Edward "Ted" Harper Shirley

Edward "Ted" Harper Shirley, architect, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, died August 17, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was 103. He is survived by wife Margaret Evins Shirley, sons, Mark Harper Shirley and Grant Carlton Shirley, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Ted was born June 13, 1923, in Seattle, Washington, to Major Cleveland Shirley and Helen Blackman Shirley. Son of a career navy officer, Ted spent his early life on Navy bases in Norfolk, Cuba, Panama. Most days involved school until noon followed by afternoons at the beach or on horseback. He loved warm weather and used a space heater indoors even during Atlanta summers.

During World War II, he served in the Navy from 1943-46 as a Lieutenant JG in the Construction Battalions (the Seabees). He ended his service in the pacific on the USS Oglethorpe waiting for an invasion of Japan that, fortunately, never came.

Following the war, Ted completed B.S. degrees in Architecture from Clemson, the University of Illinois in '47 and N.C. State in '52, winning awards at each. At NC State, Ted was awarded the 39th Paris Prize in Architecture, a national design competition won by one American student each year. This prize supported 6 months of study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and a year of travel through Europe, North Africa, and the United States studying classical buildings and meeting architects to discuss their current projects. The experience sparked a lifelong love of travel which bonded him tightly to Margaret, who had also traveled in Europe for a year before college, through their 69 years of marriage.

After returning from Europe, he settled in Atlanta, working at Stevens & Wilkinson, A. Thomas Bradbury & Associates and Bodin & Lamberson Architects variously from 1954-1967. In 1967, he became a partner at Lamberson, Plunkett, Shirley & Woodall and remained with this firm until his retirement. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects, served as director of its North Georgia Chapter, and was elected to the AIA College of Fellows.

Ted's specialty was design, and a favorite memory is of him sitting in his reclining chair at home with a pad and pencil, sketching ideas for new buildings while getting peppered with questions by his teenaged sons. Some of these sketches grew into Walter McElreath Hall at the Atlanta History Center, among many other schools, auditoriums and office buildings around the Southeast.

Ted was a longtime member of the Piedmont Driving Club and the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. At the church, he served in many ways, from chairing the buildings and grounds committee to delivering meals-on-wheels.

Ted had a deep and enduring love of classical music, attending the Atlanta Symphony frequently. He was an avid reader with a particular interest in the history of World War II, and he continued reading, learning, and engaging with history throughout his long life.

Ted's life spanned more than a century of extraordinary change. From a childhood in the sun, to wartime service, architectural study in postwar Europe, and a long professional career in Atlanta, he brought curiosity, discipline and a deep interest in others. He was a southern gentleman through and through. Modest and self-effacing, he supported, encouraged and inspired his family and friends, and we will miss him dearly.