Alumni > In Memoriam

In Memoriam

2013

Santiago "Sonny" Porcella (BSF 1942) Passed away on 19 January 2013. Among his life's work includes being past President of the New Jersey Society of American Foresters, past President of the New Jersey Soil Conseration Society, and chairman of the New Jersey Tree Farm System, member of the NJ Forestry Association, and various Historical Societes. His obituary is available here as a pdf of the newspaper reprint.

2012

Dr. John Adams passed away November 14, 2012. He was a retired professor and director of the School of Forestry at Louisiana Tech University. He earned a BSF ’69, MS Forestry ’73, and PhD Forestry ’76 all from LSU. His obituary is available here.

Maurice Frank Hamm (BSF 1954), Selmer, TN

Michael Kelly, Jr (BSF 1965) Dagsboro, DE

2011

Donald Louis Harper (BSF 1948) died on May 28, 2011 at the age of 79. He was a native of Monticello, Ark. and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was employed by Regions Bank for 30 years in Mobile, Ala., serving as vice-president and woodlands manager in the Trust Department. He was secretary of the southeast section of the Society of American Foresters. He is survived by his wife, two sons and five grandchildren.

Larry Hartzog (M.S. Fisheries 1975) of Mandeville, La. passed away on January 24, 2012 at the age of 65. His major professor was Dr. Fred Bryan. Larry had a long and distinguished career with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and recently retired with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Throughout his career he had professional relationships with many RNR faculty members. He was a strong supporter of the school and a friend to all he met. He was also an ardent jazz enthusiast and a member of Mystic Krewe of Brew. He will be missed.

Larry Eugene Miller (BSF 1977) died on January 8, 2011. He worked for 30 years with CLECO, serving as Administrator of Land Management. One of his projects was the restoration of 2,800 acres of land, where he passionately worked with Ducks Unlimited and Wheeling Wings to provide duck hunts for handicapped persons. He was a member of Xi Sigma Pi (the forestry honorary society) while attending LSU.

Harold Logan “Pat” Molloy (BSF 1939) died in 2011 in Crosby, Miss. He was the owner of Molloy Timber Co. and he was married and had three children.

Michael E. “Mickey” Richardson (BSF 1967) died July 13, 2011, at age 65, at his home in Holden, La. Born in Baton Rouge, he was a state-registered forester and worked for Cajun Contractors. He was an Army and Air National Guard veteran.

Milton E. Robinowitz (BSF 1942) died in 2011 in Richmond, Texas. He was a self-employed rancher and implement dealer in Richmond. He had three children. During his senior year at LSU he was president of the forestry club and an officer in honorary fraternities Alpha Zeta and Xi Sigma Pi.

George Wright (BSF 1939), passed in October at 96 years of age. He was active until the end, and followed The Tigers all the way.

2010

Robert E. Noble, B.S.F. ’57, M.S. in game management ’58, Ph.D. Michigan State, died on November 10, 2010, at the age of 75, in Crockett, Texas. Born in Mississippi, he was a veteran of the U.S. Army. Dr. Noble was a professor in wildlife and forestry at LSU for 28 years, until his retirement. He traveled extensively in Alaska in his wildlife studies. He received the National Amoco Foundation Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching. In 2009 he was inducted into the Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Alumni Association Hall of Fame.

Robert G. Merrifield, ’58 M.F., died January 30, 2010 at College Station, Texas. He earned his B.S. at Arkansas A&M College and his D.F. at Duke University. After graduation from LSU, he worked for the LSU AgCenter’s Hill Farm Research Station at Homer until 1967, when he and his family moved to College Station. He was the first head of the Forest Science Department at Texas A&M University. In 1977 he was named associate director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and director of the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources. He was honored by becoming a Fellow in the Society of American Foresters. He retired in 1999.

2009

Hoy C. Grigsby, ’47 B.S.F.,’52 M.F., died November 26, 2009 in Bienville Parish. He was born in 1915 on a farm near Heflin. His wife of 53 years, Eunice Geurin Grigsby, preceded him in death. He was a World War II veteran, serving overseas in the U.S. Army Air Corps. His forestry career began with the Mississippi Forestry Commission and he became a plant geneticist at the U.S. Forest Service Southern Forest Experiment Station in Crossett, Ark, and Alexandria, La. A 50-year member of the Society of American Foresters, he was an adult leader in the Boy Scouts of America.

Edward D. Holcombe, ’49 B.S.F, died August 16, 2009 at Temple, Texas at the age of 83. A native of Bogalusa, he is survived byhis wife, Carol M. Holcombe, and two children. Holcombe served in the U.S. Navy for 33 months. He worked as a forester for many years for the Soil Conservation Service in Texas.

Vernon C. “Buck” Adkins, ’50 B.S.F., died May 9, 2009 in Monroe, La., at age 86. A veteran of the U.S. Army during WW II and in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, he retired from Smurfit Stone Container as wood procurement manager after a 38-year career. He was active in the Society of American Foresters, the Louisiana Forestry Association, and the Lions Club. He is survived by his wife, three daughters, and six grandchildren.

Daniel C. “Danny” Cameron, ’50 B.S.F., died March 1, 2009 in Denham Springs, La. He was an Army veteran of WW II and retired from the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. He had a 43-year professional forestry career with Gaylord Container Corp. and Crown-Zellerbach and was active in the Society of American Foresters, the Louisiana Forestry Association, and the Methodist Church. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, one grandchild, and one great grandchild.

Robert F. “Bob” Westbrook, ’66 M.F., died Feb. 16, 2009 in Pineville, La. Before attending L.S.U. he earned his B.S. in forestry at La. Tech. in 1959. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service, State and Private Forestry Division, at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Athens, Ga., then in Pineville, La. from 1976 until he retired in 2000. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and one grandchild.