Robert W. Shively

Robert Warren Shively passed away from cardiac arrest at home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, on July 18 at the age of 84 with his loving wife Julia by his side.

Bob was born in Concord, New Hampshire. As a youngster he lived in Andover, New Hampshire and Hamilton, New York, where he was raised by his school-teacher mother, Audie, and his grandmother Mazie. After Audie took a teaching position at Keuka College in Keuka Park, New York, Bob attended his first two years of high school at Penn Yan (New York) Academy and his final two at Deerfield (Massachusetts) Academy, where he excelled in sports, academics, and singing. Bob earned a bachelor's degree in English from Colgate University in 1954. Some of his favorite memories were of performing with the Colgate 13, a renowned a cappella singing group. Shortly after graduating he married Virginia Kenyon. He served a few years in the Air Force at Moses Lake, Washington, and Geneva, New York, before returning to Deerfield Academy to teach English and Latin. During summer breaks he worked on earning his master's degree at Harvard University.

In 1961 Bob and Virginia moved their young family to Ithaca, New York, where Bob was employed as an administrator at Cornell University. While serving as Director of Admissions at the Business School, Bob worked toward earning his Ph.D. from Cornell, which he accomplished in 1970. In 1969 Bob took his family to Chile, where he spent a year doing research and writing his dissertation, and then on to Winston-Salem, where he became a founding father, and later, dean, of Wake Forest's Babcock Graduate School of Management. During his tenure as dean, the Babcock School became accredited. It also established a professional placement organization, implemented its first chair, the Integon Chair of Finance, increased its endowment, and established a night program. With the brief exceptions of stints with University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, he spent much of the next three decades on the Babcock faculty.

Bob was a true gentleman and made a fine impression on everyone he met. He was fascinated by the stories of people's lives, whether they were those of friends, neighbors, colleagues, or celebrities, and he enjoyed nothing more than learning and recounting those stories. He was a conversationalist who found great value in the thoughts, ideas, and experiences of others. He had a keen sense of humor and a fondness for bad puns. We will miss him greatly.

Bob is survived by his wife, Julia Clinton Shively; son, Robert Warren Shively Jr. (Donna); daughters, Heather Austin (John) and Selinda Chiquoine (Ken); brother, Jerry Shively (Eleanor); sister, Ann Kalbach; grandsons, Marcus Austin and Keenan Austin (Jennifer); four great-grandchildren; step-sons, Tim Spach (Janet), Chris Spach (Christy), and Lonnie Hughes (Patricia); seven step-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Bob was predeceased by his second wife, Frances Moore Shively.

A memorial service will be held in Winston-Salem in September of this year.

The family requests that memorials be made to Clemmons Moravian Church: P.O. Box 730, Clemmons, NC 27012, or Hospice of Winston-Salem where Bob was a volunteer for five years: The Hospice Foundation, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.