Harold E. Shelor
Harold E. Shelor graduated from Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, Virginia, in 1942. He was described by coach Guy K. “Pinky” Spruhan as one of the 10 best athletes ever to graduate from the school. He was listed in the Senior Mirror as “Most Athletic.”
Harold was captain of both the basketball and baseball teams his senior year. A star player, he was named All City Country and All Western District in both sports his junior and senior years. He was also a valued football player on the varsity team for three years.
After graduating from high school, Harold was employed at the Radford Arsenal for a short time before being inducted in to the United States Army where he was assigned to the Corps of Engineers. Over the nest two years his unit had responsibility for training military personnel in the conduct of engineering operations under wartime conditions.
Returning to Salem following discharge from the Army, Harold was employed initially by Keith Sausage Company and later by Blue Plate Foods. He was also employed for a short period of time with the Salem Hosiery Mill before becoming associated with General Foods Company as their area representative.
In 1954, Harold joined with Hugh Jones to co-found a food service company which was incorporated as Roanoke Restaurant Service. Over the next twenty five years the company would undergo enormous expansion in terms of variety of foods distributed, size of the territory covered by sales staff, and need for new and enlarged warehouse and freezer capacity. Under Harold’s leadership Roanoke Restaurant Service became the largest food service company in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In 1979, Harold retired from the business. His son, David, became Executive Vice President of the Salem Distribution Facility.
During his career in the food service business, Harold served on the Board of directors of the National Institutional Food Distributors Association for a period of 20 years. He also served on the board of First National Exchange Bank, has been a member of the Penguin Club in Salem since it was organized in 1940, and is an active member of the Salem Sports Foundation. He is also a member of the Windsor Hills Baptist Church and has served as a Deacon. Harold married his high school sweetheart, Doris Plybon Shelor, now deceased. Their two sons are David and Michael.
In recognition of his outstanding career achievements, Harold W. Shelor was inducted, in the year 2000, into the Salem Alumni Hall of Fame established by the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association.
