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Patricia McClay Gauer '65
Patricia McClay Gauer '65, June 13, 2009, in Waterville, Maine, at 65.
She taught French and Spanish at Waterville Junior High and Senior High schools for 33 years and taught part time at Thomas College and at the Let's Talk Language School.
She was active with the Franco-American Heritage Society, loved to cook, and traveled extensively.
Survivors include her husband, Ernest A. Gauer '58, two children, four grandchildren, her father, two sisters, a brother, and her uncle Paul F. McClay '55.
Lorraine M. Rudman Armstrong '67
Lorraine Rudman Armstrong '67, Jan. 25, 2009, in Prescott, Ariz., at 63.
She worked in business and had a special bond with animals, specifically greyhounds, which she adopted and raised.
Survivors include her former husband, Christopher Armstrong '68.
Mary Ellen Lyle Henry '69
Mary Ellen Lyle Henry '69, Aug. 17, 2009, in Washington, D.C., at 62.
She earned an M.F.A. from the University of Hawaii and a Ph.D. from American University.
She taught history and college writing at American University and was a freelance writer.
She belonged to the Organization of American Historians and the American Sociological Association, volunteered for the March of Dimes, and sang in her church choir.
Survivors include her husband, Douglas, three sons, and two sisters.
Alison L. Smith '72
Alison L. Smith '72, July 9, 2009, in Woonsocket, R.I., at 58.
She worked in the medical supply manufacturing industry, most recently with Contech Medical, Inc.
She worked on her family's farm, Christiansen's Orchards, and was a lifelong member of the Slatersville (R.I.) Congregational Church.
She died of emphysema.
Survivors include her parents, George and Shirley Smith, a brother, a sister, and nieces and nephews.
Alan M. Linsky '73
Alan M. Linsky '73, July 10, 2009, in Kaneohe, Hawaii, at 58.
He earned an M.B.A. from Babson and then became a computer programmer, a business owner, and a Web designer.
He was a photographer, enjoyed canoeing, fishing, and bicycling, and competed in triathlons.
Survivors include his wife, Deborah H. Ikehara '74, two daughters, and two brothers, including David P. Linsky '79.
Mary Wadsworth Barney '74
Mary Wadsworth Barney '74, Sept. 21, 2009, on Monhegan Island, Maine, at 57.
A renowned baker and cook, she baked for the Trailing Yew Inn on Monhegan Island, cooked for 12 years on the schooner Mary Day, was a licensed yawl operator, wrote a cookbook, and won the 2004 Windjammer Weekend Schooner Pie Baking Contest.
She knitted, made soap, spun oakum used to caulk wooden boats, and played the accordion and squeezebox.
Survivors include her sister, Ann, and several cousins.
Susan K. Nutter '66
First thing every morning, Susan K. Nutter ’66 woke up thinking about students.
“We would listen to them and make changes as fast as we possibly could,” Nutter said regarding her student advisory forum at the North Carolina State University libraries. “The students learn to speak as our peers, which is amazing, and they love it, and the faculty love it and I love it.”
Nutter, one of the most visionary, celebrated academic librarians of her time, died March 25, 2019, in Durham, N.C., at 74.
With students front and center, Nutter, vice provost and director of libraries at NCSU, set a new standard for libraries as centers for learning, research, and teaching in the 21st century. Also steering her? Innovation. Automation. Collaboration. Technology. Style. Smarts.
During her 30 years at NCSU Nutter transformed its mediocre research libraries into internationally renowned facilities, including her crowning achievement, the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. “The Hunt” and Nutter won “an embarrassment” of awards. Nutter’s most prestigious, librarian of the year by the Association of College and Research Libraries, came in 2016. That same year she was at the White House next to Michelle Obama, who awarded NCSU libraries the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
Born in Chelsea, Mass., Nutter had childhood dreams that included pitching for the Red Sox and becoming a librarian. At home, she pasted due-date slips in books for neighbors to borrow. Later, at the public library co-founded by her great aunt in East Bridgewater, she had a real job in the children’s room while still a kid herself. And she read: newspapers, history, nonfiction, and Nancy Drew mysteries until long after her father hollered, “Lights out!”
At Colby Nutter majored in American literature and was president of Sigma Kappa sorority. Immersed in social and intellectual circles, she sharpened her ability to listen and intuit, netting her deep friendships and inspiration from faculty. Nutter credited Pat Brancaccio, Zacamy Professor of English, emeritus, for enlightening her about the critical role libraries played in research and education. Graduate work followed at Simmons College, where she earned an M.S. in library science in 1968.
While still a graduate student, Nutter took an internship at MIT's Project INTREX because “it was the job that scared me - the biggest challenge,” she said. Called the most “significant library experiment of its kind,” the project integrated emerging computer technology into library science and laid the groundwork for what would become Nutter’s heralded “prophetic vision” of the future of libraries.
Nutter came to North Carolina in 1987 with a spirit of innovation and risk taking that swept NCSU’s libraries into that future. She digitized the collection and grew it from 1.5 to 5.2 million volumes. She created alliances across campus. She automated procedures to free up staff time for creative problem solving. She started a Libraries Fellows Program to attract and mentor new talent.
She melded all of this-and much more-into the Hunt Library. Completed in 2013 and hailed by TIME as the library of the future, the non-traditional, metal and glass library boasts five floors of collaborative workspaces, technology-immersive environments, and colorful, light-filled rooms. Most beloved are Hunt’s chairs-all 75 designs in 100 colors. The book CHAIRHUNT: The Chairs of the Hunt Library is dedicated to Nutter, who commissioned each one.
Nutter lived passionately, dressed colorfully, and read voraciously. She collected art, North Carolina pottery, glassware, and books-more than 5,000 catalogued titles filled the home she shared with her husband and creative colleague, Joe Hewitt, who predeceased her.
When Nutter retired, her colleagues named a signature cocktail in her honor, the “Force of Nature.” Those toasting her memory include her sister and brother-in-law, Deborah Winslow Nutter ’68 and Alan H. Rutan. Her niece, Carolyn Miner ’98, and nephew, Todd Miner ’01, and a stepson also survive her.
“If I have any legacy-and I really don’t believe in that kind of stuff-it would be investing in staff,” Nutter said. Indeed, this became her most enduring gift: a generation of library leaders shaped by her dedication to their success.
“All her life,” remarked her sister, “she was a born leader.” - Laura Meader
