Hugh Porter

Obituary Hugh Judson Porter, 86, of Morehead City, died Thursday, December 11, 2014, at PruittHealth, Sea Level. Services will be private. Mr. Porter was born April 10, 1928 in Bowling Green, OH to Melzer Ray Porter and Opal Pessell Porter. He spent his growing up years in Millersville, PA, and graduated for Millersville State Teachers College (now University). He taught at Margaret Brent High School, Helen, MD and briefly attended Penn State University. Hugh saw action with the United States Army during the Korean Conflict, after which he earned a Masters Degree in Science in 1956 from the University of Delaware, being one of their first marine science graduates. Hugh came to the UNC-CH Institute of Marine Sciences, Morehead City in 1955 as an Assistant in mollusk research. He became an Instructor in 1957 and Assistant Professor in 1963. As a malacologist, Hugh published over 40 scholarly articles, two Marine Atlases and coauthored two books, one the well-known Sea Shells of North Carolina. Although he retired from the IMS faculty in 1996, he returned almost daily for over a decade to his office and served as the Curator of the Mollusk Collection, which grew to about 250,000 specimens, before its transfer to the NC State Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh. Hugh was a founding member of the North Carolina Shell Club, where he held several offices and was involved with the naming of the Scotch Bonnet as the state shell. He held memberships in the American Malagolical Union, National Shellfisheries Association, NC Academy of Science, Society of Systematic Zoology and the Society of the Sigma Xi. Governor Dan Moore recognized Hugh with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in September, 1966. He was a parishioner of St. Pauls Episcopal Church, Beaufort, where he served as a layreader, chalice bearer, vestrymen and choir member. He was member of the Carteret Chorale, the Carteret County Model Railroad Club, played trombone in a local dance band and was a 50 plus year member of Masonic Lodge #496, Millersville PA.. He is survived by his wife, of 61 years, Dorothy Pinkerton Porter (Pinky), a son Hugh Weston Porter, daughter-in law Kim Temple Porter, grandson Thomas Weston Porter and granddaughter Ashley Michelle Porter, all of Morehead City. Also a nephew Dr. Hugh Bryson Matternes of Stone Mountain, GA, a niece Rebecca Matternes Bongiorno of Myrtle Beach, SC, and an aunt Jean Pessell Sikora, of Portland OR. In addition to his parents, his sister Gwendolyn Porter Matternes, preceded him in death. The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home on Tuesday, December 16, 2014, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The family thanks PruitHealth and Pruitt Hospice for the high level of professional and compassionate care they gave to Hugh. Visitation 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. ,Tuesday, December 16, 2014 Brooks Funeral Home 201 Professional Circle Morehead City, NC 28557 A private service will be held by the family. Services You can still show your support by sending flowers directly to the family, or by planting a memorial tree in the memory of Hugh Porter