summer 2012 / 49
CLASSNOTES
In
Memoriam
Virginia Averyt Cooper ’30
of
West Palm Beach, Fla., on May 20,
2012.
She was a homemaker. She
is predeceased by her husband,
Herston M. Cooper ’22
.
Evelyn Meadow Laban ’32
of
Englewood, N.J., formerly of
Birmingham, on Oct. 28, 2011. An
avid gardener, she was a founding
member of the Mountain Park
Garden Club in New Jersey and
former president of the Garden
Club of America. Survivors include
a sister,
Katherine Meadow
McTyeire ’41
,
who is a former
BSC trustee.
Grace Stacey Coleman ’35
of Aurora, Colo., formerly of
Birmingham, on March 13, 2012.
Coleman taught elementary
school for many years, including
in Flomaton, Ala., where she met
her husband. Survivors include a
niece,
Lila Stacey Berthon ’49
of
Birmingham.
Page Haralson Seier ’37
of
Prattville on June 26, 2011. News
of her death was shared by her
son, George F. Seier Jr., who
said “Mother loved BSC and was
always proud to be a ’Southern
graduate.”
Mary Nichols Curtis ’39
of Birmingham on March 4,
2012.
Curtis was a freelance
writer and artist, contributing to a
wide range of local and national
publications and websites. For
many years, she wrote a food
column for the Pensacola News-
Journal and she contributed
cartoons and line drawings to The
NewYork Times, The NewYorker,
and many other publications.
Sarah Shepard Rice Howard
’40
of Toledo, Ohio, formerly of
Birmingham and Marion, on Aug.
16, 2011.
She was married to the
late
Dr. John Malone Howard
’41
.
Survivors include a stepson,
Robert Fontaine Howard ’72
of
Galveston, Texas.
Mary Price McCord ’40
of
Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 11,
2011.
After earning her master’s
degree in microbiology from Emory
University, McCord served as a
second lieutenant in the U.S. Navy
during World War II. For 17 years,
she worked as a medical technician
at the Baton Rouge Cancer
Detection Laboratory. McCord
enjoyed her retirement spending
time with grandchildren, traveling,
gardening, reading, and doing
needlepoint. Survivors include four
sisters:
Florence Price Nix ’43
of
Rock Hill, S.C.;
Polly Price Owen
’47
of Birmingham;
Betty Ray
Price Hughes ’50
of Birmingham;
and
Katherine Price Garmon ’52
of Birmingham.
In
Memoriam
’35
Dr. Oliver Cornelius
(
O.C.)Weaver
,
member of
the Birmingham-Southern
faculty for more than 40
years, passed away Feb.
21, 2012,
at his home in
Manhattan, Kan. He was
97.
A native of Camden,
Ala., Weaver served on the
BSC faculty from 1937-38
and again from 1946-82.
In between those tenures,
he served for a time in the
U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. He continued teaching at the college
from 1983-88 as professor emeritus.
During his career at BSC, Weaver was debate coach, speech instructor, chair of
the Department of Religion and Philosophy, dean of the college, and held the L.C.
Branscomb Professorship of Philosophy. He received the Omicron Delta Kappa
Excellence in Teaching Award in 1979.
Weaver graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from BSC. He also earned a
bachelor’s degree in divinity from Garrett Theological Seminary, a master’s degree
in philosophy from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from
Northwestern. He did additional studies at Yale University Divinity School and the
University of Mysore in India, where he studied as a Fulbright Fellow. He was an
ordained Methodist minister.
He received Birmingham-Southern’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1990 and was
awarded the Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the college in 1992. Weaver was a
longtime resident of Greensboro Road on the BSC campus.
In 1957, Weaver co-authored
Birmingham-Southern College, 1856-1956
(
Nashville:
Parthenon Press), the centennial history of the college. He also published a number
of genealogical histories.
Among his survivors are his sons, Larry Weaver of Manhattan, Kan., and
Kendal
Weaver ’66
of Montgomery, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
