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Elizabeth Ann Shuford Mize
( March 24, 1943 - May 23, 2021 )
Elizabeth Ann Shuford Mize, age 78, of Lincolnton, passed away on Sunday, May 23, 2021, at home.  

Her funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, at Asbury United Methodist Church with Rev. Harley Scalf officiating.  Burial will follow in the church cemetery.  The family will receive friends from 10:00 until 10:45 a.m. prior to the service at the church.

“Libby” was born on March 24, 1943, in Panama City, Florida, to Wade Michael Shuford and Esther Beam Shuford.  After attending grades 1-8 at Iron Station Elementary School, she graduated as Valedictorian of Lincolnton High School Class of 1960 and as Salutatorian of Lenoir-Rhyne College Class of 1963.  She also took graduate courses at the University of Maryland, Northern Arizona University, and the University of New Mexico before returning to N.C. in 1983.

Libby began her forty-year teaching career in Prince Georges County, Maryland, from 1963 to 1966.  She taught on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation for the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1966 until 1969 and on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico from 1969 until 1983.  Libby then taught in the Lincoln County Public Schools for twenty years (S. Ray Lowder 1983-1990) and (East Lincoln Middle School 1990-2003).

She was a member of Asbury United Methodist Church as a child and returned to her home church after moving back to Lincoln County.  She served as Sunday School teacher, choir member, and AV Coordinator and in many administrative positions in the church, including Chairman of the Administrative Board and Church Council, Board of Trustees, President of the United Methodist Women, and Lay Leader.  She was elected as UMW District Vice President and treasurer.

Libby was an officer in the Jacob Forney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the North Carolina Retired School Personnel, and the Priscilla Book Club.  She was active in the N.C. Senior games for many years, participating in Photography and Creative Writing.

She met her husband of 55 year, Charles Frank Mize, who was a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.  They met in Sunday School at South Capitol Street Methodist Church in Washington, DC.  Their first date was after church in November 1963, when they went to the U.S. Capitol to see John F. Kennedy’s casket brought in to lie in state before his funeral.

The Mizes had no children, but proudly claim Rev. Earlynne Bartley of Lincolnton as their “adopted daughter” and her son, Chandler Bartley, of Gastonia, as their “adopted grandson.”  The family includes two dogs named JoJoe, and Talia, and a cat named Clawdia.

Libby is survived by a brother, Charles David Shuford, and wife Gloria, of North Palm Beach, Florida; and a sister, Carole Shuford Jenkins, and husband Roger, of Lincolnton.  She leaves six nieces and nephews:  Rhonda Jenkins Davis (husband William Jr. and sons Trey and Trent), Dale Jenkins (wife Jennifer and children Savannah and Dylan); and Bobby Jenkins, all of Lincolnton; Cynthia Gayle Lindsay (husband Brian and son Bailey) of Casa Grande, Arizona; Robin Shuford Frank (husband Ted and daughter Leila) of Naples, Florida; and Joseph Shuford of North Palm Beach, Florida.

Memorials may be made to Asbury United Methodist Church, PO Box 676, Lincolnton, NC  28093.


Posted on 24 May 2021


 

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