Barney Thomas Raffield III

Barney Thomas Raffield, III, 75, of Asheville, NC, passed into the loving arms of his Lord on May 30, 2022. He was born on September 4, 1946 in Columbus, Georgia to Barney Thomas Raffield, Jr. and Irene Goble Raffield. He was preceded in death by his parents and his younger sister, Marsha. He is survived by his wife Sharon Hall Raffield (aka “Sherrie”), his two adopted children from South Korea, Mark Raffield (Jenny) of San Ramon, CA and Kathleen Pajtis (David) of York, PA, and his adopted son from Ukraine, Sergei Borzenkov of Toronto Canada and 7 grandchildren (Max, Calex, Rex, Paxton Raffield; Hannah, Ethan Pajtis; and Yaroslava Borzenkova), and his sister, Olivia Taylor (Leland) in Collierville, TN. He was in the Army Reserves for 6 years.

Although Barney was born in Georgia and lived there for his first six years, his family moved to New Orleans, LA which he loved and called it home. After six wonderful years there, his family moved to Dallas, TX. He completed his BBA and MBA at Southern Methodist University in Marketing and began a lifetime of collegiate teaching, completing his Ph.D. at Union Graduate School. Although he taught at all size colleges and universities (University of Maryland, Elizabethtown College, Penn State University, Millersville State University, Lambeth College, Union University, Bryant University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Lebanon Valley College), he found he loved smaller colleges where he could be an active mentor to his students, winning Outstanding Teaching Awards at each of the institutions, and advisor to TKE, KS, and ATO as well as supporting Greek life as a whole. He was an accomplished author of a textbook and many refereed journal articles. In 2001 he received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach business and marketing at a university in Eastern Ukraine. He loved it and the Ukrainian people. He received a Distinguished Professorship from the Donetsk University of Management, while there. In 2009 he retired from teaching at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA after nearly 20 years.

After he retired, he and his wife moved to Givens Estates in Asheville, NC. He became active as a volunteer at Givens and also at his church, the Basilica of St. Lawrence as an usher, docent, and active member of the Knights of Columbus. Two years after he retired, he was diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis and then later with Parkinson’s Disease also. He fought valiantly during the 11+ years that he was disabled and then homebound.

We want to thank the nurses at Givens Estates Health Center and Four Seasons Hospice for their wonderful care of Barney in his last days.

He will be remembered at a Funeral Mass at the Basilica of St. Lawrence, Friday, June 24 at 9 am. Inurnment (burial of his ashes) will be on Saturday, June 25 at 11 am at Givens Estates Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Basilica of St. Lawrence Preservation Fund, P.O. Box 8995, Asheville NC 28814, Four Seasons Foundation, 211 North Main St., Hendersonville, NC 28792, or the charity of your choice.

Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian, Arden, NC is assisting the family.