Lee Shartle Harford
Jr., Ph.D, retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army, 62, of Fayetteville,
was born July 15, 1951, in Philadelphia, to Lee S. Harford and the late Mary Harford.
He died Friday, March 14, 2014, in Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. He
graduated from Bordentown Military Institute in New Jersey, before
matriculating to Norwich University in Vermont, where he successfully completed
his ROTC curriculum. He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in history and
commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers in 1974. Lee
served eight years on active duty in Virginia, Germany and Kansas, before
leaving the service to complete his Master of Arts in military history at Kansas
State University and his doctor of philosophy from Florida State University.
Dr. Harford continued to serve the Army as a Reserve officer with special skill
identifier 5X (Historian) in mobilization designee positions. In 1996, he
deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina as the Army Component Command Historian. He
retired from the uniformed Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2002.Throughout his
illustrious career, Lee taught U.S. History, world civilizations history and
military history courses at the United States Military Academy, the Virginia
Military Institute, the Georgia Military College and the Georgia Institute of
Technology, educating more than 3,000 college students in history. He also
served as the Command Historian of the U.S. Army ROTC Cadet Command at Fort Monroe
and continued to serve as the Director of History for the U.S. Army Reserve
from 1992 until his death. Lee's infectious love for history led him to join
several prestigious societies to include the Sons of Union Veterans of the
Civil War (SU VCW), the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
(MOL LUS), the Confederation of Union Generals (COUG), the North Carolina
Society, Sons of the American Revolution (NCSSAR), the North Carolina Society,
Sons of the Revolution (NCSR), the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of
New York (VCASNY) and the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry (FILI).Dr.
Lee S. Harford Jr. is survived by his wife, Annette of Fayetteville; father,
Lee, of Palmyra, N.J.; son, Markus and his wife, Alex, and their children,
Grant and Sofia, of Suisun City, Calif.; sons, Christian and Andrew of Biberach,
Germany; brother, Robin of Grand Rapids, Mich.; and sister, Anne Graeff of
Palmyra. Services include a viewing from 6 to 8 tonight, Tuesday, March 18, 2014, at Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home in Fayetteville, and a memorial service at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, in St. John's Episcopal Church. Lee will be buried in
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Memorials may be made to Lee S.
Harford Jr. Memorial Fund.