Charles Deward Colvard is the son of Wiley and Mary Shepherd Colvard, and the grandson of John Calvin and Martha Ludema Hash Shepherd.
CHARLES DEWARD COLVARD DIED ON MARCH 8, 2004 at the age of eighty-seven. He was born in Grassy Creek in Ashe County, North Carolina on August 9, 1916. He graduated from Berea College in Kentucky in 1939 and remained there on the staff training student workers until entry into military service in 1942. Charles earned a commission as 2nd Lieutenant at Camp Davis (AAA- AW), near Wilmington, and remained there several months after assignment to a unit that trained officer candidates in field maneuvers. Following two years in Europe and four years of total service, he was discharged as a Captain.
After the war, Charles entered N.C. State University where he earned a Master of Science degree in the manufacturing of milk and dairy products.
He met and married Juanita Yoder in 1951 in Hickory, NC. This union resulted in three girls and two boys. As manager of Catawba Dairy in Hickory he was also active in community affairs - President of the Jaycees and the Optimist Club, on the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association, deacon in the First Presbyterian Church, and Chairman of a 100-man committee to build the 200-bed Catawba Memorial Hospital. Charles also supported various projects on behalf of Lenoir Rhyne College, Catawba Technical Institute, and formation of the N.C. Milk Commission.
The family moved to Greensboro in 1965 where he served as manager of the N.C. Milk Producers Federation. Here he represented dairy farmers in matters of state and national policies and regulations and educated managers and directors. In 1976 he became the Executive Vice- President of the Cooperative Council of North Carolina and moved the office to Raleigh. His work in Raleigh dealt with educating cooperative directors and managers, educating youth, and informing regulators and policy makers about economic and educational needs of farmers and rural people. He organized a young couples conference each year to educate and encourage young people to stay on farms.
Charles served six years on Governor Hunt's advisory board on Agriculture, Forestry and Seafoods, six years on the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NCSU, and on the boards of the Dairy Foundation, the Tobacco Foundation, the Education Foundation at NCSU, the N.C. Dairy Products Association, National Milk Producers Federation, the American Institute of Cooperation for Education, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and the N.C. Council on Foods and Nutrition.
Honorary awards received during his life include N.C State Grange Man of the Year in 1977, Phi Cappa Phi scholastic fraternity, Gamma Sigma Delta honorary agricultural fraternity, and FFA of N.C. State Farmer's Degree in 1978. Upon his retirement, Governor Hunt referred to him as "one of the greatest advocates" for rural people in N.C.
Charles is survived by his wife Juanita Yoder Colvard of Raleigh; son, Carl Colvard of Redwood City, California; daughter, Cathy Colvard of Raleigh; daughter, Anne Nicholson of Chapel Hill; daughter, Elizabeth Colvard of El Granada, California; son, John Colvard of Raleigh; and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, 5101 Oak Park Road, Raleigh, NC 27612 at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 11 preceded by a visitation at the church from 10-11 a.m. Friends may also visit with the family at the home on Wednesday evening from 7-9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to St. Giles Presbyterian Church. Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary's St. is in charge of arrangements.
