Roanoke remembers Dr. Mack Welford, associate professor of education, emeritus

Dr. John Mack Welford, associate professor of education, emeritus, died on Sept. 27 at the age of 81. 

Welford, who retired from Roanoke College in 2002 after 32 years of service, held several positions at the College, including faculty sponsor for the Student Education Association; counselor for the College’s chapter of Kappa Delta Pi; leader of the education department’s education program review for the Virginia Department of Education; and the College’s coordinator of student teaching. He served for several years as the education program chair. 

Outside of campus, Welford was involved with his church and giving back to the Roanoke Valley community. He was named Roanoke Valley Father of the Year for Education in 1990 by the Credit Marketing and Management Association. 

Welford often spoke in the community about grief and loss, and taught a course called “perspectives of death and dying”.  

In 1998, the Roanoke College Dean’s Council recognized Welford with the Exemplary Service Award. At the time, his department chair noted how Welford touched “a lot of lives through the volunteer work” he did. 

The Mack Welford Award was established in his honor to recognize an education student with a minimum GPA of 2.5 and ample service to the community. 

Welford received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Alabama, and a master’s in science education and doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Virginia. 

Welford will be buried in his birthplace of Mobile, Alabama in Roberts Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery.