Category: 1967

Marcus B. (Mark) Simpson, Jr. passed away November 19, 2023 in Hendersonville, NC.

Mark was born to Marcus B. Simpson, Sr. and Nora Grace Simpson 79 years ago in Sanford, NC and grew up in Statesville, NC.   Mark had an endless curiosity about the natural world that was especially inspired by his father and by his favorite teacher, Lois Goforth.  His love of nature and especially birds led him to join the Carolina Bird Club as a teenager in the 1960’s long before it was cool to be a young birder.  Legendary CBC contributor and author Eloise Potter encouraged his interest and an accidental meeting (staring at a bird and running into the car he was following on a birding trip) with ornithologist and author Roger Tory Peterson sealed the deal.

Mark went on to study biology at Davidson College where he met fellow birders and lifetime friends Doug Pratt, Sterling Southern, and Jim Davidson.  He studied biology under renowned professor Thomas (Bugs) Daggy, who further contributed to his interest in the natural world. From there Mark continued on to medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill and completed his internship and residency at Yale and Johns Hopkins Universities.  After serving in the US Army at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital he had a highly successful and productive career as a Pathologist, both teaching and directinghospital laboratories at Duke University, George Washington University, the University of Pittsburgh, and finally returning home to North Carolina to retire from his final position at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.  He loved writing and was a prolific contributor to medical journals specializing in blood banking and transfusions.

As busy as his career kept him, medicine was never his only interest.  He always found time for his love of ornithology and natural history and was a frequent contributor to such publications as “the North Carolina Historical Review”, “the Archives of Natural History”, as well as decades of contributions to the quarterly publication of the Carolina Bird Club, “The Chat.”  His specialty in the birds of the Southern Appalachians culminated in his tour de force 1992 publication of Birds of the Blue Ridge Mountains (UNC Press).

Mark was preceded in death by his talented first wife, Sally Simpson, with whom he contributed articles on early whaling off the NC coast, and is survived by his second wife, Marilyn Westphal, who shared his passion for birds and the mountains and with whom he contributed articles on breeding Hermit Thrushes and Northern Saw-whet Owls in the Southern Appalachians.

Mark was a truly remarkable person who will be greatly missed by his friends and relatives, and he was a kind, loving husband and best friend to his heartbroken wife Marilyn.

A memorial service will be held for Mark in spring 2024 in his beloved Blue Ridge Mountains.  Exact location will be announced.  All are welcome to contribute to the memory of Mark with donations to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation or Conserving Carolina.

Ralph Erskine Blakely, Jr. died of lymphoma on August 31, 2023 in Mount Pleasant, SC. Ralph was born on May 7, 1945, in Rock Hill, SC to Ralph Erskine Blakely and Ollie Mae Freeman Blakely.

Ralph grew up in Rock Hill in a close-knit family. From childhood he was fascinated by the sounds and structure of pipe organs. At nursery school he amazed the staff by building an organ from blocks, which he “played” with panache; at church he refused to leave the sanctuary until the last notes of the postlude had sounded.

He attended Winthrop Training School and graduated from Rock Hill High School. He received the BA from Davidson College, where he majored in Music and Classics. After a brief period of graduate study in organ, he apprenticed himself to an organbuilder in Charlotte, NC. He then founded Blakely Organbuilders on Depot Street in Davidson, which built and maintained pipe organs in the Southeast, from Georgia to Virginia.

Following their retirement, he and his partner, Wilmer Hayden Welsh, the Davidson Chapel organist and professor of music, moved in 1994 to Tradd Street in Charleston. There Ralph became a keen supporter of the Gibbes Museum of Art, where he served on the Board of Directors; he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Storm Eye Institute and an active supporter of Davidson College. In downtown Charleston he was a familiar figure as he walked his Great Dane. After Bill’s death in 2008, Ralph revived his interest in Greek and translated Homer’s Iliad into English prose as a memorial to him; it was published in 2015 by Forge Press. In 2021, he moved to South Bay in Mount Pleasant, SC and in 2022 to the Shem Creek Health Center at South Bay.

Ralph is survived by his sisters, Mary Blakely Speer (Eugene Speer) of Cranbury, NJ and Jennie Blakely Benton (Douglas Benton) of Church Hill, TN; one nephew, David Benton; a great-niece, Bailee Benton and a great-nephew, Waylon Benton, all of Church Hill. The family is grateful to Paula Singleton for her devoted care of Ralph in these last months. Burial will be private. Memorials may be sent to the Storm Eye Institute of the Medical University of South Carolina (www.fundraise.musc.edu) or to Davidson College (https://davidson.edu/makeagift). 

The Honorable Samuel Allen Cathey, 78, of Alexander, North Carolina, passed away at his home on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Judge Cathey was born March 15, 1945, in Iredell County, to the late George Bartlett Cathey and Rosalie Wallace Cathey. A 1963 graduate of Statesville High School, and a third generation alum of Davidson College, he earned his law degree at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Judge Cathey was a proud veteran of the U.S. Army and a recipient of the Bronze Star for his actions in the Vietnam Conflict. He married his beloved wife, Sandra Gibson Cathey, in 1975.

During his full and rich life, Judge Cathey served as Assistant District Attorney, and in 1982, Governor Jim Hunt appointed him as the youngest Judge in North Carolina history. He served as Judge and Chief Judge for more than 30 years, and at his retirement, Governor Mike Easley recognized his outstanding service and commitment to the State of North Carolina by awarding him the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. After his retirement he continued to serve as a state emergency judge, holding court in numerous counties.

Judge Cathey has always been known for his deep humor, his ability to bring positivity to all those around him, and most of all, his abiding love for the outdoors and ornithology. He committed himself to his community as a Rotarian and was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow, and served on the Board of Lake Norman State Park. He never ceased his love of hiking, exploring new trails, and always looking for the road less traveled. In his own humble way, Judge Cathey was proud to have completed the Appalachian Trail in its entirety.

Active with youth sports at the Statesville YMCA, he also founded the Hiking Club at the YMCA, and was an active volunteer in the Boy Scouts. Always with a song at the ready, he routinely shared his love of music, vast repertoire of tunes, and joyous singing voice with his family and friends and in the church choir.

A proud and loving father and deeply committed family man, Judge Cathey took great delight in his family, talking about them to anyone who would listen, and enjoying even the simplest moments of time together. In addition to his wife, Sandra, Judge Cathey is survived by his son, Michael Gibson (Kathryn) Cathey, daughter, Captain Emily A. Cathey, USN, deployed on USS NIMITZ (Captain F. Curtis Jones, USN, retired), his son, Alexander Allen Cathey, his grandchildren, Carson Jones, Kyra Jones, Lillian Jones, Eleanor Jones, and Dashiell Cathey. He is further survived by his brother, Commander Robert Wallace (Maggi) Cathey, USCG, retired, his sister Georgia Ann Cathey, and his nephews.

A visitation for family and friends will be held on Monday, May 22, 2023, from 5 until 7 p.m. at Troutman Funeral Home. A funeral service celebrating the life of Judge Cathey will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at First Presbyterian Church of Statesville. The Reverend Stephen Scott will officiate.

A burial service with full military honors will be held at 1 p.m. at Oakwood Cemetery, with longtime friend Frank Goldsmith honoring him with the playing of taps. Pallbearers will be: Joel Harbinson, Michael Cathey, Allen Cathey, Dashiell Cathey, Curt Jones, and Billy Webb. Online condolences may be made to the Cathey family at www.troutmanfuneralhome.com

Those wishing to make memorials are asked to consider:

First Presbyterian Church Statesville, General Fund, 125 North Meeting Street, Statesville, NC 28677

First Presbyterian Church Statesville, Music Department, 125 North Meeting Street, Statesville, NC 28677

North Carolina Friends of State Parks, Inc., PO Box 37655, Raleigh, NC 27627

Audubon North Carolina, 807 East Main Street, Suite 2-220 Durham, NC 27701