eugene Livesay

James Eugene Livesay

James Eugene Livesay, age 91, of Oak Ridge, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, January 21.

Jim was born January 10, 1924, in Frankfort, West Virginia, to Lock and Mary Livesay. He was the youngest of eight children.

He enlisted in the United States Army with the 249th Engineer Battalion. Serving in the European Theater, Jim landed on Utah Beach in August 1944. He was wounded with shrapnel in one battle. After recovering from his wounds, Jim re-engaged with his unit and was shot three times during the Battle of the Bulge. After recovering at Walter Reed Hospital, he was honorably discharged. He received a Purple Heart, the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the American Campaign Medal.

Jim met Betty Ruth Samuels in Ronceverte, West Virginia, while he worked as a farm manager and Betty was in nursing school. They eloped on February 8, 1947, and drove to Kentucky to get married. [Read more…]

Obituary: Donald Ray Long

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Donald Ray Long

Donald Ray Long

Donald Ray Long, age 57, of Oak Ridge, passed away Sunday, January 4, at his home.

He was born December 29, 1957, in Oak Ridge, the son of Ernest L. Long Jr. and Wilma Wynn Long.

He had worked as a contractor with Tobler Construction.

He was a long-time member of First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Obituary: Betty Felton White

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Betty Felton White

Betty Felton White

Betty Felton White, 83 of Fort Collins, Colorado, formerly of Tennessee, passed away on Friday, January 2.

She was born on August 12, 1931, in Ethridge, TN to Virgil and Delia (Alexander) Felton. Betty spent her childhood in Ethridge and Madison, TN, until 1949, when she graduated from Madison High School.

In 1953, Betty graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, Cookeville, where she successfully earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in English and her Minor in Biology. After graduation she moved to Oak Ridge and began her career as a secretary with the Oak Ridge K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Later, as fate would have it, Betty met Dave White at Loveman’s Department Store while shopping for Christmas cards; they were introduced by a mutual friend.  [Read more…]

Obituary: Virgil Haynes

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Virgil O. Haynes

Virgil O. Haynes

Virgil Haynes of Oak Ridge died at home on Tuesday, January 6.

Mr. Haynes, the son of Millicent and Chester M. Haynes, Sr., was born on January 2, 1922, near Baker, Oregon. His parents moved to a farm near Caldwell, Idaho, in 1924 and he grew up there. Since June 1943, when he came to work at Y-12 for the Tennessee Eastman Corporation, he lived in Oak Ridge.

He had an Engineering degree from the University of Idaho and was also a graduate of the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology. Most of his working career was at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, retiring from Martin Marietta Energy Systems on January 31, 1985 with over 41 years of service. [Read more…]

Obituary: Janet Heck Nave

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Janet Heck Nave

Janet Heck Nave

Janet Heck Nave passed away December 30, 2014, in Oak Ridge. She was born December 2, 1941, in Rogersville, Tennessee.

After graduating from Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport in 1960, Janet attended Emory and Henry College where she met her future husband, Larry, during the first week of freshman orientation at a class picnic. Janet and Larry married in 1962 in January of her sophomore year. Janet graduated from Emory and Henry with a B.A. in English in 1965.

She taught English at Jefferson County High School in Jefferson City and was Head Librarian at Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Ala. An extremely supportive wife and dutiful mother, Janet still managed to obtain her Master’s degree in Educational Media from Auburn University in 1976.

After moving to Oak Ridge in 1977, Janet worked at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for 24 years from 1978 through 2002 as an Information Scientist, Database Administrator, and Public Information Specialist. [Read more…]

Obituary: Richard E. Pawel

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Richard E. Pawel

Richard E. Pawel

Richard E. Pawel, 82, of Oak Ridge, died peacefully in his sleep on January 2 at Briarcliff Health Care Center.

He was born to George and Thelma Pawel in upstate New York in March 1932 and, after short stays in New York and North Carolina, grew up in Norris where he graduated from High School in 1948.

He went on to graduate from the University of Tennessee with a PhD in Metallurgical Engineering in 1956 at the age of 24, which for a time placed him as the youngest engineering student from UT to receive the PhD degree. While in graduate school at UT, in 1955, he married the former Teresa Gravette and set in motion almost 60 years of joyful companionship. [Read more…]

Glazer, developer of former Downtown Shopping Center, dies at 93

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Guilford Glazer and Diane Pregerson Glazer

Guilford Glazer and Diane Pregerson Glazer (Source: Tel Aviv University)

 

Guilford Glazer

Guilford Glazer (Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University)

Note: This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m.

Philanthropist and developer Guilford Glazer, whose company built the former Downtown Shopping Center in Oak Ridge in the 1950s, died at his Beverly Hills home in California on Tuesday. He was 93.

Glazer, who still owns property in Oak Ridge and Knoxville, was born in Knoxville in 1921. He was one of seven children born to Eastern European immigrants, according to a story in the Beverly Hills Courier. He studied engineering at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for two years before joining the Navy during World War II, working in ship construction.

When he returned home from the war, Glazer entered the business world when he took over the family welding shop and turned it into a major steel fabrication business, Glazer Steel Corporation, the Courier said. Glazer Steel fabricated bridges and many other structures for the government of France, among many other customers.

“Glazer’s first development was a building in Knoxville that has been described as the city’s ‘first high-rise apartment building,'” the Courier said. “He entered the real estate business in 1951, when a company he led was selected by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to build a shopping center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. That shopping center opened in 1955 and not long after, Glazer picked up and moved to Los Angeles.” [Read more…]

Obituary: David Justus Johnson Jr.

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David Justus Johnson Jr.

David Justus Johnson Jr.

David Justus Johnson Jr., age 93, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, passed away on December 20, 2014, after a brief illness and a long life.

David was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Armour Tech (Illinois Institute of Technology). He met his wife of 69 years, Jane Louise Somers, of Evanston, Illinois, on a blind date arranged by a member of her brother Roger Ward Somer’s jazz band.

He is survived by his children David Somers Johnson (Galina), Ann Scappaticci, Roger Ward Johnson (Deborah), and Katherine Jane Martin (Melvin); his grandchildren Cheryl and Stephan Scappaticci (Susan), Ben Johnson (Kathleen Lordo), Shawna Martin, Chelsea Martin, and David Martin; great-grandchildren Jameson and Isabella Scappaticci, and Aurora Jane Johnson.

David was preceded in death by parents David Justus Johnson and Emily Sundell Johnson, and sisters Grace Hager and Hattie. [Read more…]