June 29 1990
The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday, June 29, 1990
UNCC French Professor Pierre Macy Dies
By Ted Mellnik
Staff Writer
Dr. Pierre Macy, a French professor who was the first full-time UNC Charlotte faculty member to hold a doctoral degree, died Wednesday, June 27, 1990, at Anderson, S.C., Memorial Hospital.
He was 90.
Dr. Macy came to Charlotte in 1949 from William and Mary College, where he was chairman of the foreign language department for eight years.
He came to be a partner with his brother in the Devonde Macy dry cleaners on West 6th Street uptown. But he also began teaching at three-year-old Charlotte College. The school was the forerunner of UNCC and held classes at the old Central High school.
Dr. Macy, a short man with thick glasses and a charming manner, was head of UNCC's Romance languages department until 1966.
“He was tactful, considerate, hardworking person,” said foreign language Professor Paul Saman. “He was very professional, and very dedicated.”
Dr. Macy in 1965 became UNCC's first commencement marshal, leading the procession of professors and guests each spring at graduation.
He retired from the university in 1969, then moved to Clemson, S.C.
UNCC's language building, originally known as L Building, was named the Dr. Pierre Macy Building in 1971. In a tribute, the faculty committee said the language department was “clearly one of the solid blocks of foundation of the new university.”
Dr. Macy, a native of Nancy, France, fought in the French army in World War I. He first came to the United States in 1920, then returned to France in the 1930s.
He was educated at universities in Nancy, Dijon and Paris.
Dr. Macy served in the French Underground in 1940 during the German occupation, helping slip Allied pilots out of France by way of Spain and Portugal.
He was captured by the Gestapo, but he managed to flee Europe with his family on a boat from Portugal in 1941.
Survivors are his wife, Charlotte of Clemson; son, Jacques Macy of Pendleton, S.C.; daughter, Mrs. Nicky Stange of Savannah; brother, Roger Macy of Nice, France.
Memorial service is private. Duckett Funeral Home of Clemson is in charge.
