From The Oak Ridger 19 Oct 2005 Delva Louise Fry, 96, of Oak Ridge, Tom Montgomery Gayle, 79, of Oak Ridge, Charles Robert "Bob" Symmes, Aloysius A. Palko, 85, of the Solway community, Emma Sue Barton, 71, of 602 Bear Cub Lane in Clinton, Delva Louise Fry, 96, of Oak Ridge, died Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005, in a Knoxville health care facility. She was a native of Graysville, Ga., and had lived most of her life in Oak Ridge, where she retired as an accountant for the Atomic Energy Commission. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, Luther L. and Loa Parker; and a brother, John F. Parker. She is survived by two nieces, Cherry Parker of Chattanooga, and Dimples Morrow of Dayton; and two nephews, Donald and Larry Parker. Condolences may be sent at www.heritagefh.com. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005, at Greenwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends after noon Thursday at Heritage Funeral Home and Cremation Services, East Brainerd Road in Chattanooga. Tom Montgomery Gayle, 79, of Oak Ridge, passed away Monday, Oct. 17, 2005, at his home. The son of the late DeWitt R. and Mary Dees Gayle, Tom was born Feb. 24, 1926, in Dallas, Texas. He attended Rice University in Houston, Texas, for one year before going into the United States Navy in 1943, where he served as an ensign. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He accepted a position with Fischer and Porter of Philadelphia, Pa. He became Divisional Service Manager covering the Southwestern United States and Mexico from 1947 to 1951. Tom came to Oak Ridge to visit a friend and ended up accepting a position at I & C Division ORNL in 1951. He retired as a Senior Design Engineer in 1997. During the planning stages of the Bull Run Steam Plant, Tom saw a scale model of the project at Norris Dam. He determined that the smoke stack was inadequate. The original level was to be below the height of the inversion level, and it would have filled our valleys with sulfur dioxide. Tom studied the problem, made numerous calculations and wrote to the Tennessee Valley Association (TVA) via letters to the editor of The Oak Ridger, stating his findings. The late William Ergen, then a member of the reactor safeguard committee, became interested, checked Tom's calculations, and presented them to the TVA. As a result, a taller stack was built which resulted in cleaner air for this area. Tom attended Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church for many years. He sponsored children with Save the Children Federation beginning in 1958 and since, many children with Christian Children's Fund and Children International. Until an auto accident in 1998, he was sponsoring 30 children at one time, and continued to correspond with them until recently. Preceded in death by a daughter, Sabrina Gayle Koons, Tom is survived by his wife of 50 years Ella Garrett Gayle, daughter Alyson Gayle of Lenoir City, grandchildren Daniel Bowers of Clinton, Christina Bowers of Clinton, Brianna Hope of Lenoir City, and Natalie Lyons of Lenoir City, and a special friend Paul Harrison of Oak Ridge. A memorial service will be held Saturday, Oct. 22, 2005, at 2 p.m. at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church with the Rev. Dr. Claire Keene officiating. A reception will follow the memorial service at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made in Tom's memory to the Knox Area Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 3310, Knoxville, TN 37927; The Salvation Army, 409 Broadway, Knoxville, TN 37917; or Christian Children Fund, P.O. Box 26507, Richmond, VA 23261-6507 Online messages to the family may be left at www.martinoakridgefuneralhome.com. Martin Oak Ridge Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Charles Robert "Bob" Symmes, loving father of Sandra Symmes Richards, was promoted to Glory on Oct. 18, 2005, dying of natural causes at the age of 94. Mr. Symmes was a resident at Shannondale Retirement Center in Knoxville, Tenn. He had worked for IBM Corporation for 40 years before retiring to pursue his passion of traveling, which he did with his wife of 69 years, Blanche Josephine Symmes, until they moved to Knoxville in 1997. He had a fulfilling and rich life as a husband and father, and was active in church and civic clubs. He was preceded in death by his wife and their daughter, Natalie Jean Calef. Mr. Symmes is survived by his daughter, Sandra Richards, and son-in-law, David Richards III of Rockwood; grandchildren, Michele Richards of Fountain City, David Richards IV and his wife Eve Richards of Corryton, Linda Reilly and her husband Jim Reilly of Alpena, Mich., and Tamara Hill of Saginaw, Mich.; great-grandchildren, Davey and Johnny Richards of Corryton, Daniel, David, and Allison Reilly of Alpena, Mich., and Conrad and Andra Hill of Saginaw, Mich. A private family service will be held at a later date. Memorial gifts may be made to Samaritan's Purse, P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607; or Faith Bible Fellowship, 145 Iroquois Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Aloysius A. Palko, 85, of the Solway community, died Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005, at his home. Weatherford Mortuary is handling the arrangements, which were incomplete at press time. Emma Sue Barton, 71, of 602 Bear Cub Lane in Clinton, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005, at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. Holley-Gamble Funeral Home in Clinton is in charge of the arrangements, which were incomplete at press time. =========================================== SUPPORT OUR TROOPS---FLY THE FLAG "Genealogy is like playing hide and seek. They hide I seek!!! www.byrge.com/genealogy/ Searching: BYRGE/BUNCH/DAUGHERTY/DUNCAN/KENNEDY/ PATTERSON/PHILLIPS/SEIBER/TACKETT/WARD