Class News & Notes

&News Notes CLASS

1 Area Walton Lewis ’02 and her daughter, Heather, dined at The Varsity while in Georgia for a college visit to Piedmont. Coming from Pennsylvania, Heather was not impressed with this Southern staple, but she is loving her decision to enroll at Piedmont and has just completed her first semester.

2 Anthony Cox ’02, M ’03 has been named Dean of Enrollment Management at Tallulah Falls School.

3 Ben Sheffield ’02, M ’05, his wife Katie, and their son, Davey, recently visited the Atlanta Aquarium. Ben is a remote management consulting agent for RGP, serving the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio, markets.

4 Maureen Yasko (attended 20012002) earned her teaching certification with the Society of American Fight Directors Class of 2022. She is the associate fight director and resident intimacy director for Midsommer Flight, an organization that produces performances of Shakespeare’s plays in Chicago communities.

5 Bowie Wheaton ’04 is now the operations manager for Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to its 1,200-capacity music space, Brooklyn Bowl also features 19 bowling lanes with screens displaying shows happening in real time. Wheaton is married to Sharon Dugger Wheaton ’05.

6 Sharon Dugger Wheaton ’05 is a mentor/manager and photographer for All Things Boudoir, a national all-women boudoir photography team. She has photographed thousands of women dealing with trauma and life-changing moments in their lives. She teaches photographers how to improve their skills and recently lighting class at a conference in New Orleans that she helped organize.

7 Guthrie Arthur Padgett, son of Lauren and Cale Padgett ’09, was born on Sept 25, 2022. Cale Padgett is the Lead Director of Gift Planning at Emory University and serves on the Piedmont University Alumni Association Board of Directors.

8 Daniela Cintron ’09 was nominated as one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia 2022, an honor awarded by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Cintron is a content manager for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and a bilingual freelance journalist. She is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at Harvard University.

9 E. Lane Gresham ’10 is now the director of communications and media for Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. The nonprofit statewide organization focuses on the prevention of all forms of child abuse and neglect.

10 Jessie Owensby ’15 and Heath Barrett earned third place and raised $8,503 for the Circle of Hope with their Dancing with the Stars routine titled “Sweet Disaster.” Owensby serves on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Under her leadership as city manager of Cornelia, the city received the 2022 TravelBlazer award by Georgia Trend magazine. The award recognizes the role partnerships play in developing tourist destinations.

11 Winter Herndon ’22 started her first year of teaching in August at WinderBarrow High School in Winder, Georgia.

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ALUMNI

1940s

Mrs. Sue Smoot Puckett ’47

passed away on September 4 at the age of 95.

1950s

Mrs. Ida Odelle Kelly Hamby ’52

passed away on September 14 at the age of 90.

Rev. Leonard Harlan “Len”

Warner ’59 passed away on July 14 at the age of 84.

1960s

Mrs. Vivian LaVerne Poole Cash ’63 passed away on August 30 at the age of 81.

Mrs. Marcia Cobina Mullins Coker ’63 passed away on August 8 at the age of 79.

Mr. George Albert Gibson ’65 passed away on October 12 at the age of 79.

Mrs. Dianne Briggs Gallagher

’66 passed away on August 7 at the age 77.

Mr. James Dale Blair ’67

passed away on September 25 at the age of 92.

In Memory

1970s

Mr. Donald R. Kearsing, Jr. ’71

passed away on June 18 at the age of 74.

Mr. Edgar Charles “Eddy” Adams ’74 passed away on November 8 at the age of 70.

Mr. James Irvin Edwards ’75

passed away on November 6 at the age of 77.

Mr. Paul Martin Hawley ’76

passed away on May 14 at the age of 67.

1980s

Rev. Dr. Aubrey Joe Nichols ’81 passed away on October 5 at the age of 77.

1990s

Ms. Sarah Ann “Sally” Roche ’94 passed away on June 25 at the age of 58.

Ms. Katherine Kay “Kathy”

Schmidt Bolt M ’99 passed away on October 17 at the age of 54.

2000s

Ms. Aubrey Elizabeth

Venditto ’05 passed away on September 14 at the age of 42.

Send your remembrances of Piedmont family and friends to kdeal@piedmont.edu.

2010s

Mr. Dwayne Wesley Vick EdS

’12 passed away on October 5 at the age of 59.

Ms. Brittany Alyse Stancil ’17

passed away on July 16 at the age of 27.

2020s

Ms. Tiffany Massey Reynolds

’22 passed away on July 18 at the age of 37.

OTHER ALUMNI

Mrs. Elizabeth “Betty” Edge

Cox passed away on October 11 at the age of 90.

Mrs. Barbara Anne Davidson

Ivie passed away on July 23 at the age of 93.

Mr. Jabez Jarrett Jones

passed away on September 15 at the age of 88.

Ms. Cheryl Ann Pope Kish

passed away on September 6 at the age of 78.

Mr. Ross L. Maxwell, Jr.

passed away on November 14 at the age of 87.

In Memory

FRIENDS

Rev. Dr. Harry W. Clark, DD ’91

passed away on October 5 at the age of 94.

Former First Lady Emilie Sandra Dunagan

Deal, HonD ’22 (trustee) passed away on August 23 at the age of 80.

Mr. William Scarborough

Loyd (former trustee) passed away on November 4 at the age of 72.

Dr. William Henry “Bill”

Smith, Jr. (former faculty) passed away on June 7 at the age of 79.

Remembering Sandra Deal

Former First Lady of Georgia Mrs. Sandra Deal passed away Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, at her home in Demorest. She was 80 years old.

“The public Sandra Deal matched the private Sandra Deal. She gave to others selflessly, unfailingly, and unceasingly. We will miss her but count ourselves lucky that we were hers,” the Deal family said in a statement. “She leaves a world that’s better because she was here.”

Mrs. Deal was known for advocating for education and served as a teacher in Hall County for 15 years. During her tenure as First Lady, Mrs. Deal set and accomplished the goal of visiting and reading to students in each of Georgia’s 159 counties, ultimately visiting more than 1,000 schools.

“She was an inspiration to countless Georgians and a strong advocate for Piedmont,” said Piedmont University President James F. Mellichamp in a message to faculty and staff. education she displayed throughout her lifetime.

“Mrs. Deal has dedicated her life to serving others, particularly students. Her work, both in the classroom and as an advocate for education, is nothing short of inspiring. We are thrilled to have the chance to celebrate her contributions,” Mellichamp said prior to conferring the honorary degree.

Mrs. Deal, a firm believer in lifelong learning, held two other degrees in education from Georgia College & State University. In 2017, the school founded the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy in her honor.

On Nov. 16, ground was broken in Hall County for Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary, which will ultimately serve as many as 1,000 students.

Mrs. Deal served as a member of the Piedmont University Board of Trustees. Her daughter, Katie Deal, is the university’s director of alumni engagement & advancement.

In May 2022, Piedmont awarded Mrs. Deal an honorary doctorate degree for the persistent devotion to Those who wish to honor Mrs. Deal’s memory may donate to The Deal Foundation, an organization built on furthering the education of students in Georgia, at thedealfoundation.org.

Note: This article first appeared in the Piedmont University student newspaper, The Roar, on Aug. 26, 2022. Written by student Hannah Osborne ’23, managing editor, it has been edited and condensed for space.