Koury, an Alamance County business and civic leader who served for two decades on the Elon Board of Trustees, died July 24, at the age of 101.
Ernest A. Koury Sr. ‘40, a prominent Alamance County businessman, civic leader and dedicated supporter of Elon University, died July 24 at the age of 101.
The university lowered its flag to half-staff to recognize the loss to the university and Alamance County community, and to honor Koury’s impact on the university and its students during his long and fruitful life.
Koury served on Elon’s Board of Trustees from 1976 until 1996, when he was elected Trustee Emeritus. He received the Elon Medallion in 1997 in recognition of his loyal service to Elon, and in 2001 was granted an honorary doctorate from Elon along with his brother and business partner, Maurice Koury. Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business is headquartered in the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center, thanks to a gift Maurice Koury made to honor his brother.
“Ernest Koury’s connections to Elon, to his family and to his community were steadfast, and his successes great,” said President Connie Ledoux Book. “As a trustee and benefactor, he valued the strong ties Elon has to the local community, and he worked diligently to increase those bonds. His legacy will continue to shape the education of students for generations to come, and he will be deeply missed by so many.”
The oldest of the six children of John and Edna Koury, Koury studied at Elon before serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He trained pilots in Biloxi, Mississippi, before serving in India and China as a member of the famed Flying Tigers.
After the war, he returned home to start a hosiery company, Carolina Hosiery, in the basement of his parents’ home. His daughter, Teena Koury, told the Burlington Times-News in 2019 that her father bought substandard or damaged socks from other mills, then darned them and distributed them to filling stations and other places to be resold. It was a venture that grew to become a major hosiery producer with 350 employees and anchored by a 300,000-square-foot facility in Burlington that is still run by his children and extended family.
Koury began two decades of service as an Elon trustee in 1976. During his time on the board, he worked with President Emeritus Fred Young to help craft institutional policy and raise funds as Elon grew from a small North Carolina college to a university with a national draw.
“His love and devotion to Elon was unsurpassed,” said longtime friend Jo Watts Williams ’55, vice president and professor emerita. “He loved recounting his days in the 1930s when he attended Elon, and the many friends he made while a student here. He and his family are just legends in this community.”
Koury and his family stood by the university during critical times in its history, Williams said, and thanks to their support, Elon was able to continue to grow and improve. Koury was a compassionate, caring and generous benefactor who never wanted recognition or publicity. “He and his family did so many things for so many people at Elon and in the community that no one else ever knew about,” Williams said.
In 1979, Ernest and Maurice Koury provided the naming gift for Elon’s first athletic field house, which carried the name of their father, John. In 1994, the Board of Trustees named the renovated and expanded campus athletic complex the Koury Center in recognition of the support Ernest Koury and his family provided to Elon through the years.
For his contributions to Elon, Koury was awarded the university’s highest honor, the Elon Medallion, in 1997, a year after he concluded his service as a member of the Board of Trustees and was recognized as a trustee emeritus. In 2001, Koury was presented with an honorary doctor of laws degree from Elon during Spring Convocation, which featured an address by President George H. W. Bush.
“Individuals, community and Elon College have benefitted from Ernest’s delight in growth,” Trustee Emeritus J. Harold Smith said when presenting Koury with the honorary doctorate. “Ernest Koury — entrepreneur, philanthropist and devoted family man — is a model worthy of emulation.”
In the early 2000s, Elon announced that the new home for the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business would be named the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center, in recognition of a naming gift Maurice Koury made in honor of his brother. The site dedication of the Koury Business Center in 2005 featured remarks by famed astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn. The center opened its doors to students in fall 2006.
“Countless Elon students have passed through the doors of the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center and benefitted from his service and support for the university through the years,” said Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Love School of Business. “His dedication to Elon and his leadership in the business world and the community serve as shining examples for our students.”
An athletics lover and steadfast Elon fan, Koury made regular gifts to support the university’s men’s basketball program and was a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Athletics Award. In 2016, the Koury family made a gift to name the practice facility in the university’s new convocation center, the Schar Center.
In addition to his wife, Marie C. Koury he is survived by his daughters, Carolyn M. Koury of Shallotte Point, NC and Teena M. Koury of Burlington; sons, Ernest Anthony Koury, Jr. and wife, Tami and Bradford Anthony Koury both of Burlington; nine grandchildren, Megan Hill, Melanie Hill, Elizabeth Koury, Ernest Anthony Koury III, Lauren Koury, Carson (Lynsey) Koury, Stuart (Tyler) Koury Sutton, Porter (Jake) Koury and Chandler Koury; and ten great grandchildren and a sister, Salve Bolus of Raleigh and his sisters-in-law, Ann Koury and Rosemary Koury both of Burlington. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, George, Marshall and Maurice Koury; a sister, Pauline Akras.
A private graveside service will be held at Pine Hill Cemetery by Rev. Paul Lininger, OFM, Conv.