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Subject: [TNCAMPBE-L] Obits From The Oak Ridger 11 Jan 2001
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 07:27:11 EST


>From The Oak Ridger 12 Jan 2001

PERSA RAYMOND "P.R." BELL Jr. of Oak Ridge died Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001, at
Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge from complications of congestive heart
failure and diabetes.
Mr. Bell was born April 24, 1913, just outside Fort Wayne, Ind., the son of
Persa Raymond Bell Sr. and Gertrude Wilken Bell. He graduated from Howard
College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Ala., in 1936 with a major in
chemistry. He worked repairing radios in several northern Alabama towns to
make enough money to enter graduate studies in physics at the University of
Chicago in 1938.
While there, he was a staff member of Project Chicago working on high speed
counters.
During World War II he was recruited from Chicago to go to the Radiation Lab
(a code word for radar development) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
At MIT, he discovered the photoelectric effect in silicon. After the end of
the war he came to what is now Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he applied
his ingenuity in electronics to invent, along with Walter Jordan, the famous
A-1 amplifier.
He received the Army-Navy Certificate of Appreciation for his work at MIT.
Mr. Bell was recognized as one of the founders of the field of nuclear
medicine with the citation "founded scintillation spectrometry; plotted first
scintillation beta spectrum; developed basis for widespread use of sodium
iodide gamma counters; originated 'medical spectrometer'; active in
development of scanning instrumentation."
He received the Longstreth Medal from the Franklin Institute for his
pioneering work in nuclear medicine.
Later he became interested in plasma physics and vacuum systems in the
Thermonuclear (now Fusion Energy) Division at the lab. While in that
division, he became involved in some of the first computer monitoring of
plasma physics machines.
>From there he jumped at the chance to take a leave of absence from ORNL and
become a part of this country's exciting space program where he helped design
the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston. He was the manager of that
laboratory when the first samples from the moon from the Apollo 11 mission
were returned in 1969. At this stage in his life he became interested in
geology.
After retiring from the lab at age 65, Mr. Bell joined the Institute for
Energy Analysis at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, where in the 1980s he
began studying the as yet not very well known global climate change problem.
An early onset of macular degeneration left him legally blind all his adult
life, but he considered this just a minor obstacle to the pursuit of his
goals. He was a man of broad interests, a true renaissance man. Everything in
nature interested him and he threw himself into each project with tremendous
energy and enthusiasm.
He wanted everyone to share in the wonders of this world and was well-known
locally for his down-to-earth talks to many civic clubs and organizations. He
had a great love of music and, in younger days when his eyesight was better,
of sketching and sculpting.
Mr. Bell will be remembered as a loving husband and father and for his
unassuming ways and gentle nature. A series of mini-strokes diminished his
intellectual capacity in later years but did not dim his sunny disposition,
his family said.
He was a member of First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge, a member of the
American GeoPhysical Union, a member of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science and a member of the American Society of Nuclear
Medicine. Mr. Bell was also a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a
Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences.
He is survived by his wife, Mozelle Rankin Bell; his son, Raymond Thomas Bell
and his wife, Jeri, of Redondo Beach, Calif.; a sister-in-law, Maurine
Clymore of Oak Ridge; and two local caretakers, Georgia Shephard and Angela
Lloyd.
Mr. Bell was preceded in death by his first wife, Mildred Rhodes Bell, and by
a sister, Dorothy Bell Henry.
The funeral will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at First Baptist Church.
Burial will follow at Oak Ridge Memorial Park.
The family requests that any memorials be either to the P.R. Bell Memorial
Scholarship Fund at Roane State Foundation, 276 Patton Lane, Harriman, TN
37748; the Agape Center of First Baptist Church, 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak
Ridge, TN 37830; Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, 205 Badger Ave., Oak
Ridge, TN 37830; or to any charity of the donor's choice.
The family will receive friends from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday at the church.
Weatherford Mortuary is handling arrangements.

CONNIE SPRADLIN HALE, 93, of Oak Ridge, died Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001, at NHC
HealthCare Center of Oak Ridge.
Mrs. Hale was born Jan. 5, 1908, in Whitley City, Ky., the daughter of Lewis
and Martha Murphy Spradlin.
She came here in 1943 from Williamsburg, Ky., and lived many years in the
Elza Gate area of Oak Ridge. She was a homemaker and a member of First
Baptist Church in Clinton.
Mrs. Hale particularly enjoyed gardening, her family said.
She was the widow of Everett Hale, who died Feb. 26, 1994.
She is survived by her sons, Bruce Donald Hale and his wife, Dorthy, of
Clinton and Robert L. Hale and his wife, Elogene, of Louisville; her
daughter, Shirley H. Brooks and her husband, Charlie, of Sevierville; and by
six grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
In addition to her husband and her parents, four brothers and three sisters
preceded her in death.
A graveside service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at Oak
Ridge Memorial Park with the Rev. Paul Frick officiating.
The family will receive friends at the graveside after the service.
Weatherford Mortuary is handling arrangements.

HOWARD J. "Pinky" LEE, 79, of Clinton, died Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2001, at
Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.
Born Sept. 2, 1921, in Colmar, Ky., Mr. Lee was a U.S. Air Force veteran of
World War II.
He was a member of Blowing Springs Baptist Church, where he enjoyed singing
and playing harmonica for many years. His family said he also enjoyed farming
and frequenting area flea markets.
Mr. Lee retired from Martin Marietta Energy Systems in 1985 as an employee at
the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.
He is survived by his wife, Loretta Adkins Lee; his son, Howard J. Lee Jr.
and his wife, Phyllis Lee, of Salt Lake City, Utah; his daughter, Donna Lee
Strohl and her husband, Fred Strohl, of Clinton; and 10 grandchildren, Adria
Tutton, Whitney Strohl, Haylee Strohl, Cameron Strohl, Allyson Lee, Gentry
Lee, Cody Lee, Tucker Lee, Cheyenne Lee and Cherokee Lee.
Mr. Lee is also survived by his brother, John Lee and his wife, Margaret Lee,
of Middlesboro, Ky.; and by several nieces, nephews and friends who the
family said will miss him dearly.
The funeral will be held at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, in the chapel of
Holley-Gamble Funeral Home in Clinton. The Rev. Gary Smith will officiate.
A graveside service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at
Grandview Memorial Gardens in Clinton. Bishop Bryan Bloomquist of the Clinch
River Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will officiate.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

LAWRENCE "Larry" ROBERT MICHENER, 84, of Kingston, died Wednesday morning,
Jan. 10, 2001, at Wellington Place in Kingston.
A former Oak Ridge resident, Mr. Michener retired in March 1977 from the
Department of Energy in Oak Ridge.
He came to Oak Ridge in August 1943 with DuPont and worked at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. In June 1948 he went to the Atomic Energy Commission, a
DOE predecessor agency, as classification officer and continued as DOE took
over. He became chief of classification in the Technical Services Branch in
the Research and Technical Support Division of DOE.
His hobbies were hunting, fishing and traveling.
Mr. Michener enjoyed many friendships in the various organizations to which
he belonged. These included the Kingston Rotary Club, the Professional
Science Club of Oak Ridge, the 1943 Club of Oak Ridge, NARFE Association, St.
Andrew's Society of Oak Ridge and the MacGregor Club Society.
Mr. Michener is survived by his wife of 60 years, Kathryn Crowell Michener;
and five daughters, Roberta "Berty" Brown of Kingston, Marianna Oonk of
Denton, Texas, Catherine Wacksman and her husband, James, of Tallahassee,
Fla., Martha Chandler and her husband, Michael, of Broad Run, Va., and Laura
Lee Stephenson of Roanoke, Va..
He is also survived by two sisters, Dorothy Hartman of Kingston and Marian
Armstrong of Austin, Texas; and by nine grandchildren, one great-grandchild
and a niece.
His parents, Sophia and Everette Michener, and a son-in-law, Virgil Mac Brown
Sr., died earlier.
A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13, at Bethel
Presbyterian Church in Kingston.
Burial will follow in Roane Memorial Gardens in Rockwood.
The family requests that any memorials be in the form of gifts to Bethel
Presbyterian Church, 203 S. Kentucky St., Kingston, TN 37763; to the American
Heart Association, Anderson County Unit, P.O. Box 6014, Oak Ridge, TN 37831;
or the St. Andrews Society of East Tennessee, c/o Jane Hayden, 205 Jackson
Square, Oak Ridge, TN 37830.
The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday at the church.
Brown Funeral Home in Kingston is in charge of arrangements.

DMILY MCDANIEL CULBERSON, 80, of West Knoxville, formerly of Seguin, Texas,
died Tuesday evening, Jan. 9, 2001, at Fort Sanders Parkwest Medical Center
in Knoxville.
She was the mother of Eileen Schlatter, a resident of Farragut and a former
teacher in Oak Ridge.
Mrs. Culberson graduated from Texas Lutheran College. She was a member of
Church Street United Methodist Church of Knoxville. She sang in the church
choir and participated in the church's soup kitchen program serving the less
fortunate.
Her family said she was dedicated to being a homemaker to her family. Over
the years Mrs. Culberson also served as a Girl Scout leader in Corpus
Christi, Texas, and Charlotte, N.C., participated in Meals on Wheels and
spent thousands of hours as a volunteer at East Tennessee Children's Hospital
in Knoxville.
In addition to her daughter Eileen, she is survived by her husband of 58
years, Oran L. Culberson; two other daughters, Suzanne Kita and her husband,
Robert Kita, of Bailey, Colo., and Carol Rimmer of Farragut; her
grandchildren, Oran Kita and his wife, Jennifer, Scott Kita, Valerie
Richardson and her husband, Jay Hoodenpyl, of Knoxville, John Michael
Schlatter of Oak Ridge and Steven Rimmer; her great-grandchildren, Jack and
Phillip Hoodenpyl; her brother and sister-in-law, Frank and Nita McDaniel of
Garden City, Kan.; and her brother-in-law, John Albers of Seguin, Texas.
Her parents, Leonard King McDaniel and Emma Enck McDaniel, and two sisters,
Leona McDonald and Margaret Albers, died earlier.
A private service will be held Friday, Jan. 12, at the Tennessee State
Veterans Cemetery.
The family expressed thanks for the care Mrs. Culberson was given by the
staffs at Farragut Health Care Center and Fort Sanders Parkwest Hospital/Med
Central, and they request that any memorials be in the form of donations to
the Alzheimer's Association, Eastern Tennessee Chapter, 600 Henley St., Suite
50, Knoxville, TN 37902; or to the Kay Adult Care Center of Church Street
United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 1303, Knoxville, TN 37901.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 tonight, Jan. 11, at Click
Funeral Home Farragut Chapel, 11915 Kingston Pike, Knoxville
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