Education: New scholarship at Catawba and more

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Gregory W. and Gordene “Deanie” McMordie Singleton of New Bern have established a new scholarship at Catawba College in memory of her father, the late Francis McMordie of Lewisville.
Preference for the McMordie-Singleton Scholarship at Catawba College will be given to a student-athlete who is a member of the football team, of good academic standing, good character, not attending the institution on a full athletic scholarship and who has a demonstrated need.
The Singletons met in 1968 at Catawba and have been married 35 years.
Establishing the new scholarship at Catawba seemed a natural choice as a memorial for McMordie.
A very generous, kind man who rarely had a coarse word for anyone, McMordie was more like a father than father-in-law, Singleton said. “Education was definitely important to him.”
McMordie was a Drexel University graduate who worked for 45 years for Western Electric. He was a big sports fan who liked high school and small college football. And he was extensively involved in civic organizations for many years.
He and his late wife Catherine are survived by four children, three sons and daughter Deanie, 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Singleton came to Catawba from Camden, N.J., on a football scholarship and met Deanie McMordie, who majored in speech pathology. They married in 1973, a year after she graduated, and moved to New Jersey. He completed graduation requirements via independent study, majoring in health and physical education and earning his Catawba degree in 1974.
He had been signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons and then the Washington Redskins, both in 1972, and finally by the Philadelphia Bells in 1973. “But it didn’t work out,” he explained, noting he was not at 100 percent physically due to a torn ACL injury he suffered in the second game of his senior year at Catawba.
He first worked as a substitute teacher, then as a security guard, and later as a physical education and health teacher in Camden, N.J. He also earned a master’s degree from Rutgers University. In 2002, he retired as an assistant principal from the Delran School District in Delran, N.J.
Deanie devoted her time to raising daughters Carly and Brooke. She followed her husband into retirement after a 30-year career with Verizon in New Jersey. They now spend time with grandchildren Taylor and twin boys Che and Desi.
Singleton’s son and brother also attended Catawba. Son Gregory R. Singleton graduated in 1989 and lives in Maryland. Brother Raymond Jones graduated in 1983 and is a captain for the police force of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, a branch of Rutgers University.
Teens meet with Coble
Two Rowan-Salisbury high school students met with U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) during recent travels to the nation’s capital.
They are Cody Bates of China Grove and Shbaina Mortenson of Salisbury.
Bates, a junior at South Rowan High School, was in Washington, D.C., with the Future Farmers of America for a program on the federal government. He is the son of Debbie Osmon.
Mortenson, a senior at Carson High School, was attending the Presidential Classroom program. She is the daughter of Jennifer and Dale Mortenson.
N.C. Senate page
Dylan Eagle, a student at Carson High School, recently served as a page in the North Carolina Senate.
Pages attend daily Senate sessions, committee meetings and assist staff members with office duties during the week they serve in the Legislature.
Eagle, son of Scott and Paula Eagle of Faith, was sponsored by Sen. Andrew Brock.
Maryville dean’s list
Brynn Dailey of Salisbury has been named to the spring semester dean’s list at Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn., for earning a 3.6 or higher grade-point average.