Former First Lady of the University Eleanor Bosworth Shannon, widow of former University President Edgar F. Shannon Jr., died Friday in Charlottesville. She was 74.
During her husband's 15-year term as University president, Mrs. Shannon was known as an advocate for co-education and the integration of both women and blacks into the University community.
Edgar Shannon died in 1997.
Former University Historian Raymond C. Bice said Mrs. Shannon was "always thinking of others" and was beloved by students, faculty and administrators during her time at the University.
Bice said she was a supporter of including both blacks and women in the University's student body.
Larry J. Sabato, government and foreign affairs professor, was a University student while Shannon was president.
Sabato described Mrs. Shannon as a "magnetic lady who was Edgar Shannon's eyes and ears" and as a "pole to help hold the institution together" during a turbulent time filled with demonstrations and radical changes.
Current University President John T. Casteen III also was a student during the Shannon era.
"The reason Mrs. Shannon was so greatly respected was that she lived her principles and taught many of us by example what decency and civility are, even in the worst of times," Casteen said.
Bice said one of Mrs. Shannon's major interests was the improvement of public education in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area.
She and her husband developed the Edgar and Eleanor Shannon Foundation for Excellence, which has awarded about $100,000 in grants since its introduction in 1990 and holds an annual competition for innovative teaching ideas.
Mrs. Shannon also raised five daughters while serving as the first lady of the University.
Former Dean of Students Robert T. Canevari said he knew the Shannons and they had a "beautiful family."
"The entire University felt a part of that family," Canevari said.
(Cavalier Daily Senior Writer Claire Edwards contributed to this story.)
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