Category: 1949

William Henry Bennett, Jr. ’49 of Houston, Texas, died July 26, 2005. After graduating from Davidson, he attended the Mississippi College of Law and graduated magna cum laude. He was adjunct professor at the school from 1957 to 1967. He was licensed to practice law in Mississippi and Texas. His working career was predominantly in Texas. He had a longtime contractual relationship with Random House and received the Bennett Cerf Achievement Award. He was honored with a lifetime membership in the Kiwanis Club of Corpus Christi where he served as president. After retiring to the Texas Hill Country, he served as court-appointed attorney ad litem representing children in state custody who had been abused, abandoned, molested, or neglected. He served on a number of civic committees. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, an elder, and Sunday school teacher. He was preceded in death by his son John. Survivors include his wife of fifty-three years, Martha Allen Bennett, 5151 Buffalo Speedway, Apt. 2315, Houston, Tex. 77005; his son, William H. Bennett III and wife Michelle of Houston; a daughter, Carol Ann Lee and husband Duane, of Franktown; daughter Barbara Finkel and husband Kevin, of Houston; and three grandchildren.

Moody L. Chisholm, Jr. ’49 of Lakeland, Fla., died July 20, 2005. He was a tenor soloist, conductor, and co-founder of the Bach Festival of Central Florida. He earned his master’s in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York. After moving to Polk County, Fla., in 1955, he served as choir and music director of Beymer Memorial Methodist Church in Winter Haven, First Methodist Church in Lakeland, and First Presbyterian Church in Winter Haven, from which he retired in 1989. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Lakeland where he sang in the choir. Known to his friends as “Moo,” he performed in classical and sacred music productions as a tenor soloist and conductor. In 1975, he and Virginia Davidson founded the Bach Festival of Central Florida. Survivors include his wife of fifty-three years, Dorathea Janssen Chisholm, 2006 Fredericksburg Pl, Lakeland, Fla. 33803-2568; a daughter, Lynn Chisholm; a son, Moody L. Chisholm, Jr.; a sister, Alice Griffith; and three grandchildren.

Hector MacKethan ’49 of Castine, Maine, died June 22, 2005. After serving in World War II, he returned to North Carolina to earn his degree at Davidson. Upon moving to New York, he was associated with the Hanover Bank and later with ARCO in Middleburg, Va. A member of the Upperville Trinity Episcopal Church, in Virginia, after living in Maine, he became a member and then a vestryman of the Castine Trinity Episcopal Church. He was also a trustee of the Castine Library Association and a member of the Metropolitan Club in Washington. An environmentalist and world traveler, he was preceded in death by his wife, Ellen Alma Seipp MacKethan. He is survived by a daughter, Elizabeth Kendall MacKethan of Cape May, N.J., a son, John MacAlister of Washington; three grandchildren; and two sisters, Cecelia Gambill and Mary Rankin Hayslip, both of Fayetteville, N.C.

Thomas Allen Little, Jr. ’49 of Chapel Hill, N.C. died June 10, 2005. He attended Davidson College and then went on to graduate with a B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill in 1950. He received a B.D. from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va. He did graduate work at St. Mary’s College at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He earned an STM at Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa., and was involved with graduate studies in English at the UNC Chapel Hill. He served pastorates in Sykesville and Baltimore, Md., Charlotte, and Southport, N.C. Surviving are his wife Shirley, 104 Cedar St., Chapel Hill, N.C. 27517; son, Thomas A. Little III of Chapel Hill; daughter Nancy Alexander Day of Carrboro; sister, Martha Hunter of Sea Island, Ga.

Raymond Jay Thabet ’49, of Tampa, Fla., passed away March 19, 2005.