Alma E. Killam

KILLAM Alma E. Killam (Mrs. Robert M. Killam), 96, closely followed her husband in death on Wednesday, April 18, 2007. Mrs. Killam, who retired several decades ago, was one of the founding members of the N.C. branch of the American Speech and Hearing Association. After several years of teaching English and directing drama, she initiated the speech and hearing program in the Whiteville public schools. She was for two years the speech clinician of Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University. Mrs. Killam' s additional professional services since 1957 include four years with the High Point school system and five years with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system. Also, she was director of Easter Seal Speech Clinic in Lenoir for two summers and a self-employed language clinician for six years. Mrs. Killam had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn.; and a Master of Arts from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Since 1957, she held the American Speech and Hearing Certificate in Clinical Competence in Speech Pathology. Her professional honors and affiliations included lifetime membership in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; and from 1963 to 1964, Mrs. Killam served as president of the N.C. affiliate of the American Speech and Hearing Association. In addition, Mrs. Killam had an abiding commitment to serving handicapped children. She was president of the N.C. Federation of the Council for Exceptional Children, 1955 to 1956. Locally Mrs. Killam served the Association for Retarded Citizens of Forsyth County as secretary from 1981 to 1983; and as chairman of the Membership Committee beginning in 1984. For many years, Mr. and Mrs. Killam enjoyed attending live theatre in the area, as well as concerts of the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra. Mrs. Killam was an accomplished writer, having published several poems in the Saturday Review of Literature, and later, a book review column in the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel. Mrs. Killam was a talented artist and interior decorator as well. Mrs. Killam was preceded in death by her husband, Robert M. Killam; and her parents, Dr. James F. Ellis Sr., and Corina R. Ellis of Jefferson City. Survivors include two children from her first marriage to Edward C. Elkins (deceased), son John Ellis Elkins II and Linda Y. Elkins of Watkinsville, Ga.; and daughter Genevieve C. Elkins of Winston-Salem; grandson Michael B. Elkins of Athens, Ga.; brother James F. Ellis Jr. and wife Colleen of Oak Ridge, Tenn.; niece Jann Andre and husband Edward of Knoxville, Tenn.; and nephew James F. Ellis III of Friendsville, Tenn. Also surviving are four children from Robert' s first marriage, sons Robert Barton Killam and Maria of Minneapolis, Minn.; George Michael Killam and Candace Turney of Durham; daughters Elizabeth K. Linn of Summerville, S.C., and Martha Sarah Killam and Ron Moorefield of Mosheim, Tenn. Funeral arrangements are through Forsyth Memorial Park. A joint memorial service for Mr. and Mrs. Killam will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 6, at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to United Methodist Agency for the Retarded (UMAR).