Dr. Mack A. Breazeale

BREAZEALE, DR. MACK A. - 79, retired Distinguished Research Professor and Senior Scientist at the National Center for Physical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi, died Monday, September 14, 2009 at his house in Oxford. Funeral services will be held Monday, September 21 at 2:00 P.M. at Oxford-University United Methodist Church. A graveside service will be held 10:00 Wednesday, September 23 at Shipley Cemetery near Bristol, TN. Visiting hours will be Monday, September 21, 2009 at noon until 2 at Oxford-University United Methodist Church. Born in Leona Mines, Virginia, Dr. Breazeale grew up near Crossville, TN. Educated at Berea College, the Missouri School of Mines, and the Michigan State University, he was a tireless researcher and trained many others in the field of physics. Before his appointment at the National Center for Physical Acoustics, he was professor of physics at the University of Tennessee (1962-1995) and at Michigan State University (1957-1962). A longtime editor of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, he was a fellow of the Acoustical Society and received its Silver Medal in 1989. He was a fellow of the Institute of electrical and Electronics Engineers and Great Britain's Institute of Acoustics, and had been a Fulbright Research Fellow in Stuttgart, Germany early in his career. Dr. Breazeale actively attended Oxford-University United Methodist Church, where he had served in the choir in past years. His first wife, Joanne O'Dell and his stepdaughter Amy Louise Scott predeceased him. Dr. Breazeale's energy and kindness will be missed by this community, as well as by his wider community of professional and personal friends in Tennessee and internationally. He is survived by his wife, Louise Hanna Scott Breazeale of Oxford; one daughter, Jennifer Lee Breazeale Ball and her husband David, of Knoxville, Tennessee; two sons, David Mark Breazeale and his wife Karen, of Corinth, Mississippi; and William Carl Breazeale of Sacramento, CA; two stepsons, Charles M. Scott, Jr. and his wife Rebecca, of Clinton, Mississippi, and Stephen H. Scott and his wife Linda, of Flora, Mississippi; one brother, Clarence W. Breazeale of Morristown, Tennessee; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The family has asked that any contributions in Dr. Breazeale's memory be made to Berea College, CPO 2216, Berea, KY 40404 or to Oxford-University United Methodist Church, 424 South 10th Street, Oxford, Mississippi 38655.