Willam Mahone was born in Monroe Southampton County,Virginia to Fielding Jordon Mahone and Martha (n'eeDrew) Mahone.Beginning with immigratin of his Mahone ancestors fromIreland,he was the third individual called "william Mahone".He did not have a middle name as shown by records including his two Bibles,VMI Diploma,a marrige license,and Confederate commissions.Likewise,the General and Otelia's first born son christened William Mahone.The suffix "Jr". was added to his name later in life,during a period of similar cultural naming transition in Virginia. The little of Monroe was on the bank of the Nottoway River about eight miles south of the county seat at Jerusalem,a town which was renamed Courtland in 1888.The river was important transportation artery in the years before railroads and highways serving the area.Fielding Mahone ran a store at Monroe and considerable farmland.The family nerrowly escaped the massacre of local whites durring Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831. The local shift of transpotation in the area was from the river to the new technology emerging with railroads in the 1830s.In 1840,when William was 14 years old,the family moved to Jerusalem,when Fielding Mahone perchased and operted a tavern.As recounted by his biographer,Nelson Blake,the frecked-face yourth of Irish-American heritage gained a reputation in the small town from both "gambling and a prolifc use of tobacco and profanity." Young Billy Mahone gained his primary education from county schoolmaster but with special instruction in mathemtics from his father.As a teenager,for a short time,he transported the U.S.Mail by horseback from his hometown to Hicksford,a small town on the bank of the Meherein River in Greenville County which later combined with town of Belfield on the north bank to form current independent city of Emporia.He was awarded a sport a a state cadet at the recently opened Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington,Virginia.Studying under VMI Commandant William Gilham and a professor named Thomas J.Jackson,he graduted with a degree as a civil engineer in the Class of 1847. Mahone worked as a teacher at Rappahannock Academy in Caroline County,Virginia,beginning in 1848,but was actively seeking an entry into civil engineering.He did some work helping locate the Orange and Alexandria Railroad,an 88 mile line between Gordonville,Virginia,and the City of Alexandria.Having performed well with the new railroad,was hired to build a plank road between Fredercksbug and Gordonville. On Apirl 12,1853,he was hired by Dr.Francis Mallory of Norfolk,as chief engineer to build the new Norfolf and Petersburg Railroad (N&P).Mahone's innovative 12 mile-long roabed though the Great Dismal Swamp between South Norfolk and Suffolk employed a log foundation laid at right angles beneath the surface of the swamp.Still on use 150 years later,Mahone's coruroy design withstands immense tonnage of modern coal traffic.He was also resonsible for engineering and building the famous 52 mile-long tangent track between Suffolk and Petersburg.With no curves,it is a major artery of modern Norfolk Southern rail traffic. In 1854,mahone surveyed and laid out with streets and lots of Ocean View City,a new resort town fronting on the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk County.With the advent of electric steetcars in the late 19th century,an amusement park developed there and a boardwalk was built along the adjacent beach area.Most of Mahone's street plan is still in use in the 21st century as Ocean View,now a section of the City of Norfolk,is redeveloped. He was surveyor for the Norfolk and South Air Line Railroad,on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. On February 8,1855,Mahone married Otelia Butler (1835-1911),the daughter the late Dr.Robert Butler from Smithfield,who had been State treasurer of the Commonwelth of Virginia from 1846 until his death in 1853.Her mother was Butler's second wife,Otelia Voinard Butler (1803-1855,originally from Petersburg. Young Otelia Butler is said to have been a cultured lady.She and William settled in Norfolk,wherwe they lived for most of the years before the Civil war.They had 13 children,but only 3 survived to adulthood,two sons,william Jr. and Robert and a Daughter,also named Otelia. The Mahone family escaped the yellow fever epidemic that broke out in the summer of 1855 and killed almoust a third of the population of Norfolk and Portsmouth by staying with his mother some distance away in Jerusalem.However,as a consequence of the epidemic,the decimate citzenery of the Norfolk area had difficulity in meeting financial obilations,and work on their new railroad to Petersburg almost came to a stanstill.Ever frugal,Mahone and his mentor Dr.Mallor,nevertheless pushed the project to completion. Popular legend has it that Otelia and William Mahone traveled alone the newly completed railroads named stations from Ivanhoe and other books she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott.From his histori

Sister Alma Pukel receives the Dean's Award for Community Service from Dean Susan Salmond as Professor Cindy Sickora looks on. Sister Alma has been a registered nurse for more than 60 years. She earned her diploma at the Little Company of Mary Hospital School of Nursing and shortly thereafter joined the religious order of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neuman Community. Since then, she has held a variety of nursing positions including staff nurse and nursing administrator. She earned her baccalaureate degree in nursing at Duquesne University and says she may soon start studying for her Master’s degree. We have a seat ready for her at UMDNJ. Three years ago, Sister Alma established the healthcare clinic at Saint John’s Roman Catholic Church, located at 22 Mulberry Street, just around the corner from where we are right now. Under her leadership, the clinic serves hundreds of indigent, mostly homeless, individuals from Newark and vicinity. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays two UMDNJ nursing students go to the clinic to help Sister Alma provide care. Sister Alma’s commitment to nursing education and practice is “marvelous,” says Professor Cindy Sickora. “She is an amazing role model for nursing students and faculty alike. She is a tough task master while at the same time demonstrating kindness and compassion that is unsurpassed.” Sister Alma is a truly valuable asset to the School of Nursing and to the community of Newark.