AHOSKIE — Hunter Person Raiford, age 68, of Shaftesbury Road, Ahoskie, died July 20, 2011 at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville from complications related to a stroke.

Mr. Raiford was born on July 1, 1943, in Franklin, Southampton County, VA, the only son of the late Joseph Cheyney Raiford and Mary Norman Turner.  He grew up on the family farm in Ivor, VA and attended Corinth Friends Meeting, a Quaker church founded by his great grandparents.

After graduating from Southampton High School in 1962, Hunter briefly attended Edwards Military Institute in Salemburg, NC.  He left there to begin work as a Nuclear Machine Installation Planner in Section X-43 at the Newport News Naval Shipyard, where he planned the hours required to fuel nuclear submarines.  In 1971, Mr. Raiford accepted a sales representative position with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and moved to Ahoskie, his wife’s hometown.  He retired from Reynolds in 1999 after 29 years of service.

Hunter was a member of First Baptist Church of Ahoskie.  He was a loving son, husband, father grandfather, and friend.

Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife of 46 years, Arlene Rawls Raiford; his son, Neil Hunter Raiford and wife, Karen G., M.D. of Brownsboro, AL; and three grandsons, Benjamin Hunter Raiford, Thomas Holt Raiford, and Turner Cheyney Raiford.

A service celebrating Mr. Raiford’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27, 2011, at First Baptist Church of Ahoskie with the Rev. Dr. Daniel Glaze officiating.  The family will receive friends immediately following the service, at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial donations be made to First Baptist Church of Ahoskie, P.O. Box 649, Ahoskie, NC, 27910, or to a favorite charity.

Garrett-Jones Funeral Home is serving the Raiford family.

Family and friends may send condolences and sign the online guestbook by visiting www.garrettjonesfh.com.