Features  |  Recent Retirements  |  Employment Terminations     
Information about Retirees | In Memoriam  |  In Sympathy

Features

Myra Nell Stewart, former Marion County Extension office secretary was honored at a surprise birthday party on February 28 by the Jasper Church of Christ. Myra Nell is 89 years young and loves to go where anyone will take her!

More than 130 friends attended including former co-workers Bill Hall, who served as County Director and Agriculture agent, and his wife Betty. Also participating in the celebration were former FCS agents Jannie Bradke Lamb and June Puett, and present FCS agent Vickie Lofty and secretary Glenda Hill.

Guest traveled from Alabama, Nashville and Atlanta. Myra Nell began her Extension career in 1939 and retired in 1985 after 48 years of service. Several of Myra's Extension family keep in touch with her.

Recent UTIA Retirements
The University Benefits and Retirements Services Office reports the following persons have retired at UTIA.

• Mary Ruth Chandler, Extension Program Assistant II, UT–Extension, Knox County, retired 12-30-2008 with 20.67 years of service.
• Marilyn B. Cottrell, Senior Laboratory Technologist I, Comparative Medicine, CVM, Knoxville, retired 12-31-2008 with 37.9 years of service.
  

Recent UTIA Terminations
The University Benefits and Retirements Services Office reports the following former employees with five or more years of service have recently left UTIA employment.

• Keith A. Hnilica, Associate Professor, Small Animal Clinical Science, CVM, Knoxville, terminated 12-31-2008 with 8.08 years of service.
• Albert L. Jenkins, Service Aid II, Ames Plantation REC, terminated 01-05-2009 with 12.5 years of service.
• Robert E. Polk, Service Aid II, Ames Plantation REC, terminated 01-05-2009 with 21.9 years of service.
• Larry W. Teague II, Research Specialist II, Ames Plantation REC, terminated 01-05-2009 with 12.5 years of service.
• Michael S. Whittington, Research Associate I, Ames Plantation REC, terminated 01-05-2009 with 8.08 years of service.
• Rachel C. Whittington, Research Associate I, Ames Plantation REC, terminated 01-05-2009 with 9.5 years of service
  
  We invite each former UTIA employee to become an
  active member of the Former UTIA Workers’ Association.
  
  
  

Information About Retirees

WHAT'S HAPPENING


• John Allen, former Extension agent in Davidson County and National 4-H Center staff member, has moved back to Cookeville to spend more time with his Mom. John reports that he has a small antique shop and enjoys attending estate sales and auctions. His address is: 1430 Park Drive, Cookeville, TN 38501, johnncookeville@charter.net
  
  
• Dr. Bob V. Conger, Professor Emeritus, the Department of Plant Sciences, was among the 20 men and women honored by the University of Tennessee recently for patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  
  Conger, a FUTIAWA member, was granted a Plant Variety Protection Patent for 'Persist' orchardgrass. This patent represents 50 years of discovery and plant breeding work. Conger assumed work on the project in 1976. Persist, which does exactly what it name says, outperforms other orchardgrass varieties.
  
  Persist has performed well at the southern adaption range for cool-season grasses, such as southwestern Tennessee, where it was evaluated at UT's AgResearch and Education Center at Ames Plantation. In Kentucky, it was the top producer in yield trials at two locations for two years. It has also been a top yield producer in trials in Nebraska, Illinois and Pennsylvania
  
  
  
  
  
  In Memoriam
  FUTIAWA expresses sympathy to the families of the following deceased former UTIA workers:
  

• William ‘Bill’ Butler, former extension leader in Hardin County, passed away Sunday, February 8 at Vanderbilt Hospital from heart failure at the age of 89. Mr. Butler retired from the Hardin County Extension office in 1984 and remained in Hardin County.
  
  Visitation will be Monday night, February 9 from 5:00-9:00 p.m. and the funeral will be at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 10 at Shackleford Funeral Home in Savannah, TN. Interment in Lexington City Cemetery, Lexington, Tennessee
  
  Mr. Butler was born in Weakley County, Tennessee on May 22, 1919 the son of the late Horace Franklin and Gladys Waggener Butler. He had served in the United Sates Army Air Corps 27th Bomb Group in the 454th Ordnance, the 27th Bomb Group was the only U.S. Air Force unit in history to fight as an infantry regiment, earning its members the CIB(Combat Infantryman Badge). He was one of the many POW's that walked "The Bataan Death March", the forceable transfer of some 70,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war who were captured following their surrender on the Bataan Peninsula. He was decorated with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and Good Conduct Medals.
  
  After returning home, Mr. Butler earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He worked for PET Milk Company, before accepting a post at the University of Tennessee Extension Service as a 4-H assistant county agent for Hardin County and was promoted to county agent, and retired as extension agent and county leader. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Savannah, Tennessee, the Lions Club, and the Disabled American Veterans. In addition to Savannah, Tennessee he had also lived in Mayfield, Kentucky, Camden, Martin, and Paris, Tennessee. Mr. Butler was an avid UT fan and loved gardening.
  
  Mr. Butler is survived by his daughter, Paula Butler Jones of Pickwick Dam, Tennessee; a sister, Minnie Parham of Dresden, Tennessee; 2 grandchildren, Christopher E. Jones and Clinton D. Jones.
  
  In addition to his parents, Mr. Butler was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Katherine Rhodes on March 10, 1986; his second wife, Hazel Stanford Blevins on April 14, 2004; two brothers and two sisters.
  
  
• Frank M. DeFriese, age 95 of Knoxville, retired UTIA professor and Extension agricultural economist, passed away Saturday morning February 21, 2009. He was a dedicated and active member of Church Street United Methodist Church for 72 years. Dr. DeFriese retired in 1973 after 38 years of service at UTIA.
  
  Frank was born September 28, 1913 to Milton Tipton and Harriett Ellen Lane DeFriese in Birchwood, James County ,Tennessee. He attended elementary and high school in Birchwood and entered UTK in 1931 completing B.S. and graduating Phi Kappa Phi. He was a member of ‘ Scarabbean’–the top honor society at UTK. Frank did graduate work in Public Policy at North Carolina State in Raleigh. He was an Agricultural Economist with UT Agricultural Extension Service from 1935 to 1973.
  
  In retirement, he gave freely of his time and talent to his family, friends, church and community. He was an avid fan of ‘Pat and the Lady Vols’and a district and conference lay speaker in the United Methodist Church. Frank was also active in the Downtown Kiwanis Club, serving as president and secretary. Of special interest was the "Fresh Air Summer Camp" for less privileged children. He was a member of the South Knoxville AARP, serving as president. Frank was also the first instructor of 55 Alive, Safe Driving for Seniors Citizens. He was active in the East Tennessee Council on Aging and the Agricultural Extension's Epsilon Sigma Phi Society.
  
  He was preceded in death by his parents; and two sisters. Frank is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruth Liggett DeFriese; daughter, Eugenia and son-in-law, James W. Bond III of Morristown; granddaughter, Mary Ellen and husband Bennett Cox of Knoxville; grandson, James W. Bond IV and wife Mary of Knoxville; great-grandchildren, Adrian and Ashley Bond and James and Mary Elizabeth Cox; also a devoted extend family, Jami, Kevin and Beckett Anderson and Susan Dominick; two sisters, Pauline Cantwell of Blaine and Marie DeFriese of Chattanooga, several nieces and nephews.
  
  A memorial service was held February 23 at Church Street United Methodist Church with a private interment. Memorial gifts may be made to Church Street United Methodist Church or the Ruth and Frank DeFriese Agriculture and Human Ecology Scholarship, 107 Morgan Hall, 2621 Morgan Circle, Knoxville, TN 37996.
  
  

In Sympathy

FUTIAWA expresses sympathy to the following former and current UTIA workers:

• Angie Berry, administrative specialist, CASNR, whose grandmother passed away March 12,2009. If you would like to send a card to Angie her address is: Angie Berry, 720 Lakeview Drive, Loudon, TN 37774.
  
  
• Cristina Martinez, senior IT technologist, Computer Support/Videoconferencing, Central District, in the death of her father, Ruben Martinez, who passed away March 3, 2009 in Mexico from a heart attack. He had struggled with diabetes and high blood pressure for some time If you wish to send Cristina a card, her home address is: 1432 Brook Drive, Columbia, TN 38401.
  
  
• The family of Phyllis Kathryn Matthews Warmbrod, who died March 5, 2009 in Jackson at age 91. Mrs Warmbrod was the widow of James Warmbrod, retired Extension Forestry specialist, who died in 2002.
  
  
• Terry Toney, administrative assistant in the Trousdale County Extension office for the past 28 years, in the death of her maternal grandmother, Ms. Clarice Gregory, who passed away on March 8 at Terry's home. You may send Terry a card at: 2125 Ft. Blount Rd., Hartsville, TN 37074.