World-traveled professor, San Angelo resident to celebrate century of life

SAN ANGELO, Texas ( Concho Valley Homepage ) — Saturday, July 27, marks 100 years of life for San Angelo resident Dr. Maurice Shelton. To celebrate the occasion, Shelton shared tales from his storied life — including his travels across 64 countries — with Concho Valley Homepage.

“I’ve lived a pretty significant life for 100 years,” Shelton said.

Born in 1924 in Wayne County, Tennessee, Shelton’s life would quickly shape into one of world travel with the arrival of World War II. He left his education at a junior college and volunteered to serve in the United States Navy’s Submarine Service as a Morse Code operator in the days before he turned 18.

Following his time in the military, Shelton would use veteran services and funding allotted to him by the GI Bill of Rights to continue his education and move out of Tennessee. His affinity for agriculture and livestock, especially when it comes to sheep and goats, would eventually lead him to become a teacher himself, helping fellow veterans also benefitting from the GI Bill to pursue their own careers following their time in the war.

“Most of my life since then has been associated with universities or education,” Shelton said.

Shelton would spend decades of his life traveling the world and using his expertise in agriculture to foster learning, visiting countries such as Lebanon, the Soviet Union and Kuwait while also serving at Texas A&M University for 40 years. He currently holds a doctorate received from Texas A&M and has authored and co-authored hundreds of literary works related to his field.

“That was a big part of my life, wandering around the world, trying to help agricultural interests,” Shelton said.

Among his many accomplishments is his work in the Texas A&M University Research stations, having served at the Sonora, McGregor, College Station, and San Angelo stations. Shelton shared that he was the first university staff member to ever be employed at the San Angelo station as well.

“I spent my last 20-plus years working at that center [the San Angelo station], and that all adds up to 30 years or more in San Angelo,” Shelton said.

He also met and married Lucy Vise in 1950 during his time working in education, who would accompany him on his globetrotting and raise four children together until her passing in 2007. She’s been gone for 17 years now, but Shelton still remembers the time they shared.

“She was a pretty significant addition to the community of San Angelo, and she was one of the world’s best pianists as far as I’m concerned,” Shelton said.

Shelton retired from Texas A&M at the age of 65, after which he spent traveling the world even more as an advisor for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the organization sent him to different countries to share his expertise.

Shelton stated that health complications have kept him close to his home in San Angelo for roughly 20 years now. Despite this, he’s confident that the years of life he’s poured into agriculture across the world have made a definitive impact.

“I feel pretty good about my contribution,” Shelton said. “I started in one of the most backward communities in the United States, and I’ve traveled much of the world, theoretically trying to be helpful. I can’t complain or take credit for anything going in the world. I’m just a little cog in the wheel, trying to have some influence.”

It’s these years of service dedicated to promoting agriculture on a global scale that he also hopes people will remember him by once he passes.

“The ranching community and the great people from the universities, I hope remember me as being competent and capable, available and interested, willing to do what I had to, to my gain and to theirs,” Shelton said.

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