William Frank Cantrell NEVIS, WEST INDIES - William Frank Cantrell, husband of Carolita Keith Harvin Cantrell, died on January 6, 2017 at Alexandra Hospital on the island of Nevis, West Indies. Born in Hendersonville, N.C on February 23, 1939, Frank was the son of the late John William and Rosa McFall Cantrell. He attended Greenville High School in Greenville, S.C., where he played football and excelled academically. Frank earned his BA and PhD in English Literature at the University of South Carolina. During college he was on the debate team, winning two national titles for Lincoln Douglas debate and subsequently served as team coach. He was also a member of Kappa Alpha Order. Frank started his career teaching at Dentsville High School in Columbia, Newberry College and the University of South Carolina. He later earned a law degree from USC and practiced for many years in Charleston and Columbia. After retiring from the practice of law, Frank returned to teaching, his first love, initially at Lees McRae College in Banner Elk, NC and then at Lyn Jeffers School on the island of Nevis. At the time of his death, he was teaching at the Nevis International Secondary School. Frank was a veteran of the US Army. Frank loved literature and was able to impart that love to his students. He was legendary for his mind. He had a strong, colorful personality, and a sonorous voice. He was an admirable lawyer, a gifted teacher, and a man of strong convictions. Frank had a wide range of interests and an encyclopedic knowledge of every one of them, especially bridge. Everyone who knew him enjoyed his off-beat sense of humor, his easy-going style and his eccentricities. He was unpretentious and totally authentic. There was not one false thing about him. Frank faced every facet of his life with creativity and honor - and he was a lot of fun and a marvelous raconteur. Survivors include Carolita, his wife of 32 years; daughter Quentin Cantrell Bunch; son Taylor Cantrell and wife Fiona; grandchildren Morgan Bunch, Will Cantrell and Greer Cantrell, all of Columbia, SC; as well as numerous stepchildren, step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.
Published in The State on Jan. 24, 2017