Earl Oliver Kline

Earl Oliver Kline passed away Sunday, July 11, 2010, at his residence.  He was born November 20, 1921, in Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of Earl Hobson Kline and Kathryn McCabe Kline.  Educated in the Chester Public Schools, he was graduated from the College of William and Mary.  Following honorable overseas service with the United States Army during World War II, he earned master degrees from Vanderbilt University and Princeton University.  He was a Woodrow Wilson scholar at Princeton and there he received his doctorate.

His teaching career included chairman of the Political Science Departments at The Citadel, Georgia State University, the College of Charleston, and visiting professor at Duke University.  He was one of the first three recipients of the Charles E. Daniels Faculty Awards at The Citadel and was named Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the College of Charleston.  While at the College, he negotiated exchange agreements with Shandong College of Oceanography in Qingdao, Peoples Republic of China, and Chulalongkorn University and Rangsit University in Bangkok, Thailand.  He was granted Foreign Expert Status and appointed Permanent Visiting Professor of Social Science at Ocean University of Qingdao in 1988.

He published, traveled extensively, and was consultant to numerous educational, government and business enterprises in the United States and overseas, including China, Thailand, Pakistan and India.  During his stay in India, he received special training at the Institute of Rural Development at Gandhigram in 1976.  He conducted numerous studies for the State of South Carolina, Charleston County, the City of Charleston and other governments in South Carolina and Georgia.

He is survived by his wife, Eleanor Craig Kline, to whom he was married for sixty years. He was a Methodist. 

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at eleven o'clock in J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL.  Friends may call at Stuhr's Downtown Chapel one hour prior to the service. Interment, Live Oak Memorial Gardens.

Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to the Coastal Community Foundation, 90 Mary Street, Charleston, SC 29403, Lutheran Hospice, 900 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464, Water Missions International, 2049 Savannah Hwy. Charleston, SC 29407, or to a charity of one's choice.