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CLASSNOTES
A daughter, Marian “Mary
Fletcher,” Aug. 24, 2014, to
JanieMac Dixon Roe ’07
, and
husband, Kevin (big brother,
Lawson).
In
Memoriam
MaryVirginia Pounds Brown ’37
of Birmingham, on May 26, 2014.
She was an author, bookseller, and
librarian who dedicated her life,
talent, and resources to putting
books and people together. She
earned a master’s degree in library
science from Emory University
and later served as a librarian in
the Birmingham Public Library
and at BSC. In the 1950s, she
and her husband, William, opened
the Book-Keepers bookstore
in Mountain Brook and ran it
successfully for 25 years. Brown’s
career in writing, publishing, and
editing grew out of her interest in
local history. An avid and skilled
golfer, she wrote about that
subject too. In the ’70s, she wrote
“I see how my epitaph might well
read ‘Booked.’” Among her honors
were the Birmingham Festival
of Arts Literature Award and the
Alabama Historical Commission
Award of Merit. She is survived by
several nieces and nephews.
Mary Madge Seales Pettit
’40
of Nashua, N.H., formerly
of Bessemer, Ala., on March 3,
2014. Pettit graduated from BSC
cum laude while working full
time to pay for her education.
She taught school briefly, then in
1942, moved to San Diego, Calif.,
where she built B-24 bombers
for Consolidated Aircraft. Her
other jobs included insurance
investigator, museum docent,
and telephone operator. She also
was an accomplished research
genealogist and the author of four
books on the subject. Pettit and
her husband, Bill, a World War II
combat veteran, lived in France
and England before returning to
the U.S. “She always thought
’Southern was a great school
and was so happy she had the
opportunity to go there,” said her
sister,
Evie Seales Balch ’54
of
Hoover. Other survivors include
her husband, her daughter, and
one grandson.
SarahWatson Scott ’43
of
Mountain Brook, on Feb. 16, 2014.
She was a lifelong member of
First United Methodist Church of
Birmingham, where she was very
involved. Scott was also active in
many service organizations such as
the Junior League of Birmingham
and the Linly Heflin Unit. She is
survived by two children and three
grandchildren.
Dr. Norton E. Cowart Sr. ’43
of Huntsville, on July 20, 2014.
Cowart served in the U.S. Navy
during World War II and the
Korean War. He was well known
in Huntsville, having practiced
internal medicine for more than
30 years, and was a graduate of
the University of Illinois College
of Medicine. Cowart rose to the
position of chief of medicine at
Huntsville and Humana hospitals.
He served on the board of
directors of Mutual Assurance
and Peoples National Bank. As
a longtime member of the First
Presbyterian Church of Huntsville,
Cowart was a deacon and an elder.
He was also an avid golfer and
played regularly until the age of 93.
Survivors include his wife, Lillian;
five children; eight grandchildren,
including
Virginia Hammond
, who
is a freshman at BSC this fall; and
three great-grandchildren. Close
cousin is
Lillian Belle Palmer ’06
.
Mary Louise Greene Hanna ’45
of
Vestavia Hills, on March 11, 2014.
She married
Henry Hanna ’43
,
“the love of her life,” on Feb. 4,
1945, while he was on leave from
the U.S. Navy in World War II. After
the war, they reared their family
of four. She loved nature and the
beauty of the outdoors, was an
excellent cook, enjoyed refinishing
furniture, and had a green thumb.
In
Memoriam
’58
Gloria Spruill
, who taught at Birmingham’s
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School and later
went on to be one of the first female regional
educational sales consultants for D.C. Heath and
Company, died March 19. She was 78.
An avid patron of the arts, Spruill supported
the BSC Fine Arts Society, Alabama Symphony
Orchestra, and Alabama Ballet; chaired the
Birmingham Opera Theater Board of Trustees;
and was active in the Birmingham Music Club.
She was a former member of the Birmingham-
Southern Arts Council and the BSC Alumni Board.
Spruill was an education major at BSC and
earned her master’s in education from the
University of Alabama in 1967. During her
teaching career, she was active with many
education and reading associations, including
with the Literacy Council of Alabama during its formative years.
She worked with D.C. Heath for 29 years before retiring from the company. Then
she worked for 10 more years as an education consultant, traveling primarily through
the West, Southwest, and Southeast, and finally as an Alabama textbook representative
before retiring as a consultant.
Spruill was active with the Alzheimer’s Association of Central Alabama and the Susan
G. Komen Foundation. She also served as president of Alpha Omicron Pi and was
involved in Camp Sumatanga.
She was honored with the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000.
Spruill often spoke fondly about late Professor of Music Raymond Anderson’s
influence on her life, as well as friendships with faculty and students that continued
throughout her career.
“Every concert I attend, I can remember something he said,” Spruill once said.
“’Southern is special; I don’t think you can build relationships at other schools like you
can here.”
Her survivors include a brother and two nieces.