DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
Joseph Richards Shelton Jr., 96, of Cornelius, passed away Monday, August 21, 2017.
Joe was born November 8, 1920 in Fort Riley, KS, to the late Dr. Joseph Shelton Sr. and Elizabeth Tindal Shelton. He was raised in San Antonio, TX, and Washington, DC. Following a senatorial appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, he graduated with a degree in Military Science on June 6, 1944 (D Day), was commissioned as a Second Lt. in the U.S. Army, and, as a new Infantry officer, immediately went to Ft. Benning, GA, for parachute training in the fledgling paratrooper corps By December 1944, he was a member of the regimental command in the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, leading paratroopers in Belgium during the Ardennes Counteroffensive (Battle of the Bulge). In this offensive, Joe was aide to Brig. General James Gavin, commanding officer of the 82nd. He went on to jump and fight in the Korean War (187th Infantry Regiment, the Rakkasans) and, by 1958, in Vietnam (10th Special Forces Group, Airborne, a.k.a., Green Berets). During his non-combat career, he and his family traveled to the Philippines, Japan, Ft. Campbell, KY; Ft. Bragg, NC, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, and Bad Tolz and Berlin, Germany. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1965.
After retiring, from the Army, Joe attended the University of Hawaii, taking a class in hotel management. After completion, Joe began his new career at the Kahala Hilton Hotel. He started at the bottom as Assistant Manager and in four years, became the Resident Manager. Hilton International recruited Joe to build an addition to the Annapurna Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal. Soon after, friend and mentor, Bob Burns, decided to form Regent International Hotels, and asked Joe to join him. After a short stint at the Rama Hotel in Bangkok, Joe and Sue returned to Honolulu for a short time, then went to a small hotel on the water in Guam, to upgrade it to a Regent Style. The worldwide Regent Headquarters were in Hong Kong, where they went to begin their Odyssey through the Far East. They went to the Bayview Hotel in Manila for some renovations, then to the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, California. They briefly returned to Hong Kong, then traveled to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, where Joe built new hotels. Next, they went to Melbourne, Australia, then to Fiji, to upgrade hotels to first class Regent International Hotels. Joe and Sue then traveled to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel to return it to its “glory days”, then to New York City to help build a new hotel with I.M. Pei, as the architect.
Shortly thereafter, they returned to their home in San Diego, CA where they lived for twelve years before moving to their home in Cornelius, NC to be closer to his children.
Joe is survived by his wife of 52 years, Susan Shelton, whom he married in California on February 12th, 1965, and by the following children of his prior marriage to Mary (Allie) Algernon Hyman: son Stuart Shelton and Norma of Arlington, VA; son Scott Shelton and Libba of Morehead City, NC; daughter Susan Betz of Wilmington, NC; grandchildren Travis Shelton, Hayley Shelton, Sarah Lawrence, Mollie Mossor, and Amanda Haskins; and seven great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents, Joseph was preceded in death by his five siblings.
There will be a Memorial service held at Arlington National Cemetery with full Military Honors at a later date. Carolina Cremation is honored to serve the Shelton family. Online condolences may be made at www.carolinacremation.com.
