The following obit was in our local paper today, I thought there may be someone in the group that would be interested. Perry DR. William Frederick (Bill) Via Dr. William Frederick (Bill) Via, Jr., 81 died Saturday, Oct.26, 2002 at University of North Carolina Hospital after a brief illness. Dr. Via was born Dec. 27, 1920, in Ironton, Ohio, to W.F. Via Sr., and Lucille Smith Via. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University, and received his D.D.S. Degree in 1945 from The Ohio State University. In 1948, as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Bill married Dorothy Oshanic in San Francisco. Bill was a Fellow in both the American College of Dentist and the American Academy of Oral Roentgenology. He held academic appointments at the University of California, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and the The University of Connecticut at Storrs before joining the faculty of the UNC Dental School in 1969, where he was head of Oral Diagnosis until his retirement in 1980. Dr. Via received numerous academic honors and published many research papers on his work in pedodontics and oral radiology. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Bill was an inventor, a silversmith, and a precision machinist. He obtained 5 patents for his inventions. He learned to fly in 1938, and flying and sailing were lifelong passions. After his retirement in 1980, Bill established and operated the Meadowlark Soaring School in Burlington, N.C. In 1990, he started Byway Studios, a video editing business in Chapel Hill, which he operated until his death. Bill will be remembered by all who knew him as a tremendously creative person with a burning desire for life, a constantly active mind and an energetic attitude. Bill is survived by his wife, Dorothy: his daughters Judy Via of Chapel Hill and Sara Via Hawthorne of Ellicott City, Maryland; two grandchildren, Andy Hawthorne, and Nicholas Hawthorne; his sister, Nancy Via Summers and husband Frank, of Staunton, VA; nephews E. Lee Summers III and his wife Jane, of Virginia Beach, and Timothy Summers and wife Jennifer of Hickory, N.C. and a niece Susan Summers Andrews and husband Tony, of Bethesda , MD., great nephews William Summers, Tyler Summers, Timothy Summers, Jr., and great nieces Katherine Summers and Iva Lucille Andrews. A memorial service was held at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Garrett Road, Durham on Friday, Nov. 1 at 2:00 pm Family received visitors after the service in the fellowship hall. Condolences may be sent to Dorothy Via at 750 Weaver Dairy Road, # 236, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the UNC Memorial Hospital, 101 Manning Drive., Chapel Hill, N.C. 27541, Attn: Susan Blalack. Please include a memo mentioning a memorial for W.F. Via to benefit the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit.