Obituary of Alvin Guy Burchfiel

Dr. Alvin Guy Burchfiel of Cullowhee, a retired faculty member and administrator in the College of Education and Allied Professions at Western Carolina University, died Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011, at the age of 88. Burchfiel, who joined the WCU faculty in 1962, served as professor and Head of the Department of Administration, Curriculum, and Instruction during his 27-year tenure at the university. A widely known education consultant, he influenced generations of schoolchildren in Western North Carolina and beyond, teaching and guiding hundreds of teachers, principals, and administrators across the region and state. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education and social studies from Western Carolina in 1949 and his master's degree in education and history form WCU in 1954, going on to earn his doctorate from the University of Tennessee in 1962. He joined the WCU faulty as assistant professor and alumni secretary, later serving as director of public relations, director of summer school, and coordinator of WCU's role in the National Teacher Corps. He worked many years with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and, in 1971, began a year working fulltime with SACS, traveling throughout Central and South America for the association and the U.S. State Department to assist in their work with American schools overseas. Before joining WCU, he worked for 10 years as a public school teacher, coach, principal, and administrator in North Carolina and Tennessee, including positions at Oakley, Biltmore, and Black Mountain schools in Buncombe County, assistant president and dean of men at Brevard College and assistant superintendent of the Greeneville, TN public school system. Born Dec. 8, 1923, in Dandridge, Tenn., he graduated from Oakley High School in Asheville in 1940, attending Brevard College before enrolling at WCU. A veteran, he served three years during World War II as a navigator and pilot trainer in the U.S. Army Air Corp with the rank of lieutenant. He was a member of the N.C. Education Association, the National Education Association, the American Association of School Administrators and Phi Delta Kappa society. A former president of the Western North Carolina School Masters Club in Asheville, he was a member of the Lions Club and Cullowhee United Methodist Church. He was voted Outstanding University Citizen by the WCU student body in 1975, and was recipient of Western Carolina's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1986. He retired as a professor in May 1989. Son of the late Thomas and Ada Proffitt Burchfiel, he is survived by his wife of 60 years, Jo Edith Morgan Burchfiel. He also leaves four children: Tom Burchfiel and wife Pat, of Barnardsville; Lu Ada Burchfiel of Asheville; Dorothy Morelli and husband Mike, of Brentwood, Tenn.; Eddie Burchfiel and wife Aylett, of Asheville, as well as his beloved grandchildren. Appalachian Funeral Services in Sylva is responsible for arrangements. An online message may be left for the family at www.appalachianfuneralservices.com . A celebration of life service will be held at Cullowhee United Methodist Church at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14. The family will receive friends at the church following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Cullowhee United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 1267, Cullowhee, NC 28723.