- Barton Bentley Cregger, 49, of Powhatan (Richmond), Va. and formerly of Roanoke, Va., passed away Tuesday, March 27, 2007, at the VCU Medical Center.
Bart was Associate Dean of the School of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Bart joined VCU in 1998 and was key to shaping the future of the School of Engineering. Prior to joining VCU, Bart held engineering and business roles at several technology companies, including Medeco Security Locks in Salem, Va., and Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas. He was a Master Mason of Melrose Masonic Lodge of Roanoke, Va.
Bart was a loving and devoted husband, son, brother and stepfather, and was much admired by his friends, students, colleagues and associates.
Born March 14, 1958, in Roanoke, Bart graduated from William Fleming High School in Roanoke in 1976, from the University of Virginia with his bachelor's degree in 1980 and master's degree in electrical engineering in 1982.
Bart was preceded in death by his father, Frank Albert Cregger, in October 2006.
Bart is survived by his wife, the love of his life, Norma Bond Cregger; mother, Susan Bentley Cregger, of Roanoke; sister and brother-in-law Stephanie and Steven Reger, of Sterling, Va.; stepdaughter and her husband, Julia and Michael Atalla, o of Bellevue, Wash.; aunts and uncles, Edna and Lewis Clark, June Cregger Lucas, Geraldine Prather Cregger, all of Roanoke; Joan Bentley Hoelzer, of Virginia Beach, Va.; Bayne Bentley and Mary Abu-Saba, of California; Edward and Virginia Bentley, of Texas, and many cousins; father-inlaw and his wife, Royal and Pat Bond, of Radford, Va.; brothersin-law and their wives, Edward and Marsha Bond, of Georgia, Steven and Ginger Bond, of North Carolina, and Roy Lee and Chom Bond, of Dublin, Va.; sisters-in-law and their husbands, Sandra and Horace Copeland, of Williamsburg, Va., Bonita and Russell Johnston, of Troutville, Va.; also a special godson, Boone Yandle, of North Carolina.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 31 at 2 p.m. at Oakey's North Chapel on Peters Creek Road, with the Rev. Russell Cheatham officiating. Interment will follow at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens with Masonic Rites by Melrose Masonic Lodge. The family will receive visitors on Friday, March 30, 2007, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Oakey's North Chapel, 6732 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be sent to The Barton B. Cregger Scholarship Fund, in care of VCU School of Engineering Foundation, P.O. Box 843068, Richmond, Va. 23284. Arrangements are by Oakey's North Chapel and Crematory, 540-362-1237.
Published in the Roanoke Times from 3/28/2007 - 3/31/2007.
- ?We build things,? Barton Cregger once said enthusiastically, speaking of engineers and VCU?s School of Engineering .As a faculty member and associate dean, he helped build the school and hundreds of young people and their careers as well. Cregger died March 27 after a massive stroke. He was 49.
Cregger came to VCU in 1998 as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He helped shape the curriculum and even the open physical layout of the new school, which incorporates areas for study and discussion in small groups?encouraging that cross-fertilization of ideas so necessary to solving problems and generating new solutions.
Cregger?s experience at Medeco Security Locks in Salem , Virginia and at Texas Instruments in Dallas meant he could help students see how to translate engineering concepts into viable business production. Hands-on practice on real projects has always driven professional training at VCU, and it?s such a major theme for the School of Engineering that the school?s newest building now under construction will be joined to a new building for VCU?s School of Business.
As associate dean, Cregger aggressively recruited a diverse student body, taking opportunity to some potential engineers who didn?t know those possibilities existed. Special open house demonstrations brought disadvantaged students to the VCU campus to taste the excitement of engineering and to awaken a hunger in them for a college education. He was the prime engine in the engineering school's FIRST Robotics competition that brings middle and high school students to campus each year.
Cregger didn?t forget them once they were here, and he followed their careers after graduation.
"Engineering students have a very difficult time. It's not unusual for students to get discouraged and want to give up,? said VCU?s dean of engineering, Dr. Russell Jamison, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. ?Bart was the guy who helped them get through the day, who taught them to take failure and setbacks and who got them going again."
As an alumni recruiter for the school, Brad Crosby ?01BS/En says, ?We tell prospective students and families, ?You won?t be just a number at VCU,? and no one lived that more than Bart.? Students wanted to do well; they didn?t like to disappoint Bart. Crosby remembers a student intern at his firm, Qimonda, who didn?t seem to quite fit. ?Instead of just saying 'you win some and you loose some,'? Crosby says, ?Bart was committed to teaching. He asked why it wasn't working. Set up coaching sessions. He met regularly with the student?s mentor, and went much further than I ever expected anyone would. In his mind's eye there never seemed to be a lost cause?just an opportunity to teach.?
Mary Perkinson ?91BFA?03BS/En comments, ?Bart Cregger touched the lives of everyone around him in a positive way. He was always ready to give encouragement and a helping hand to every student that crossed his path. He has left a void that will be impossible to fill at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering.?
Chris Wash ?04BS/En adds, ?It was Bart?s simple, genuine, and highly contagious philosophy that made the school what it is today?that no matter who you are, where you come from, or where you are going, you're always a part of the School of Engineering family. I think that's the reason most students would say Dean Cregger had a fatherly aura about him as he walked the halls and classrooms of the school, and it's also why he will be missed so dearly.?
"Bart's loss to us is immeasurable," Jamison says. "Bart's legacy of influencing young lives is one that any of us would envy."
Memorial contributions may be sent to The Barton B. Cregger Scholarship Fund at VCU School of Engineering Foundation; P.O. Box 843068; Richmond, VA 23284.
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1958 - 2007 (49 years)
