William Harris Shuford, 82, was born October 28, 1932 in Lincolnton and passed away August 1, 2015 at Brookdale Falling Creek in Hickory.
Son of the late Victor G. Shuford and Edythe H. Shuford, he attended Hickory City Schools and Lenoir-Rhyne College, receiving his A.B. degree in 1954 in Spanish and French. He then obtained his M.A. degree in Spanish at the University of Florida and his Ph.D. in Romance Languages at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He studied two summers at the National University of Mexico and received a Fulbright Scholarship for an academic year (1960-61) at the University of Madrid, Spain. Dr. Shuford taught at Lenoir-Rhyne College from 1961 to 1967, at Furman University from 1967 to 1969, and at Lenoir-Rhyne College/University from 1969-1999. In addition to his teaching duties and major committee work, Dr. Shuford served as chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages for 26 years and as College (later University) Marshal for 40 years (1969-2009), serving in that capacity as Professor Emeritus even after his retirement from teaching. Dr. Shuford received numerous honors during his distinguished career, including the Raymond M. Bost Distinguished Professor Award for excellence in teaching in 1979, the first Roediger Distinguished Professor Award in 1988, the dedication of the college yearbook, the Hacawa, in 1995, the Lenoir-Rhyne Trustee Award in 2007; and the Opal L. Moretz Alumnus Service Award for Service to the University in 2011. He was a member of a number of professional organizations including the Modern Language Association, the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Most treasured of his various civic organization memberships was the Hickory Kiwanis Club, of which he was Past President and Director. He was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
In addition to his parents, Dr. Shuford was preceded in death by his brother, Robert Reeves Shuford.
He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth Shuford Hunsuck of Kannapolis; a niece , Pat Beam, of Cherryville; a nephew, Mike Hunsuck, of Kannapolis; first cousins, Steve M. Shuford and Ronald L. Harris of Hickory.
Special thanks for care for Dr. Shuford are given to the staff of Brookdale Falling Creek, to his special caregivers from the Visiting Angels agency, to Catawba Regional Hospice and to Mr. Bruce A. Blackburn.
Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, August 7, 2015 in the chapel of Catawba Memorial Park, Funerals and Cremations with Vicar Diane Cline from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church officiating. Visitation will begin at 12 noon. Burial will follow at Catawba Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Shuford Endowment for International Studies at Lenoir-Rhyne University, P.O. Box 7467, Hickory, N.C., 28603.
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