Nelson Severinghaus Jr.

Nelson Severinghaus, Jr, passed away on Thursday, October 13, 2011. He was the son of the late Nelson and Josephine Thompson Severinghaus. Mr. Severinghaus is survived by his wife, Viginia Terry Severinghaus; daughter, Virginia Jo Severinghaus; grandsons, Patrick Nelson Christmas and Peter Grant Christmas; brother and his wife, Joel Thompson and Barbara N. Severinghaus; three Nieces, three Nephews and several cousins. Graveside services will be at Two o’clock Eastern the afternoon of Monday, October 17, 2011 at Decatur Cemetery in Decatur, Georgia. Mr. Severinghaus, known to his friends as “Ben”, was born in Georgia, August 27, 1929. He attended Georgia Tech where he became a member of Delta Tau Delta, but transferred to the University of Arizonia where he was elected to Theta Tau Honorary Engineering Society and received his BS in Mining Engineering in 1951. He received an honorary Engineer of Mines degree in 1968 from the University of Arizonia recognizing “his outstanding contributions to the field of mining”. After several years of military service as a special weapons officer, he began his career as a mining engineer with the Tennessee Copper Company. In 1955 he joined the Georgia Marble Company as an engineer and rose through a number of operating and executive positions to become president of the company in 1974. In 1977 he became the president of Franklin Industrial Minerals, later Franklin Industries Inc., in Nashville, Tennessee. His professional career includes, numerous technical publications, including sections of 3 editions of Industrial Mineral and Rocks; Distinguished member of the Society of Mining Engineers; Awarded the AIME Hal Williams Hardinge Award and later became an honorary member of AIME (American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers); Served as distinguished lecturer to the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; Society of Mining, Engineers, President (25,000 members); Institute of Mining Engineers, President (!00,00 members); AIME Mudd Fund, Chairman; Pulverized Mineral Division of the National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association, Executive Committee Member; Mineral Information Institute, Director; Holder of 3 Patents involving mineral processing; and Board Member of Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation. He and his wife, Ginny, show their interest in their community by contributing to and supporting the Tennessee Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, the Nashville Symphony, and the West End United Methodist Church. They are members of Belle Meade Club and the Atlanta Athletic Club. In lieu of customary floral tributes, contributions may be made to the Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation, 10000 Allisonville Road, Fishers, IN 46038, Camp Widjiwagan in Nashville or the charity of your choice. Family and friends will gather at the residence, 6 Foxhall Close, Nashville, to fondly remember Mr. Severinghuas from four o’clock till six o’clock the evening of Sunday, October 16, 2011. Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home, 660 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN 37204, 615-383-4754.