Elbert Eugene Oliver

COLUMBIA E. Eugene Oliver, age 95, died Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community, West Columbia. A private burial service will be held in Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia. A memorial service will be held in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Still Hopes at a future time. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.

Born May 26, 1926, in Madison, Ind., he was the son of the late Claude M. and Pearl Parks Oliver. Surviving are his son, Dr. David L. Oliver (Sheri) of Lexington and granddaughters, Elizabeth and Maggie. His wife of 66 years, Betty Jo McAtee Oliver, died February 17, 2016.

Gene received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in educational administration from Northwestern University. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, member and president of the Acacia Fraternity, member and president of Phi Delta Kappa, and a member of the Rotary Club of Champaign, IL. and the Capital City Rotary Club of Columbia. A member and deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Champaign and a member of First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, he also was a past chairman of the board of the University of Illinois YMCA and a member of the University of Illinois Foundation President’s Council and Japan House Steering Committee.

After service in the U.S. Navy (1944-1946) and graduation from Indiana University in 1949, Gene taught at the University School of Bloomington, Ind. and was a teacher, counselor and principal at Arlington Heights High School in Illinois. He came to the University of Illinois in 1962, where he served as Director of Admissions and Records and later as the director of the office coordinating admissions, records, school and college relations and financial aid for the University’s three campuses. He was named Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1984 and retired in 1993. He and his wife moved to the Still Hopes Retirement Community in 2006, where he served as chair of the resident council in 2008 and chair of the Guignard Society in 2010 and 2011.

Active in professional association affairs, Gene served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, chairman of the executive committee of the Midwest Regional College Board, advisory board member to the Educational Testing Service, and consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development. He also participated in a number of international activities, including visits to State Department assisted overseas schools in East Asia and South America as a college consultant. He served as consultant to King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and was the author of books for U.S. foreign student admission officers on the educational systems of Saudi Arabia and Greece.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community, One Still Hopes Drive, West Columbia, SC 29169 or the First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201.

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