Richard Herbert Haunton, 84, passed away on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at Trinity Ridge in Hickory, North Carolina. Richard was a professor of history at Appalachian State University from 1972 to 2005 and was a recipient of the I.G. Greer Distinguished Professorship. Upon retirement he was named Professor Emeritus in the Department of History. Previously, he taught at Oglethorpe University and Armstrong State College in Savannah, Georgia. He earned his Ph.D at Emory University, his masters and undergraduate degrees at Indiana University where he met his loving wife, Barbara. At Indiana he graduated summa cum laude, was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa, Phi Alpha Theta, The Sphinx Club honorary society and ran in the Little 500 bicycle race. He was named co-valedictorian at Monmouth Junior College where he performed with the drama club and was vice president of the student council. Richard served in the Army Reserves during his college years. He developed a love of baseball playing sandlot games with his friends, including William B. Gould IV, who dedicated his book “Bargaining with Baseball: Labor Relations in an Age of Prosperous Turmoil” to Richard and his sandlot friends. Richard played on baseball teams at Long Branch High School and at Monmouth, as well as playing basketball and managing the football team. He was passionate about music, loved good jokes and bad, and had a playful sense of humor. He was born in 1933 to the late Thurlow Clark Haunton and Beatrice Boyle Haunton, in Long Branch New Jersey. He is also preceded in death by his brother, Thurlow C. Haunton Jr., his two aunts, Mildred and Dorothy Boyle, and his beloved daughter in law, Beth Lavender Haunton. Those left to cherish his memory include his wife, Barbara Haunton of Hickory; son, Richard T. Haunton of Hickory; daughter, Carol Haunton of Hickory; granddaughter, Annie Lavender Haunton; sister-in-law Phyllis Haunton; nieces, Patti Myers and husband Tom, Kim McSweeney and husband Brian, Melissa Kreps and husband Steve; nephews, Tom Haunton and wife Robin and Bob Haunton and wife Janice. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 2:00pm in the chapel of Hickory Funeral Home. Associate Pastor Heather Wood Davis will be officiating the service.
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