Arthur Southerland, Jr. was born on August 10th 1929, to the late Arthur and Rossie McCoy Southerland in Laurinburg, North Carolina. He peacefully made his transition from this earthly life to his eternal home on Monday, May 11, 2020.
Academics was very important to Arthur. After graduating from Laurinburg Institute in 1948, he left home to pursue a higher education at A & T College in Greensboro, North Carolina. There he met his wife and lifelong partner, Mary M. Marable. Arthur graduated with a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1952, at which time he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the U. S. Army. Upon retiring from the military in 1955, his rank was 1st Lieutenant. He later pursued graduate studies in Engineering Administration and received an MS Degree from George Washington University in 1978.
Arthur and Mary were married in Bennettsville, South Carolina, on October 4, 1953. Their union produced five wonderful children, Debra, Sandra, Arthur “Cedric”, Theresa and Cynthia. The family lived in Portsmouth, Virginia from 1955 to 1963, while Arthur worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a Design Engineer. Arthur and Mary moved to Washington, DC in 1963 when Arthur transferred to the Naval Ship Design Division as a Naval Architect.
He led several design teams and mentored younger people in technical areas. He also holds several patents, including Patent #9,630,814 “System and Apparatus for Motion Compensation and Anti-pendulation” issued on April 25, 2017. Arthur retired after 33 years of Government service in 1985 and with 12 years of Navy Contractor Support Service in 1998. He was also co-owner of Learning Ideas School Supply Store for 11 years.
Arthur’s life with Mary was not only filled with their academic and vocational pursuits, but balanced with a life of spiritual and social fulfillment. They joined the Asbury United Methodist Church in Washington, DC in 1966, where Arthur worked with the Sunday school, United Methodist Men, the Summer Tutorial Program, Boy Scouts, and Christmas in April. He also chaired the Commission on Education.
Arthur pursued many interests and contributed to various local organizations. He studied military history, but he loved recounting stories of growing up in Laurinburg, playing his saxophone and listening to jazz. A lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., he was affiliated with the Hyattsville/Landover Alumni Chapter. He served as the treasurer of the DC Chapter of the National Technical Association (NTA). Arthur was a proud Aggie and a loyal and enthusiastic member of the Washington Alumni chapter of North Carolina A&T State University.
Arthur was proceeded in death by his brothers, James Louis Southerland and Joseph Southerland.
He leaves to cherish his memory: his wife of sixty-six years, Mary M. Southerland; his daughters and their husbands, Debra and Wayne Strickland, Sandra Southerland, Theresa and Greylind James, and Cynthia and Christopher Cargill; and his son and wife, Arthur “Cedric” and Debra Southerland; his brothers and their wives, John and Eleanor, Paul and Annie, and Charles and Lucinda; sisters-in-law, Juanita Southerland and Bessie Marable; nine grandchildren, Jonas, Binahkaye “Erika”, Cedric “Chris”, Aaron, Greylind “Luvill”, Talia, Shomari, Carrington and Renee; nine great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, devoted caregivers, neighbors, friends and others whose lives he touched.
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