Individual Details

Death

Guy L. Furr, retired vice president and general manager of Appalachian Power Co. and a former rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, died today in a Salem convalescent home. He was 82 and lived at 2412 Laburnum Ave, SW. Furr joined Appalachian as an operating engineer in Bluefield, W.Va., in 1916, shortly after receiving his degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech. He became manager of the Bluefield Division in 1943. Transferred to Roanoke in 1946 as assistant general manager, Furr served as the company’s vice president and general manager from 1952 until his retirement as general manager in 1960. He served five years longer as a vice president and consultant in tax matters and in development of the Smith Mountain Dam. While serving with Appalachian, Furr was also a director of Appalachian, Kingsport Power Co., Central Operating Co., Radford Limestone Co., Kanawha Valley Power Co., American Electric Power Service Corp. and the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. He was named to the Virginia Tech board of visitors in 1954 and served as its rector from 1956 to 1962, when he became president of the Virginia Tech Educational Foundation, Inc. He also served on the board of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association from 1952-57 and was chairman of the VPI Development Committee. A city representative on the old Roanoke Valley Regional Planning Commission, Furr was president of the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce in 1951 and a member of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. The Roanoke Jaycees named him the city’s “boss of the year” in 1959. Furr was a member of the National Council of Boy Scouts of America and headed its fund drive here in 1952. He was active in Masons, Rotary, the YMCA fund campaign, United Fund, National Fund for Medical Education, Crusade for Freedom, Radio Free Europe and other organizations. He was a past president of the Southeastern Electric Exchange and of the Public Utilities Association of the Virginias. He also had been a director of the old Jefferson Hospital, Community Hospital and S.H. Heironimus Co. He was a past vestryman and finance chairman of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Surviving are his wife, Sammye Ferguson Furr; a daughter, Miss Mary Catherine Furr; and a son, Guy L, Furr Jr., all of Roanoke, The family requests that memorials be made to the Boy Scouts of America. Arrangements are being made by Oakey’s Funeral Home, Roanoke.
The World-News, Roanoke, Virginia, February 4, 1977