Month: January 2022

Allen Roberts ’65 ΣΩΤ, 80, of Matthews, North Carolina, died Tuesday, November 23, 2021. Born and raised in Bristol, Virginia, Allen graduated from Bristol Virginia High School. He then attended Virginia Tech and joined Sigma Omega Tau and was a valued brother. He graduated with an Industrial Engineering Degree and received and MBA from Widener University.

He went to work with the DuPont Company in Camden, South Carolina as an engineer and later transferred with DuPont to Wilmington, Delaware After a long career with DuPont, Allen retired, then joined The Forum Corporation of Boston as a Director. Along with that came a move to Pittsburgh on a contract with Mellon Bank, where he became a vice-president. When Allen retired from Forum, he and Patty moved to Camden.

Allen liked the beach, the mountains and traveling. He especially liked Europe, particularly Sicily, Italy. He enjoyed old historic houses and buildings, antique furniture and silver, a glass of good wine, the music of Mozart, and the Rolling Stones.

A Celebration of Life for Allen will be held at a later date. His full obituary can be found here:

https://www.kornegayfuneral.com/obituary/james-roberts

Ivan Nelson Hall, Jr. ’71 ΣΛ16 passed away on October 31, 2021, at the age of 73 with his only son and wife by his side.

Ivan was the first-born son of Ivan Nelson Hall, Sr and Hazel Crowder Hall in Danville, Virginia. He was the eldest brother of three siblings.

In 1966, he graduated from Thomas A. Edison High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. In 1971, he graduated from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia with a degree in Electrical Engineering and as a brother of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Later he would go on to earn two post-graduate degrees, one at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California as one of the first civilians to do so, and another at the University of Southern California.

He met and married his wife, Patricia, at Virginia Tech. Their love never faltered over the 50 years they were married until his death. They have a single son, Ivan III.

Ivan was a career civil servant for the United States Navy which began as a co-operative student in college. Over the course of 30 years, he was named a Chief Engineer and appointed as a member of the Senior Executive Service. Ivan was well-respected and considered a hero to many people with whom he worked because of his courageous and servant leadership approach.

Ivan’s dedication to his son forged his passion for youth sports which led him to become Vice President of the Southwestern Youth Association (SYA) of Fairfax County, Virginia. He was part of the leadership team that laid the groundwork for the SYA Sports Park, at the time referred to as the Field of Dreams. He believed that all children should be able to experience the joy, health benefits and camaraderie of sports.

Although Ivan is no longer with us, he would have encouraged us all to remember the great times and move forward into our future with energy and compassion for others. He will be deeply missed because he showed great love to all his family and was there to lend a helping hand and advice whenever needed. Ivan loved life and always lit up a room with his big smile and encouraging words.

Ivan was predeceased by both his mother Hazel and father Ivan. He is survived by his wife Patricia, son Ivan III and his wife Rita, brother Michael, and sister Donna. Private services will be held for immediate family only.