Born in Walla Walla, Wash., he was the son of the late Harry and Esther Proudfoot. He was reared on a wheat ranch in eastern Oregon, where he formed a life-long habit of early rising, working in the fields from age ten. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. degree in 1940. The following week he married his high school sweetheart, Mitzi Johnson, and began a 41-year career with Unocal Corporation (since absorbed by Chevron Corp.) which took him from Oregon and Washington to Califomia and New York. Three months after arriving in New York City his beloved wife died of pulmonary thrombosis after hip surgery, leaving him with two lovely daughters. A year later he married Marie Vieux, an expatriate Haitian author who died three years later of brain cancer, leaving him with loving memories, three lovely step-children and friends in the Haitian community.

Despite his somewhat forbidding marital history he continued to be blessed and was fortunate enough to marry in&bsp; 1973 twice widowed Alice-Boyd Stockdale Beaird (Abie). This union continued as a honeymoon tor 25 years and brought him a new family of five devoted step-children. In 1980, he retired from Unocal and operated in Bronxville, N.Y., with his wife a small business designing, producing and selling decorative refrigerator tiles in the 48 contiguous states. In 1983, competition from S.E. Asia caused them to liquidate the business and in April 1984 he and Abie moved to God&39;s country in Tryon.

Active in community affairs, Proudfoot served on the vestry and as senior warden of Holy Cross Episcopal Church, where he was also an usher, lector and chalicer. He was a long time director of the St. Luke&squo;s Hospital Foundation and of the Polk County Campus ICC Foundation, Inc., where he twice served as president. He served terms as director of the local chapters of the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. He was a national director of the World Federalist Association of Washington, D.C., and formed a local chapter which he headed for eight years. He was a member of the Tryon Country Club and the Rotary Club of Tryon, which he served as president. In 1991, he and Abie were inducted together into the Second Wind Hall of Fame. In 1993, he received the Joseph W. Wells Memorial Award from Rotary.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife. Survivors include his daughters Judy Falstreaux of Columbus, and Marthea Blewitt of Churchvil1e, Md., and a brother, John Proudfoot of Hermiston, Ore. Blessed with a large and closely knit family as a result of his three marriages, Proudfoot is also survived by step-children Sally Stockdale Munoz, Grant Stockdale and Susan Stockdale Mann, all of Washington, D.C., Ann Stockdale of Gig Harbor, Wa., and Lee Stockdale of Tryon. Additional surviving step-children are Lee Beaird of Pass A Gri11, Fla., and Pierre Chauvet, Mari1yse Charlier and Regine Charlier, all of Port au Prince, Haiti. Additional survivors include 22 grandchildren and step-grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Internment wil1 be in the Memorial Garden of the Church of the Holy Cross. Memorial services will be at the church at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, with Rev. Michael Doty officiating, followed by a champagne reception. The public is invited.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills, 130 Forest Glen Drive, Columbus, N.C. 28722.

An online guest register is available for signing at www.mcfarlandfuneralchape1.com.

McFarland Funeral Chapel of Tryon is in charge of arrangements.

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