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In memoriam: Davis ’77, Griffin ’69, Tanner ’73

Cynthia L. Davis, MSW ’77, recently of Allentown, Pennsylvania and newly moved to Chapel Hill, died on June 18 at the Duke University hospice facility in Durham. A quadriplegic since a car accident in 1969, she led a fulfilling life, and had a 26-year career as a social worker in Veterans Administration Hospitals in the Boston area and in Augusta, Georgia. Obituary

Dr. Linner Ward Griffin, MSW ’69, emeritus professor of social work at East Carolina University, passed away unexpectedly on July 5. She was a faculty member at ECU from 1990 until her retirement in 2013. Obituary

John T. Tanner, MSW ’73, died at home in Raleigh on June 21, Father’s Day, after a short battle with cancer. His life’s work was serving as an advocate for abused and neglected children and for elderly and disabled adults. He spent 30 years of his career in social work administration working for North Carolina, primarily with the Department of Health and Human Services, where he served as the chief of Adult & Family Services for many years and as the deputy director of the Division of Aging. In 2003, he was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the State of North Carolina’s highest civilian honor, for his service to the state. He went on to spend several years as the Director of the Chatham County Department of Social Services. He then spent eight years with the Wake County Department of Social Services, retiring earlier this month. Obituary