Conard Cornelius Tharpe Jr., 94, of Mooresville, N.C., passed away on Saturday, January 11, 2025.
He was born on June 29, 1930, in Ronda, N.C., to the late Conard C. Tharpe Sr. and Mary Ada Johnson Tharpe. Conard was a 1949 graduate of Elkin High School. He then attended and played football at Gardner Webb College for a year before enlisting in the U.S. Army, where he served in country during the Korean War. He met his future wife Gene after his return, and they married in June 1955. He received a bachelor’s degree at NC State and a master’s degree at Appalachian State.
Conard was an Industrial Arts teacher and taught at Mooresville Junior High School, Dunbar School, and Mooresville Senior High School and ended his career as the vocational director for the Mooresville Graded School District.
He was a longtime member of First Baptist Church, Mooresville, and the Mooresville Rotary Club. Conard was an outdoorsman who enjoyed gardening, hunting and fishing from Manteo to Murphy.
During retirement, he and his wife Imogene “Gene” enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and Canada. He did volunteer work after retirement, working in the Mooresville Soup Kitchen at First Baptist Church and, along with other retirees, built handicap ramps for those in need.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his loving wife, Imogene “Gene” Covington Tharpe; brothers and sisters: Frank Tharpe and wife Betty, Charlie Tharpe and wife Nina, Lewis Tharpe and wife Sue, Susie Poplin and husband Jack, Ada Lou Dimmette and husband Charlie, Frances Key and husband Arlie, Ruth Pardue and husband Sec, Hope Combs and husband Hoover, and June Tharpe.
Those left to cherish Conard’s memory are his daughter, Ann Schultz, and her husband Scott and his grandson Tyler Schultz.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 25, 2025, at First Baptist Church in Mooresville with Rev. Seth Denny and B.J. Dillard officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 2 to 3 p.m. at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 150 S Church Street, Mooresville, NC 28115 or Richard’s Coffee Shop & Military Museum, 165 N Main Street, Mooresville, NC 28115.
Cavin-Cook Funeral Home, Mooresville is proudly serving the Tharpe family. Condolences may be made to the family at www.cavin-cook.com.