Former NC Wesleyan Professor Mack H. Sturgill Dead

September 24, 1998

Rocky Mount, NC -- Mack H. Sturgill, a member of the North Carolina Wesleyan faculty from 1966 until 1981, died on June 13, 1998 in Winston-Salem, N.C., at the age of 70. Sturgill taught Spanish and French as well as a variety of world literature courses. He was also active in local theatre, having played major roles in numerous productions at the Rocky Mount Arts Center's Playhouse.

Born in Marion, Virginia, Sturgill received is undergraduate degree from William and Mary and his master's from Middlebury College. He did further graduate work at UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Madrid. He came to Wesleyan from Wake Forest University in 1966 and retired from active teaching in order to return to Marion, in the mountains of Virginia, to care for his aging mother and one of his brothers.

He then began a second career as a local historian, sometimes referring to himself as a "historical gossip." This description is inaccurate: he did exhaustive research in local records, interviewed long-time residents, and produced a number of publications, including two books, that reveal much of the richness of the history of southwestern Virginia. He also frequently led local residents on tours of Europe, an activity he had begun with students while at NC Wesleyan. He continued his activities in local theatre. In April of 1998, Sturgill was named Smyth County's Citizen of the Year.

Mack Sturgill brought vitality and wit to all his activities. There seemed always to be a twinkle in his eye. Using such devices as political cartoons and mystery stories, he was able to enliven the usually dry exercises of vocabulary and grammar that mark language instruction. He was widely traveled and widely read, which helped make him gifted as both teacher and raconteur. Though not suffering fools gladly, he was also gentle and sympathetic.

He is survived by a brother, two sisters, several nieces and nephews, and a host of friends.

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