Marge Burns ’46, one of the best female golfers of her time, died June 3. She was 83.

Marge began winning tournaments in her early teens. She won the North Carolina Amateur Golf Championship a record 10 times, the Carolinas Amateur six times, the prestigious Harder Hall Championship five times, and was an unprecedented five-time winner of the Teague Award, given annually to the number one female athlete in the Carolinas. No one else won it more than twice.

In 1958 and 1962, she was ranked among the Top Ten Women Amateur Golfers in the Country by Golf Digest magazine. The North Carolina Women's Golf Association honored her in 1990 when they introduced the Marge Burns Medalist plaque for the medalist at the N.C. State Championship.

Her accomplishments won her recognition as a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1984. She also was a member of the Guilford County and UNCG sports halls of fame, and in 1991 was honored with the UNCG Distinguished Alumni Award given by the School of Health and Human Performance.

When her primary playing career was over, Marge turned her talent toward teaching, and in 1976 she was named Ladies Professional Golfers Association national Teacher of the Year. In 2004 she won the Ellen Griffin Rolex award, the LPGA's most prestigious teaching award. Ellen Griffin was her golf instructor when she was a student at UNCG.

Kay Yow ’74 MEd, ’08 HONR, perhaps best known for her years as a women’s basketball coach for NC State, lost her battle with cancer Jan. 24. She was 66.

For more than four decades, she was a basketball coach and teacher at several North Carolina schools — Allen Jay High School in High Point; Gibsonville High School; Elon College and NC State.

She won eight NCAIAW state championships at Elon and NC State, guided the Wolfpack to four ACC Tournament titles and was honored as the state, ACC and national coach of the year on multiple occasions. In 1998, she took State to the Final Four.

On Dec. 14, 2008, she became just the third coach in history to coach more than 1,000 games at the same school. In 38 years as a college coach, she compiled a 737-344 record.

In 1986, she led the United States to gold medals in the World University Games and the Goodwill Games. In 1988, she was the head coach of the United States team that won an Olympic gold medal in Seoul, South Korea, just 10 months after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In 2002, she became just the fifth woman in history to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, for her national and international success as a coach and her pioneering efforts to grow women’s college basketball.

Some of her biggest successes were off the court in her public battle against cancer. An article in the Charlotte Observer notes she often found herself going about her daily activities in Raleigh only to have someone stop her and say they were praying for her or that she was an inspiration to them.

"When they say that, it really gives me a lift because it's at that time I know for sure that I'm not going through it for nothing," Yow said in 2007. "That means a lot to me. I have to go through it. I accept that, and I'm not panicked about it because the Lord is in control. But it just would be so saddening if I had to go through it and I couldn't help people.”

ESPN.com collected tributes about Kay shortly after her death. Below are a few of the comments:

"I've never seen a woman or known a woman to share her story so eloquently under such incredible conditions. The courage that she showed, a lot of people are afraid to share their story. And Kay was never afraid." — Duke women's basketball coach Joanne McCallie

"She's just been a great friend to so many people and obviously left her footprints all over the place with all the young kids she has touched and molded ... She is a woman that fought such a hard fight but it was always about everybody else. It was never about Kay." — Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt

"Kay was a real treasure to me. She was a jewel of a person, an outstanding coach, but more than anything a dear friend. She always represented herself and N.C. State with tremendous honor, grace and style, and her presence and competitive spirit will be greatly missed in the ACC. I don't know of anyone in the world of women's basketball that doesn't owe a debt of gratitude to Kay." — UNC-CH women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell

"I consider myself blessed to have known — and learned from — coach Yow throughout my career. Without a doubt she will be remembered as one of the most beloved coaches in the history of women's basketball. Her players adored her but it was so, so much bigger than basketball. They adored and respected her for the life lessons she imparted along the way; she taught them the value of being a good person and representing themselves and their families in the proper manner. Kay did more than prepare her players for basketball; she prepared them for life." — Renee Brown, WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations

Dr. Donald Russell, emeritus professor of education, died March 25.

Russell, 89, specialized in gifted education. He joined the Department of Counseling and Educational Development in 1955 and retired in 1984. He returned to UNCG as interim dean of the School of Education from 1987-88.

Memorial contributions may be made to: Hospice of the Golden Isles, 1692 Glynco Parkway, Brunswick, Ga. 31525. He had volunteered at Hospice for many years.