William Curtis Shipley was born on July 30, 1933, in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas.
Shipley earned a bachelor's degree in marketing with a minor in economics at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He served in the Arkansas Army National Guard during the Korean War.
When he was twenty-nine, he took over the operation of the Fayetteville location of the family business, Shipley Baking Company. As a board member of Washington Regional Medical Center, Shipley was instrumental in acquiring funds for the hospital's expansion. Additionally, he raised money for the restoration of Old Main. He has served as the president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. Shipley sat on the Beaver Water District Board of Directors, the National Development Council, and the University of Arkansas Board of Advisors.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Curtis Shipley and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Curtis Shipley's maternal grandfather, William Lafayette Curtis
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Curtis Shipley's maternal grandmother, Hattie Harrison Curtis
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Curtis Shipley's maternal grandfather, William Lafayette Curtis
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Curtis Shipley's father, Harry Shipley, ca. 1907
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Curtis Shipley's mother, Maud Curtis, with her sister, Alpha Curtis, ca. 1912
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Curtis Shipley's father, Harry Shipley, in his World War I uniform; Camp Pike, Arkansas, ca. 1916
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Curtis Shipley's childhood home, Fort Smith, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Curtis Shipley as a baby with (from left) his grandfather, William Lafayette Curtis, his brother, Harry Shipley, and his grandmother, Hattie Harrison Curtis; ca. 1933
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Shipley Baking Co. truck with the Holsum bread advertising slogan on the side, ca. 1930s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Curtis Shipley, 2 years old, 1936
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Curtis Shipley, 3 years old, 1937
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Curtis Shipley's father, Harry Shipley, in golf attire
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Curtis Shipley's mother, Maud Curtis Shipley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Curtis Shipley's paternal grandparents, William Lester Shipley and Juda Ellen Reed Shipley, 1938
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Curtis Shipley's uncle, Garvin Shipley, 1939
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Curtis Shipley, Christmas, 1941
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Curtis Shipley and Ann Williams (couple on left) with Jo Layne Thorwarth and Frankie Dyke (center), and Carol Sue Perry and David Conley (right) at a dance at the Ward Hotel; Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1946
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Curtis Shipley (right) and Tony Dyke, ca. 1950s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Curtis Shipley (left) with his father, Harry Shipley, at Shipley Baking Company; Fort Smith, Arkansas, ca. 1950s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Curtis Shipley (left) with his father, Harry Shipley, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1955
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Curtis Shipley, April 1957
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house under construction on the University of Arkansas campus; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1958
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Curtis Shipley's father, Harry Shipley (center) with his brothers (from left) Wilson, Garvin, Ward, and Paul Shipley; ca. 1960
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Curtis Shipley (standing, far right) with his siblings, Harry Shipley, Juda Shipley Holder, and Sally Shipley Bowers, and their parents, Benjamin Harrison "Harry" Shipley and Maud Shipley
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Curtis Shipley (center), holding an artist's rendering of the Washington Regional Medical Center expansion, with Joe McKim (left) and Hal Douglas, 1975
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Dan Ferritor (left) with Curtis Shipley, who was named 1993 Volunteer of the Year for exceptional service to the University of Arkansas and its programs
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Curtis Shipley; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Curtis Shipley; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
