Gordon Davis Shingleton's Obituary
Following an extended illness, Gordon Davis Shingleton, 89, (Colonel, Army of the U.S., Retired), died on May 18, 2013 at the George A. Johnson Health Care Center of Falcons Landing in Sterling VA. Mr. Shingleton was born in Baltimore, MD on February 29, 1924 to Presley Davis Shingleton and Verna (Jefferson) Shingleton formerly of Charleston, WV. Both his parents were from West Virginia families with long-standing historic roots in Moundsville, Charleston, Clarksburg and Fairmont. A distant grandparent had served as a bodyguard for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Recent genealogical research has suggested lineage through his mother’s family to Thomas Jefferson’s younger brother, Randolph. Through his family background he qualified and maintained active membership in the Sons of the American Revolution. Mr. Shingleton later recalled being inspired to a life of patriotic public service during travels around the state following his father's appointment as the head of the State Police of West Virginia in the 1930's. An enduring love of travel was cultivated in many trips in his youth with parents and extended kin.
Mr. Shingleton was a 1941 graduate of Charleston High School where he excelled both academically and athletically, lettering in sports including basketball, football and tennis. He took up playing the violin as a youth, a musical interest to which he remained committed for the rest of his life. During the Second World War he enlisted and served with distinction in military intelligence as a photo interpreter, and at the time of his return from the European theatre in 1944, he was personally entrusted with the secure transport of many important classified documents related to the Allied mission and victory. He was a 1949 graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He later obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Buffalo.
Upon return home to Clarksburg, WV, Mr. Shingleton married Phyllis Jean Hall, daughter of Sobisca Hall and Martha (Thompson) Hall, in July 1949 in a dual ceremony with Miss Hall's twin sister Barbara and fiancé Noel Conley. Colonel and Mrs. Shingleton had three sons, Davis Hall, Jefferson Gordon, and John Warren, relocating the family to Baltimore where Mr. Shingleton initially pursued graduate studies in business at Johns Hopkins University.
Mr. Shingleton activated his Army Reserve commission at the rank of Captain in 1959 after several years of employment as an engineer with Crown Cork and Seal and Union Carbide in Niagara Falls, NY and Baltimore, MD. Subsequent military tours of duty over the next two decades took Colonel Shingleton and his family to such diverse locales as Okinawa, Japan; Anniston, AL; and Dover, NJ. The family acquired a historic farm property in Gerrardstown, WV prior to Colonel Shingleton’s duty tour in Vietnam in 1970 and his eventual retirement at the Pentagon in 1976. During the country’s Vietnam era, Colonel Shingleton contributed significantly to projects including quality assurance and the safe transport of munitions, successfully advising the Pentagon and related agencies in limiting tear gas use in the management of domestic civil unrest.
The family's return to the parents' birth state was distinguished by their dedicated efforts to successfully restore the 18th century stone house and associated structures at Cool Spring Farm, a property originally developed by Zacquill Morgan, founder of Morgantown and son of Morgan Morgan, the first settler of what was eventually to become the state of West Virginia. Cool Spring and the restored cabin of the Morgan family patriarch were both entered into the National Registry of Historic Places at the time of the American Bicentennial, and the property has become a popular and much-used location for seasonal community celebrations.
In his youth, Mr. Shingleton had excelled and developed an interest in tennis. This continued throughout his life and led to his distinguished service with the United States Tennis Association at the national level, where he served as chairman of the U.ST.A. Grievance Committee. Regionally, he was instrumental in the creation and early stewardship of the West Virginia Chapter of the Mid-Atlantic Tennis Association of the U.S.TA. , serving as its president for several terms. He was inducted into the M.A.L.T.A. Hall of Fame in 1996.
Following the sale of Cool Spring and their relocation to Virginia, Colonel and Mrs. Shingleton were among the first resident members in 1997 of Falcons Landing, a joint venture of the Marriott Corporation and the US Air Force. Since his wife's untimely passing in 1998, Colonel Shingleton has fulfilled the couple's hope of settling in and contributing to an enriching community of fellow retirees and their spouses while actively engaged and involved in the lives of his sons and their families.
During his retirement, Colonel Shingleton further developed his lifelong interests in music, attending numerous workshops and fiddle music camps with renowned teachers of the craft while contributing regularly with his violin to church, community, and family gatherings. Among his most enjoyable later life experiences were occasions during holidays and special celebrations where he inspired and was able to perform with family members his favorite and wide-ranging musical selections from the Old-Time, Jazz, and Big Band catalogues.
In addition to his sons Davis Hall Shingleton of Baltimore and Jefferson Gordon Shingleton of Middlebrook, VA, Colonel Shingleton is survived by grandson Warren Hall Shingleton of England, and grand-daughters Jenna Grace Shingleton of Lewisburg, WV; Nini Jean Marie Shingleton of Prince Frederick, MD; Angela Jean Shingleton of Baltimore, MD and Laura Susan Shingleton of Philadelphia, PA. He is preceded in death by his wife Phyllis in 1998, brother Robert in 2006, and son John in 2012.
A Memorial Ceremony and Life Celebration was held at Falcons Landing in Sterling,VA on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 2:00 pm. Colonel Shingleton will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery with military honors on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 1:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to The American Diabetes Association, ATTN: Donations, 1701 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311; or the Arthur Ashe Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Fund, 4842 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19129.
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