Shelor Sr., Arnold Randolph
Arnold Randolph Shelor Sr., 86, of Blacksburg, passed away on Wednesday, March 7, 2012. He was born in Merimac on March 9, 1925, to the late Elbert Price and Dottie Graves Shelor. A member of the “greatest generation,” he served in the United States Army in World War II from 1943 until 1945, and was stationed in Hawaii and Okinawa. Arnold loved to reminisce about his time in Hawaii, where he spent a year jungle training for a tour of duty in Okinawa. Upon his discharge from the Army on November 11, 1945, he was awarded the Purple Heart. After returning from the war, he owned a taxi service in Blacksburg until 1953. He worked with Railway Express Agency from 1954 until 1971, when the company went out of business. He then worked as a supervisor in the Student Housing Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, until he retired for health reasons in 1979. He enjoyed collecting and working on antique clocks and talking to friends on his CB radio. He spent his life taking care of his family, from sending money home to his parents during the war, aiding his siblings or others when they were in need of help, and providing for his wife, “the love of his life,” and his four children. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 ½ years, Sylvia Marie Underwood Shelor; and four brothers, William Shelor, Clarence Garfield Shelor, Lloyd P. Shelor, and Charles (Ed) Shelor. A loving husband and father, he leaves behind three daughters and one son, Nancy Moore (Walter), of Winston-Salem, N.C.; Arnold R. Shelor Jr., of Blacksburg, Charlotte McGuire (Kelly), of Gainesville, Ga., Debbie Shelor of Charlottesville, and two grandsons, Gregory M. Moore of Denver, Colo., and Duncan R. McGuire, of Gainesville, Ga. He is also survived by one brother, Conley M. Shelor, one sister Adelaide Marie Gay Henderson and several nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 9, 2012, at the McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive, Blacksburg, with the Rev. John Hopkins of the First Wesleyan Church of Blacksburg officiating. Interment will follow in Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg. The family wishes to thank Diane Boothe and Lois Wade for their special care of Arnold over the past several years. They are also grateful for the skilled and compassionate care given to him by Dr. Gregory Beato and Dr. Daniel Osimani. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Blacksburg First Wesleyan Church Heritage Hall Fund, 1406 Giles Road, Blacksburg, VA, 24060. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.