Page 63 - Southern Magazine-Winter/Spring 2013

winter-spring 2013 / 61
CLASSNOTES
attending the prestigious L.D.
Pankey Dental Foundation. He
was named to several prominent
dental fellowships and participated
and donated his time to serve
on key state and national dental
association committees and
boards. He also was active in
his community with Smoke Rise
Baptist Church.
Peter Franklin Diffly Jr. ’75 of
Jersey City, N.J., on Aug. 2, 2012.
A native of Selma, Ala., Diffly
had recently retired from Holly,
Wood and Vine Ltd. of NYC, a
landscape architecture company he
co-founded in 1991. He received
many awards and accolades as
the company grew to become one
of the premiere garden design
agencies in the tri-state area.
Diffly was a voracious reader and
an avid outdoorsman. He also
was vociferous about many social
justice issues, especially healthcare
reform. He loved traveling and
spending time at his country home
in Yulan, N.Y.
Lisa Eidson Greer ’82 of
Birmingham, on Jan. 11, 2013. She
was the wife of Terry Greer, former
pastor at Gardendale-Mt. Vernon
United Methodist Church, and a
former Chestnut Grove Elementary
teacher.
Carl Ervin Flowers ’83 of
LaGrange, Ga., on Nov. 10,
2012. After BSC, Flowers
attended Columbus State
University, where he completed
his teaching certification, and
Troy State University, where he
received his master’s degree in
education leadership. He also
worked with the Troup County
Parks and Recreation Center and
served as athletic director for
Conyers-Rockdale Boys and Girls
Club. Flowers was most recently
employed as a teacher and coach
for the Upson Lee School System.
He was a lifelong member of the
Louise United Methodist Church.
Dr. Jim S. Craig ’89 of Homewood
on Aug. 29, 2012. Craig was for
many years an attending physician
in the emergency department at
Baptist Montclair Hospital and
then entered private practice
at the Seale-Harris Clinic. He
received his medical degree, with
honors, from UAB. He was an avid
sailor. Included among survivors
are his stepdaughter, Stephanie
Romei ’05; a brother, Ben Craig
’91 of Philadelphia, Pa.; and his
mother, Geri Ellzey Craig ’62 of
Montgomery.
MerleWhitehead Underwood
’90 of Birmingham on Aug. 6,
2012. Underwood was a loving
wife, mother, and grandmother.
She was a member of Highlands
United Methodist Church. At the
request of the family, memorial
contributions can be made in her
name to BSC through the Office
of Institutional Advancement, 900
Arkadelphia Road, Box 549003,
Birmingham, AL 35254.
Belinda Boman ’92 of Birmingham
on Sept. 20, 2012. Boman was
employed with Birmingham City
Schools as a science instructor for
17 years and had also worked as
an adjunct professor at Jefferson
State Community College. She
earned a master’s in education
from Jacksonville State University
and an Ed.S. degree from UAB.
In Memoriam Friend
Jimmie Hess of Birmingham died on Jan. 21.
She and her husband, Emil, were philanthropists
and generous and longtime supporters of BSC.
From the time she arrived in Birmingham with
Emil after World War II, Jimmie enhanced life in
the city, especially in the arts. She was drawn to
music by her father, a violinist, bandleader, and
booking agent, and grew up singing and playing
piano. In Birmingham, she performed several
times at Town and Gown Theatre (now Virginia
Samford Theatre).
Jimmie was Emil’s silent partner as they built
the family business, Parisian, into a major retail
force in Birmingham, then Alabama, and then throughout the Southeast.
She served two terms as president of the Birmingham Council of Jewish Women,
held every major position in the Women’s Committee of the Symphony from 1950
until she became president in 1968, spoke about Judaism to many women’s church
clubs, and taught 8th grade to the Sunday school at Temple Emanu-El.
She also was president of the Women’s Committee of the United Jewish Fund
(predecessor to the Birmingham Jewish Federation) and was quite involved in the
Community Chest (United Way). She was especially engaged when she and Emil,
along with Hermie and Ed Friend, started the Tocqueville Society of the United Way
of Central Alabama. She and Emil were early and lifelong supporters of the Alabama
School of Fine Arts, and she founded the Music Opportunity Program to improve
young people’s access to classical music education as a way to honor her parents and
the joys that music brought to her life.
The couple made significant contributions to the fine and performing arts at BSC,
establishing the Jimmie and Emil Hess Scholarship for Fine and Performing Arts and
the Hess/Myers Theatre Fund. In recent years, she made gifts supporting faculty and
course development in the Harrison Honors Program.
Survivors include her children, Ronne and Donald Hess, who helped fund the Hess
Center for Leadership and Service at Birmingham-Southern. Donald is a BSC trustee.