Dr. Loy H. Witherspoon Jr.

Born January 17, 1930 in Catawba, NC, he was a son of the late Loy H. and Catherine Wilson Witherspoon.

In 1942, Loy and his youngest brother, B. W., went to live at the Children’s Home in Winston-Salem, attending Reynolds High School with a major in Latin. Whereupon he enrolled in Duke University receiving a BA degree in 1951 and a Master of Divinity in 1954.

Following his Duke education, Loy went to teach Philosophy and Religion at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. There he met his life-long friend and companion, William Pfischner, MD.

He was called back to the United States for a pre-induction physical exam for potential service in the armed forces. Since he was a pacifist, Loy wrote to his Methodist bishop requesting that he be appointed, if possible, as an associate minister at the fall conference of the United Methodist Church.

Loy was appointed an Associate Minister to the Myers Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, where he served for three years prior to going to Boston University for his Ph. D. in New Testament. He was awarded the degree in 1962.

Dr. Witherspoon taught Philosophy and Religion for three years at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, SD, where he also served as Director of Campus Religious Life.

In 1965, Dr. Bonnie Cone, President of Charlotte College (then beginning its first year as a four year institution), invited Loy to come to teach philosophy and religion. Even prior to his arriving on campus, Bonnie added to his responsibilities the role of Director of Religious Affairs, as a result of the interest of six major religious bodies whose local leaders saw the great potential of the young school. These religious groups agreed to provide five thousand dollars for program purposes. Mr. Herman Blumenthal was interested in getting a Hillel program for Jewish students underway, but it was determined at that early date that there were not enough Jewish students to make it worthwhile. Later, Dr. Witherspoon was invited to assist Mr. Blumenthal and other Jewish leaders to begin a Wildacres Interfaith Institute held annually in early August. This institute was begun in 1983.

Funds were obtained from a foundation in New England to have three consultants to come to the campus to give advice with Philosophy. At the same time, new courses in world religions and upper level classes in religious studies were added. When Dr. James Shumaker was appointed chair of philosophy, religious studies became a department, with Dr. Witherspoon as chair.

In addition to developing the religious life program, the departments of philosophy and religious studies, Dr. Witherspoon was heavily engaged with the work and concerns of the entire university: decisions about whether there should be fraternities and sororities; helping with the installation of the first chancellor, D. W. Colvard, for whom Dr. Witherspoon commissioned James Sutcliffe of Charlotte (then living and working in Europe), to compose an Academic Festival March. From that commission, many years later (during the chancellorship of Dr. James Woodward), came the music for the school’s Alma Mater with words by Robert Rieke, retired Chair of History. This was the first of three musical commissions for UNCC, the manuscripts of which are in the J. Murrey Atkins Library.

Dr. Witherspoon also worked to get portraits of Miss Cone (the gift of the only senior class of Charlotte College for which Dr. Witherspoon was advisor) and the Chancellors and their wives. Dr. Witherspoon also encouraged the painting of portraits of persons for whom buildings were named. Often the artist was Charles Tucker, who left a number of his personal paintings to the university collection of art. In addition to the portraits and a significant number of Tucker paintings, a large number of paints were given to the university by Mr. Harry Dalton, who also contributed a significant number of rare books for the library. A copy of the portrait of Miss Cone hangs in Chapel Hill at the request of Erskine Bowles, when he was first named President of the University of North Carolina and found his office with only portraits of men.

As Dr. Witherspoon learned of the availability of facsimile copies of major manuscripts of the New Testament, he purchased these for the rare book collection of the library. Also, Dr. Witherspoon encouraged Miss Alice Tate to give to the library the bulk of her personal library, including an erotica collection, as well as more than twenty “Buddhist” paintings.

Mr. Maurice Spizeman was encouraged to provide funds for an important Judaic collection. As Dr. Witherspoon learned of the availability of other important collections, he would offer to pay “over time” for the library to acquire them. One example of this was a collection of books on Pavlov, which the library felt it could not afford, but which Dr. George Windholtz of the Psychology Department needed for his research to enable him to become a world authority on Pavlov. These were given in honor of Dr. Windholz and his wife, Alexandra.

Miss Cone, and the Chancellors who succeeded her, encouraged the faculty to become engaged with the community using their expertise and interests to enrich the relations between the campus and the community. Dr. Witherspoon served on the board of the Oratorio Singers until a professor of Music was appointed to the college. Long an avid fan of opera, Dr. Witherspoon joined the Charlotte Opera Board, and, for ten years, was the secretary to the board. Invited to join the Red Cross Board, Dr. Witherspoon served on the Youth Committee for many years, after which he became Chairman of the Board of Directors.

When he received a call from Miss Eleanor Belk, Director of Adult Education of the Myers Park Presbyterian Church, Dr. Witherspoon responded, thinking he would lead a six-week discussion on “Religious Issues in Contemporary Literature”. The response lasted for twenty years as teacher for the Seminar One Class, with brief breaks to work with other churches of the community on a “one shot” opportunity. In addition to teaching Sunday School, Dr. Witherspoon was often invited to teach on a topic of mutual import to a wide range of churches in the Charlotte and surrounding communities for their “family night” programs.

Chancellors have to spend many days during a term in Chapel Hill. This was especially true of Dr. Colvard. This led to a strong feeling in the faculty that the faculty had little time with the Chancellor and didn’t know what was “going on”. Dr. Witherspoon suggested to Dr. Colvard that faculty, across the ranks from instructors to full professors from various departments, (there were no colleges then) be invited for a simple soup and sandwich lunch which Dr. Witherspoon subsidized from the “chaplain’s fund”. At these sessions, any question could be asked. The Chancellor had to respond, if only to say that the matter was still under discussion. Members who attended were urged to discuss the questions and responses in their respective departments. These sessions proved so useful that they continued for five years.

When a similar situation occurred during the early years of Chancellor Woodward’s tenure, Dr. Witherspoon invited similar groups to his home once a week for wine and cheese, so that faculty could get to know the Chancellor more personally and he them. These opportunities lasted about three years.

Over the years, Dr. Witherspoon served as elected leader of the faculty on three different occasions – twice during Chancellor Colvard’s tenure and once during the tenure of Dr. Woodward.

When NCNB (now Bank of America) created the Teaching Award, Dr. Witherspoon was one of three who received the award the second year it was given.

Not only did Dr. Witherspoon teach four or more classes during his earliest years, but he also taught individual studies on such special topics as students desired; such as, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the works of Sinclair Lewis, to mention a few.

Under Dr. James Tabor’s leadership. Dr. Witherspoon strongly encouraged the Religious Studies Department in acquiring and developing an archaeological dig site in Jerusalem. A part of that encouragement included giving several $500 scholarships over the early years. In addition, he sought financial support for the “dig” from Charlotte citizens.

When Dr. Cone approved fraternities and sororities by a committee on which Dr. Witherspoon served, Loy was invited to be the advisor of Lambda Chi Alpha, a position he held until his retirement. A strong fraternity movement developed and was the main factor in UNCC receiving national attention for its intramural student program. Dr. Witherspoon, after his retirement from active teaching, was also designated as an honorary member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. Members of these two fraternities are invited to be “honorary pall bearers” for the funeral.

In the fall of 2010, the library hired someone to interview Dr. Witherspoon, especially about the early decades, since he had worked so closely with Dr. Cone, Dr. Colvard, and Dr. Woodward. These interviews were recorded for posterity and are available in the library.

A service of worship in gratitude for the life of Dr. Witherspoon, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, January 19th at Myers Park United Methodist Church, 1501 Queens Road, officiated by the Reverend Dr. James Howell, Senior Pastor. Those present are invited to attend a reception in the church’s Jubilee Hall immediately following the service. Dr. Witherspoon will be interred in a private ceremony alongside his parents in the Witherspoon family plot in the cemetery of Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Claremont, NC.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations be made to Myers Park United Methodist Church (www.myersparkumc.org/give); The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://giving.uncc.edu); or the Children’s Home of Winston-Salem (www.tchome.org).

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.