Donald C. Staggers Sr., a retired Howard County public school educator who was also an accomplished tenor soloist, died of heart failure May 29 at Sinai Hospital. He was 82.
The son of William Staggers, a laborer, and Pinkie Marie Staggers, a teacher, Donald Coy Staggers was born and raised in Baltimore.
He was a 1950 graduate of Dunbar High School and served in the Army from 1953 to 1956, where as a member of The Ambassadors, a quartet, he entertained troops in Europe.
While serving in Austria, he began formal vocal training. After being discharged, he enrolled at what is now Morgan State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1961 in French, German and Spanish.
Dr. Staggers taught foreign languages in Baltimore public schools. He earned a master's degree in French in 1970 and a Ph.D. in modern language education in 1974, both from Purdue University.
From 1976 until 1992, when he retired, Dr. Staggers was supervisor of foreign languages and English for Speakers of Other Languages programs in Howard County public schools.
The Walkersville resident worked in the dean's office for academic affairs at Morgan from 1993 to 1994.
An accomplished tenor soloist, Dr. Staggers performed with the Baltimore Opera Company and the Washington Opera Company. He also sang with chorales at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Dr. Staggers lent his voice to many area church choirs. In recent years, he was a member and soloist at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Walkersville.
During the 1990s, Dr. Staggers sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the start of Frederick Keys games as well as basketball games at Walkersville High School when his daughter was a student there.
A memorial service followed by a reception begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at his church, 14 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Walkersville.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, the former Perlyn Marchree Souder, a retired Oakland Mills High School guidance counselor; a son, Donald C. Staggers Jr. of Perry Hall; and a daughter, Verna Lisa Staggers of Ashburn, Va.