Virginia Mourns Loss of  Leaders in Fire and Building Safety     

Jack Allen Proctor, Sr., 78, of Richmond, formerly of Mt. Jackson, passed away peacefully on March 10, 2011 at his home. Jack was born January 10, 1933 in Mt. Jackson at the Moonlight Cottage, the son of the late Verlin R. Proctor, Jr. and Anna Mae Proctor Funkhouser. He served 22 years in the United States Navy as an electrical engineer and career counselor, serving the last 2 years at the Pentagon. He was Shenandoah County's first building code official and was appointed the first statewide building Code Supervisor and rose to be the Deputy Director of the State Building Code Enforcement Division. He also served as the State Fire Marshall. He was a national leader in the effort to adopt a standard, uniform building code and trained, advised and inspired building code professionals from throughout the nation. The State Training Academy for building code officials was named in his honor upon his retirement, after 30 years of service to the State of Virginia.

He is survived by his wife, Suk Proctor; sons, William Proctor, Jack A. Proctor, Jr.; daughters, Jill Irby, Rose Aquaro, Emma Gaccione, Susannah Proctor, Dorothy Keffer, Marie Snyder, Heather Bowers; brothers, Gary Proctor, Verlin (Rusty) Proctor III; sisters, Gloria Poe, Kay Miller; 19 grandchildren; and 5 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Allen Proctor. The family will receive friends tonight from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Dellinger Funeral Home, Mt. Jackson, where services will be held Sunday, March 13, 2:30 p.m. by Rev. Steve Proctor. Burial will follow at the Mt. Jackson Cemetery.

Howard H. Summers, Jr.

VIRGINIA BEACH - Howard H. Summers, Jr., retired Chief State Fire Marshall for VA for 37 years, died at his home Saturday morning, January 8, 2011 following an extended illness. His wife, Blanche M. Summers, a retired registered nurse, was with him at death. Summers had just recently celebrated his 62nd wedding anniversary and he and Blanche lovingly shared the same birth date, Oct. 31. Blanche relied on her medical background to see to Howard's every medical need during the last years of his life and the couple were practically inseparable. Summers was an activist in bringing fire sprinklers into commercial and residential usage all over the United, States. He was a brilliant man with superb engineering skills and insight into problems of all sorts. Summers graduated from Norview High School in 1941 prior to joining the Navy. He served aboard the USS Hugh Purvis - DD709 during World War II. Summers graduated with mechanical and engineering degrees from Duke University and Virginia Tech prior to serving as professor of Fire Sciences at several local colleges. Before retiring as a Lt. Commander from the Coast Guard reserve, Summers served as an instructor in Port Security. He was a life time member of the Society of Fire Protection Engineer. He was an active board member of the AFSA, VA chapter, and VFPA until shortly before his death. He considered his campaign for life saving sprinklers in business and homes one of his proudest achievements. Summers was preceded in death by his late parents Howard H. and Bessie Summers. In addition to his loving wife Blanche, he is also survived by one brother, Curtis G. Summers of Chesapeake, and one son, Howard H. (Skip) Summers III of Norfolk. A chapel service will be conducted at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Laskin Road Chapel by the Reverend Robert Pittman. Burial will follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.hdoliver.com .

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Bill Shelton Re-Appointed by Governor McDonnell

Bill Shelton, Director, Department of Housing and Community Development

Bill Shelton currently serves as Director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and is responsible for the management and policy oversight of the agency, which provides community development and housing program support to communities across the Commonwealth. The Department also administers statewide building codes. Shelton works closely with the Secretary of Commerce and Trade and with the Governor to advise on community development, economic development, affordable housing, and state uniform building code issues. Shelton is an ex-officio member of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Housing Development Authority and the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission and serves on the board of Virginia Community Capital, Inc., the Commonwealth’s community development bank. Shelton also serves as the Governor's alternate for the Appalachian Regional Commission. Prior to his appointment as Director in 1998, Shelton headed DHCD’s Division of Community Development. During the past thirty years, Shelton has been responsible for a variety of state community and economic development programs working with local governments throughout Virginia. A native Virginian, born in Amherst County and raised in the Charlottesville area, Shelton was educated at Washington and Lee University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Politics, and at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he received a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning.

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Region V Helps Out at Local Food Bank

Pictured Left to right, kneeling: Gary Kendrick, Susan Parham, Diane Gillman and Gregg Fields
Standing:  Stephen Turchen, Carlos Perez, Larry Vannoy, Craig Leech, Patricia Castellano, Audrey Clark, Kevin Woodward, Irv Kerry, Robert Caroll, Ramon Watkins
Not pictured: Linda Frye, Charisse Frederick, Raj Sidhu, and Sean Farrell

Thank you very much to you and all the members of the VBCOA who came to volunteer yesterday. I got a lot of glowing reports from Mary Jo Dick about your work, in fact, she was asking, “Can they come every week?” Seriously, everyone was a tremendous help in getting the surplus food we’ve received recently sorted, stocked, shelved and/or portioned. The enthusiasm and positive attitude of the group went a long way in making this a very enjoyable morning for everyone here at SERVE! I hope you’ll be able to come visit us again in the near future. Thank you again for your support, and our very best wishes to all of you for a Happy Holiday Season!

Jan F. Hawkins
Volunteer Coordinator SERVE,
a Program of Northern Virginia Family Service
10056 Dean Drive
Manassass, VA 20110

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New Officers Elected for 2010-2011

The VBCOA membership elected the new slate of officers for the upcaoming year at the fall conference in Virginia Beach, October 3-6. Current and past officers are pictured below holding VBCOA Chapter awards. VBCOA has earned 3 merit awards and 1 Chapter of the Year award from ICC.

L to R, Bill Dupler, ICC Sec/Treas., Joel Baker - President, Vernell Woods - !st VP, Cathy Cook - Sgt. At Arms, Jim Collins - Immediate Past Presidet, Kris Bridges- 2nd VP, Guy Tomberlin - ICC Board of Directors.

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New MEDCottage Structure Approved

From DHCD:
Attached are pictures of the MEDCottage that you may wish to post on the VBCOA web page as a heads-up for the building officials. House Bill H 1307 which was recently passed and went into affect 7/1/10 allows these Temporary Health Care Structures to be placed on property owned or occupied by the caregiver in any single-family residential zoning district on lots zoned for single-family detached dwellings. The structures do not require special use permits. They must be state labeled industrialized buildings 300 sq.ft. or less. They do not require permanent foundations. They must comply with the setback requirements. They must be removed within 30 days in which the impaired person no longer requires care.

More information is available from the staff at the SBCAO office at 804-371-7160.

MedCottage Photos:

Photo 1  Photo 2  Photo 3  Photo 4  Photo 5  Photo 6

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Immediate Past President Lynn Underwood Addresses the Virginia Home Builders Association

Last Week (June 25, 2010) the Home Builders of Virginia held their annual convention on the Eastern Shore. Immediate Past President, Lynn Underwood was invited to address the group. The attached speech was delivered by Underwood to the entire membership. His message of “working together as partners” was warmly received. Before and after his address, while mixing with the membership, EVERY Member had high praise for their local Building Official as a professional and expressed appreciation for their attitude and understanding

Read Lynn's speech by clicking here.  Lynn has asked that anyone that has comments or questions concerning the event or speech, please email him.

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