Obituary - Laurin Currie McArthur Jr.

I'm not a descendant, but perhaps someone on this list is!

Laurin Currie McArthur Jr. COLUMBIA - A service celebrating the life of Dr. Laurin Currie McArthur Jr. will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Columbia. Visitation will follow at the church. The service will be preceded by a private interment service in Eastminster Memorial Garden. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.

Dr. McArthur died April 4, 2010. Born May 5, 1918, in Bennettsville, South Carolina, he was a son of the late Laurin Currie McArthur and Nora Belle Drake McArthur. He was educated in the public schools of Bennettsville and received his B.A. from the University of South Carolina in 1939. He taught at St. John's High School in Darlington until 1942, when he enlisted in the United States Navy. During World War II he served as a destroyer officer, officer in charge of USN liaison teams, and as tactical officer to the commander in chief, British Pacific Fleet, receiving the Bronze Star for action during the battle of Surigao Strait, Leyte Gulf.

He returned to Darlington in 1946, served as principal of St. John's Grammar School and courted Anne Barron of Rock Hill, South Carolina. They were married June 18, 1949, and moved to New York City where Dr. McArthur received his Ed.D. from Columbia University in 1950.

Dr. McArthur served as assistant superintendent in Orangeburg School District Two from 1950 to 1953, as superintendent of Beaufort School District One from 1953 to 1959, and as superintendent of Sumter School District Seventeen from 1959 to 1974. In 1974 he joined the faculty of Furman University, teaching graduate courses in school administration.

Aside from his Christian faith and devotion to family, his life's work was improving education in South Carolina. He took great pride in organizing school systems, recruiting and developing bright and talented teachers and administrators, and enriching the lives of countless students. His time in Sumter saw the development of a research-supported early childhood education program for children three to five, the most complete special education program for exceptional children in several states, and a broad program of courses leading to advanced placement in college. Backed by a strong school board, the Sumter schools carried out a desegregation program hailed as a model by The New York Times.

Dr. McArthur served as instructor in staff personnel in the institutes designed to help new superintendents when the South Carolina districts were consolidated in the early 1950s. He operated the first two institutes for new elementary school principals sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. He edited the first South Carolina elementary principals' newsletter, which served as a national model. He pioneered South Carolina involvement in the American Educational Research Association.

Dr. McArthur served as occasional instructor at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the University of Georgia, Auburn University and elsewhere, and served on the staff of the Institute of Field Studies, Columbia University. He wrote broadly in professional journals and spoke at many educational institutes and other institutions. He wrote a number of books on education, including his last book, Source Book for Leaders, completed in December 2009.

Governors Russell and McNair appointed him as the educational professional on the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Education. He also served as public school representative on the board and executive committee of the Regional Educational Laboratory of the Carolinas and Virginia, on the American Institute of Physics advisory committee on curriculum and teaching, and on other national, regional and state commissions. He chaired the SCEA Blue Ribbon Committee on reorganization and chaired the State Superintendent of Education committee on revision of teacher certificates in the 1960s.

Dr. McArthur served as president or chairman of the Rotary Club of Sumter, the Sumter YMCA, the Sumter Committee for Progress, the Easter Seals societies in three counties, the Darlington County Education Association, the South Carolina Association of School Superintendents and the South Carolina Adult and Continuing Education Association. He served the Presbyterian Church (USA) as deacon, elder, Sunday school superintendent, teacher, choir member, commissioner to the Presbytery and General Assembly, and member of Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly committees.

Dr. McArthur is survived by his wife of 60 years, Anne Barron McArthur; sons, Laurin Currie McArthur III (Nancy), John Barron McArthur (Barbara); daughter, Sara McArthur Shigley (Ken); grandchildren, James Rogers McArthur, Laurin Currie McArthur IV, John Barron McArthur Jr., William Haden McArthur, Anne Chisolm Shigley and Kenneth Lowell Shigley Jr.; brother, Barnwell Palmer McArthur and his wife, Marion Tompkins McArthur; sister-in-law, Lois McArthur Aker.

Dr. McArthur was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, John Alexander McArthur and his wife, Marian Wilder McArthur, James Drake McArthur; sister-in-law, Mary Lide McArthur.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Eastminster Presbyterian Church.

Please sign the online guestbook at www.dunbarfunerals.com.

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