Charles Lynval Abercrombie

Charles Lynval Abercrombie, 91 years old, of Decatur, Arkansas, passed away on December 13, 2024, at Bentonville Circle of Life Hospice, in Bentonville, Arkansas. He was born November 4, 1933, in Decatur, Arkansas, to Charles Monroe and Minnie Austin Abercrombie. He was the valedictorian graduate of Decatur High School, class of 1951. He attended John Brown University for two years. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance in 1955 and a master’s degree (M.B.A) in 1956 from the University of Arkansas. After serving in the U.S. Army, he received his doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in marketing from the University of Illinois in 1966. While at the University of Illinois, he worked as an accountant in the College of Agriculture. He retired early from the faculty of the University of Memphis in 1997, where he had served over twenty years on the faculty. At the University of Memphis, he was chairman of the Department of Marketing. He had previously served on the faculties of the University of Arkansas, the University of Illinois (where he was assistant dean in the College of Business), the University of Missouri (where he was assistant director of the M.B.A. program) and was a visiting professor at Wichita State University. He taught students at the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels including students from many foreign countries. His doctoral students have taught at many universities in the United States and throughout the world. He was a member of the American Marketing Association, the Southern Marketing Association, and the Southwestern Marketing Association. He was past president of both the Marketing Management Association and the Midwest Business Administration Association (now MBA International) and was the recipient of numerous honors in the field of marketing including being named a “Fellow” of the Marketing Management Association. He was the author of more than forty publications. He was past editor of The Journal of Midwest Marketing. He also worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (now AT&T) in Little Rock and worked as an accountant in the College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois. His avocation was music. He studied trumpet, piano, and organ. He was a past member of the University of Illinois Oratorio Society, the University of Memphis Oratorio Chorale, the First Baptist Church of Memphis Sanctuary Choir, the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Chorus and was an accomplished organist and pianist and served as such at the First Baptist Church in Decatur, at the Decatur United Methodist Church, and at Forst Hills Church in Bella Vista, Arkansas. He also served as substitute organist at several other area churches. He was a member of the American Guild of Organists and former sub-dean of the Northwest Arkansas chapter. After being graduated from the University of Arkansas, he served in the U.S. Army in Stockton and San Francisco, California, beginning in 1956 and was discharged as a captain in 1966. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Decatur and a past member and chairman of the Board of Deacons of University Baptist Church in Champaign, Illinois. Locally, he was a past president of the Board of Trustees of the Iva Jane Peek Public Library, president of the Decatur Education Foundation, and active in the Decatur Alumni Association and the City of Decatur Historical Commission. He loved to travel and had visited Europe and other foreign countries many times with his friends and his mother. He had visited twenty-seven foreign countries and forty-nine of the fifty stats (he missed South Caolina). He had conducted college student study tours of Europe. He was preceded in death by his father on May 2, 1977, his mother on Christmas Day in 1979, and by parents of and special friends in Springfield, Missouri. He leaves many relatives, former students, and friends. A visitation will be held for Mr. Abercrombie at the Decatur United Methodist Church, on Saturday, December 21, 2024, at 12:00 p.m., with a funeral service to follow, at 2:00 p.m., with Pastor Dr. Susan Cafferty officiating. His burial will follow at Decatur Cemetery, Decatur, Arkansas. To sign the online guestbook, please visit: www.wassonfuneralhome.com

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Charles Lynval Abercrombie

November 4, 1935 - December 13, 2024