Archibald “Buck” W. Archer ’47

Archibald “Buck” W. Archer ’47, a long-term resident of Shelby, N.C., died Mar. 5 at Wendover Hospice following a short illness. He was born in 1922 in Charlotte, N.C., to the late Archibald W. and Mabel W. Archer. He was a partner in the J.L. Suttle Insurance Company, Inc., for 50 years, where he served as president until its sale to First Charter in 2000. Hecontinued as a consultant until his retirement in 2004. Archer was a graduate of Shelby High School, lettering in tennis, football, and basketball and spent one year at Darlington School in Rome, Ga. He was a graduate of Davidson College where he lettered in football and tennis, serving as captain of the tennis team in his senior year. He also served as editor of the annual at Davidson his senior year. His college years were interrupted by service during World War II where he served in the U.S. Army in the European Theater. Archer was an avid tennis player and enthusiast his entire life. He was ranked number one in the U.S. for two years in both singles and doubles in the age 55 division. Additionally, he represented the U.S. in a number of international cup matches—the Gordon Cup with Canada, the Austrian Cup, the Crawford Cup, and the Osuna Cup with Mexico, where he served as team captain for four years. He won the U.S.T.A. National Clay Court 55s Championship in both singles and doubles and won the U.S.T.A. National Clay Court 65s. He was inducted into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame, the N.C. Tennis Hall of Fame, Davidson College Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Cleveland County Sports Hall of Fame. During the 1960s, Archer developed a junior tennis program in Shelby, which produced many fine amateur and professional players over the years. His community service was as extensive as his athletic accomplishments. Among his accomplishments, he headed the Industrial Development Committee of the Chamber of Commerce when key industries were recruited to Cleveland County and served as president of the Chamber and was on their board of directors for 18 years. Additionally, Archer chaired the fund-raising committee for the construction of the Cleveland County Memorial Library. He was a life-long member of the Shelby Presbyterian Church, where he served as deacon, elder, Sunday school superintendent, and was a member of the men’s Bible class. His special community service interest, however, was the Boys and Girls Club where he served as president and received service awards in 1984 and 1988. He was dedicated to their fund-raising efforts for more than 25 years and believed that all boys and girls deserved an opportunity to make something of themselves. Archer was preceded in death by his stepfather, James S. LeGette, and is survived by his wife, Patricia Maxwell Archer, 1358 E. Marion St., Shelby, NC 28150; their two daughters, Dr. Ann Gray Archer (Anderson Cobb) and Kay Archer Price (Kim S. Price); and four grandchildren, Grayson Archer Cobb, Quincy Archer Cobb, Archer Maxwell Price, and Avery McClure Price.