Slightly abridged from today's Times-Dispatch obituary:

Howard Arthur MacCord Sr., 93, of Brandermill Woods Retirement Community,
Midlothian, died November 3, 2008, after a brief hospitalization. He was
born in Irvington, New Jersey on October 23, 1915. He is survived by his
wife, Betsy Fleshman MacCord of Midlothian; daughters, Helen DeWell Winn and
her husband, Jack, of Richmond, and Virginia Matthews and her husband,
Harry, of Mouth of Wilson, Virginia; and son, Howard A. MacCord Jr. and his
wife, Alison, of Greensboro, N.C.. . .

   MacCord joined the National Guard in 1930, when he was only 15, and went
into the Army in February of 1941. His World War II service took him to
France and Germany. He served in post-war Japan and later in the Korean
conflict, and he retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel after 30 years of
service.

   His lifelong interest in archeology started in the 1930s, helping
excavate prehistoric sites around his boyhood hometown of Washington, D.C.
While in the Army, he excavated in Japan and Korea during his tours of duty.
Following his retirement from the military in 1962, he turned his lifelong
avocation into a new career as an archeologist with the Virginia State
Library (now the Library of Virginia), from which he retired in 1976. He
worked as a consulting archeologist until 1983, working closely with the
Archeological Society of Virginia during all those years, and reaching out
to educate the public. His interest in archeology did not abate with
retirement; he continued his work and contributed to the advancement of that
field until his death. His contributions to Virginia archeology include
excavations, or testing, at over 160 sites all over Virginia and over 127
articles, from his first publication in 1943 to his most recent in 2007.

----
Howard was a prominent and enthusiastic voice in the Virginia archeaological
community as practitioners began a transition from self-trained gentlemen
amateurs to academically trained professionals - especially in the field of
historic archaeology (post-1607 sites) - with the familiar differences of
opinion and temperament that accompany that kind of change anywhere.  But I
remember Howard fondly and was happy to see him a few months ago at a
Barksdale performance of Guys and Dolls not long ago. Howard's
office/cubicle was a few doors from mine in the early 70s.  A bit larger
than life, with a booming voice, Howard was an early riser and nearly always
at his desk as the rest of us arrived.  To this day I rarely place telephone
calls before 9 a.m., having overheard Howard saying something like the
following on so many mornings : "Oh, I woke you up? Well, now that you're up
. . . . . "

-- 
Jon Kukla
www.JonKukla.com <http://www.jonkukla.com/>

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