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Davidson – Charles Edward Ratliff, Jr., 94, died March 17, 2021.

He was born October 13, 1926 in Morven, N.C. to Charles Edward Ratliff, Sr. and Mary Katherine Ratliff.

The son of a cotton farmer, he graduated from Davidson College in 1947 and earned his PhD from Duke University. He served as an Aviation Supply Officer in the U.S. Navy from 1944-46. One of the longest tenured members of the Davidson College faculty, he taught Economics, spanning six decades, from 1947 until his retirement in 1992. He devoted his life to teaching and serving others. For four years in the 1960’s, he served as an educational missionary at Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan. Seeing the abject poverty in Pakistan led him to his involvement in many non-profit organizations including: Habitat for Humanity, CROP, the Davidson Housing Coalition, Bread for the World, Mecklenburg Ministries, and Rural Advancement/National Sharecroppers Fund. He was very active in the Davidson United Methodist Church serving on numerous conference boards.

Following retirement, he and wife Mary Virginia moved to Florida Presbyterian Homes in Lakeland Florida, joining many of their close friends from their days in Pakistan.

He was preceded in death by his wife Mary Virginia.

Survivors include his wife Ruth Miller and his children, Alice, Kate, John and his wife Kathy, and four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be at a later date.

Memorials may be made to Davidson Housing Coalition or the Ratliff Endowment for Economics at Davidson College.