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CLASSNOTES
56 / ’southern
He was active in professional
associations and in the community,
serving as a charter member of
the Alabama Geological Society
and as a volunteer at DCH and
DCH Cancer Center for 19 years.
He was a longtime member of
First United Methodist Church of
Tuscaloosa. Survivors include his
wife,
Doris Shelton Copeland ’56
,
and two sons.
Dr. Richard L. McBride ’57
of
Montgomery, on Nov. 19, 2014.
Following graduation from BSC,
McBride served as a teacher
and coach at Ensley High and
Bessemer High for nine years.
He earned his Ed.D. in school
administration from the University
of Alabama in 1970. He then
became superintendent of the
Pleasant Grove and Tarrant
City school systems for three
years each, while also serving
a term in the Alabama House
of Representatives. In 1978,
McBride moved to Montgomery
to become director of legislative
services for the State Department
of Education. He then served as
executive secretary of the Alabama
Retired Teachers’ Association,
while teaching graduate education
courses at UAB and Troy, until
his retirement in 2002. McBride
served two terms on the
Montgomery City Council from
1987-95 and remained involved in
the community and church. He is
survived by his wife, two children,
and five grandchildren.
Lyndel E. Lyons ’58
of Decatur,
on Aug. 23, 2014. Lyons studied
piano at Birmingham-Southern and
earned a master’s in music from
the University of Louisville. Over
her career, she taught at the BSC
Conservatory of Music and was
an organist at several Birmingham
churches before retiring as a
music instructor at Jefferson State
Community College. Lyons was a
member of the Decatur Music Club
and First Baptist Church of Decatur.
She is survived by a daughter and
granddaughter.
Sylvia Brown Patrick ’58
of
Birmingham, on Dec. 16, 2014.
After college, Patrick worked
as assistant director of youth
services at a YWCA. Throughout
her life, she performed and
taught performing arts across
Birmingham. Patrick also spent
countless hours devoted to
civic and charitable causes,
including the Birmingham Music
Club, Birmingham Symphony
Association, and served on the
board of Spain Rehabilitation.
Survivors include her husband, two
daughters, and four grandchildren.
Delores Hodgens Howard ’59
of Birmingham, on Oct. 24,
2014. Howard was crowned
Miss Alabama in 1961 after a
stunning piano performance. After
she finished as a Miss America
semifinalist, she married
Sam
Howard ’59
(died Jan. 23, 2015).
They each earned master’s degrees
from the Juilliard School and then
went to London to study under
Ilona Kabos, an influential piano
teacher. Afterward, they toured
the great concert halls of Europe
and North America. A Rockefeller
Foundation grant helped them
launch a 30-year career as an
international two-piano classical
performance act called Hodgens
and Howard. While touring to
perform, the Howards were also
artists-in-residence for 24 years at
BSC, and then 20 more years at
UAB, before retiring from touring
and teaching in 2002. They are
survived by a daughter.
Mary Jim Lyons Shockley ’59
of Brentwood, Tenn., on Sept.
8, 2014. Shockley taught in the
public schools of DeKalb County
(Ga.) for three years while her
husband,
Dr. Donald Shockley
’59
, attended seminary at Emory
University. He then served eight
years as BSC chaplain, during
which time, she developed deep
and lifelong friendships with
members of the college faculty
and their families. While living in
California in the 1970s, Shockley
developed exercise programs in
nursing homes as a volunteer;
due to her work with seniors over
the last 20 years, Brentwood
United Methodist Church recently
named her a “Hero of the Spirit.”
She enjoyed playing bridge and
watercolor painting. Survivors
include her husband, three
children, and six grandchildren.
Dr. Judy Clem Klaas ’60
of
Huntsville, on Dec. 1, 2014. Klaas
was among the first Peace Corps
volunteers to go abroad in 1961,
working for two years in a malaria
eradication program in northern
Thailand. Her Peace Corps work
sparked an interest that led to jobs
In
Memoriam
’51
Earnest “Earnie” Ray Stanford
, World War
II veteran and athletic hall of famer, passed
away on Nov. 23, 2014, in Fairhope. He was
87.
Stanford was inducted into the BSC
Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 for outstanding
performance in baseball and basketball.
Born in Summerland, Miss., and raised in
Birmingham, he graduated from Ensley High
School, served in the U.S. Army, and later
graduated from Birmingham-Southern with a
degree in physical education. He returned to
Ensley High to teach and coach basketball and
football and began a career in management
for Stockham Valves and Fittings, which then led to a position in operations at
Rockingham Stainless Steel in Rockingham, N.C.
Upon returning to Birmingham, Stanford committed much of his free time to
his church, Mountain Chapel United Methodist Church in Hoover, where he taught
Sunday school for more than 32 years. When he retired to Fairhope, he joined
Fairhope United Methodist Church.
Among survivors are his wife,
Kathryn “Kitty” Holder Stanford ’51
; three
children, including
Karen Stanford Haywood ’79
; eight grandchildren, including
Nathan Haywood ’13
; and one great-granddaughter. Memorial donations may be
made to the BSC Athletic Foundation, Box 549041, Birmingham, Alabama 35254.