This past week, Salisbury lost three of its finest citizens when Elizabeth Rogers, Walt Shoaf, and Dr. Marcus Smith were called to their heavenly home. We hope you knew them as well as we did.

Elizabeth, although small in stature, was a giant of a Christian lady in her own special way. She was one of the very first employees I had the pleasure of hiring at Food Town, (now Food Lion), more than 44 years ago. Elizabeth worked for Food Lion until she retired in 1989 and was, without a doubt, one of the finest, most loyal, dedicated, hard-working, and dependable employees in the history of our company. We will always be grateful for her example.

Walt, also known as Tiny, was one of Salisbury’s most famous barbers. He not only cut my hair and that of my father for more than a combined 60 years, he was also the barber for hundreds of other loyal and faithful customers during his career, including his “lucky” haircuts for governors, senators, and other politicians. Also well known as one of Salisbury’s most avid golfers, he used his love for golf to help mentor many students of the game, including Charlie Cowan who went on to play with Jack Lewis and the Wake Forest Arnold Palmer golf team and later turned PGA professional. Thanks, Walt, for the memories.

And last but not least, Dr. Marcus Smith was a pillar in our community. He was an outstanding educator and a true southern gentleman in every sense of the word. As superintendent of our schools, Marcus was responsible for the successful merger of our city and county school systems. More importantly, he also served as a very positive example and influence on thousands of our teachers and students during his career in education.

Salisbury is definitely a better place because of citizens like Elizabeth, Walt, and Marcus. They will be missed.

-Ronnie Smith

Salisbury