Dr. Burkette Raper's funeral set for Thursday afternoon
By From staff reports
Published in News on August 3, 2011 1:46 PM
Dr. Burkette Raper
Funeral services for Dr. Burkette Raper, who died early Monday, will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in Kornegay Arena on the campus of Mount Olive College.
Raper, who led the college for decades as its president, will lie in state in Rodgers Chapel on campus today from noon until 7 p.m., with family receiving friends there from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m.
Raper will be buried Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Friendship Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery near Trenton.
Raper, who died at age 83 from cancer, was the patriarch of the college, taking over as president in 1954, only a couple of years after it was established by the Original Free Will Baptist Church. Under his leadership it grew from a tiny two-year school into a four-year college with an enrollment of more than 2,500 with several satellite campuses.
Raper retired in 1995 but continued to work for the college as director of planned giving, a position he held for 10 years.