FLOYD SHELBY ALFORD, JR.

AAFA #0722

1952 NC – 1996 NC

 

Photo from obituary

 

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., NC—Tuesday, 12 March 1996

 

            Floyd S. Alford Jr., general manager and editor of The Daily Independent in Kannapolis for 11 years, died the same day he returned home following surgery. Alford, 44, underwent surgery on March 1 at Cabarrus Memorial Hospital and returned home Sunday [march 10].

            He became ill Sunday afternoon and returned to the hospital, where he died.

            In January, Alford was named advertising and marketing director of The Daily Independent and Concord Tribune, which will merge this year. He moved to Kannapolis in 1984.

            Alford was born Jan. 9, 1952, in Raleigh. He graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School, attended Campbell College, and in 1974 graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in journalism.

            He worked as a reporter/photographer at The Sampsonian in Clinton, N.C., and later as advertising representative and advertising manager of The Sampson Independent in Clinton. In July 1978, he was named publisher of the Franklin County Times in Russellville, Ala.

            The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Kannapolis.

            He won numerous press awards in advertising, column writing and photography in both North Carolina and Alabama.

            He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd S. Alford Sr. of Raleigh; his wife, Julia Webb Alford; two sons, Zack Alford and Benjamin Alford; a daughter, Meredith Alford; and two sisters.

 

In another article:

 

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., NC—Tuesday, 21 March 1996

 

            A newspaperman who cared, Floyd Alford’s heart was in his community and in his home

            Floyd Alford was a newspaperman who believed in Kannapolis. He was a community supporter and promoter; a friend to many and above all, a family man.

            Floyd Shelby Alford Jr. died March 10 at Cabarrus Memorial Hospital in Concord as a result of complications from surgery on March 1. He was 44. His wife, Julia, had brought him home from the hospital the previous Sunday, and the family was excited about celebrating daughter Meredith’s 12th birthday.

            Alford was the former editor of The Daily Independent, an 11,000-circulation Kannapolis newspaper. He was named in January as director of marketing and circulation for the paper, which is merging with The Concord Tribune.

            “He was a friend to everyone who worked for him; they were his extended family,” said Allan Boger, a reporter for the paper. Boger, who’d worked for Alford for 10 years, added, “He gave me a job when I needed one. I got back into the newspaper business thanks to Floyd Alford.”

            Alford, who had been an editor for 12 years, was a “regular person,” Boger said. He was everybody’s friend; he liked everybody and everybody liked him.

            “Floyd protected you on some issues that sometimes were not popular with constituents. He was a guardian, and he became my friend.” Tom Dayvault, president and CEO of the Kannapolis Chamber of Commerce, had known Alford for 11 years. “You were automatically his friend the first five minutes you met him. If you didn’t end up that way, it was never his fault,” Dayvault said. “He was a great storyteller,” Dayvault said. “He was always fun to do things with, but it was just as much fun to not do, but to hear about it.”

            People here couldn’t wait for him to get back from vacation to hear about it. They called his embellishments “Floydisms.” “He was attuned to the fact that the nature of Kannapolis was changing,” said Jack Claiborne, former assistant vice president for Park Communications, which formerly owned The Daily Independent.

            “Floyd was very community minded; he saw and heard both sides. He was (the paper’s) editor at the time and saw which way Kannapolis had to go and was very sensitive to it. He was trying to keep the best of the old and infuse the new. It was something that he took personally and was very much committed to it,” Claiborne said.

            Alford was a supporter of bringing minor league baseball to town. As chairman of the Kannapolis Chamber of Commerce, he told the city council in 1994, “Kannapolis is suffering. We need a true shot in the arm.” Thanks in part to Alford’s support, the Piedmont Phillies moved to Kannapolis in 1995. Now known as the Piedmont Boll Weevils, the team calls Kannapolis’ $6.5 million Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium home.

            “He gave of himself to the whole community and had a lot of titles,” Dayvault said, “but ‘Daddy’ is the title he was most proud of. He worshiped his kids and family.”

            Floyd Alford is also survived by his sons, Zack and Benjamin Alford; parents, Floyd and Rachel Alford of Raleigh [AAFA #0271]; sisters, Beverly Alford of Burlington [AAFA #0345], Annette Alford of Greensboro; grandmother, Lela Alford of Zebulon....

 

Photo from Greene Family Cemetery, Pilot, Franklin Co., NC—www.findagrave.com

Permission granted by the photographer, Dennis Holder

 

AAFA NOTES: SSDI records confirm the birth and death dates of Floyd S. Alford (SS# issued in NC), last residence not listed.

            We included the obituaries of his parents, Floyd Shelby Alford Sr. (AAFA #0271) and Rachel Juanita Pearce Alford; and his grandmother, Lala R. Batchelor Alford in North Carolina Obituaries.

            His lineage: Floyd Shelby 1952 NC¹, Floyd Shelby 1923 NC², Zollie Floyd 1900 NC³, James Berry 1872 NC⁴, Berkley Moses 1849 NC⁵, Kisar 1814 NC⁶.