Business

Cranford leaves Morrow agency for teaching career

By Bill Moss, Published: March 3, 2013

Charlie Cranford left the Morrow Insurance Agency on Feb. 15 to pursue his dream of teaching high school history.Cranford went to work for the insurance agency after the unexpected death of his father, Rob, and his mother, Ginger, within two months of one another three years ago. Rob and Ginger Cranford were well-known civic leaders and philanthropists whose deaths stunned the community.
Charlie Cranford, who played quarterback at Hendersonville High School, met in early February with HHS football coach B.J. Laughter about working as quarterbacks coach, HHS principal Bobby Wilkins said, and Cranford has spoken with Wilkins about his plans to pursue a teaching career. Cranford had other tests to complete before getting a state teaching certificate, Wilkins said.
Dave Shaffer, Morrow Insurance president, said Cranford was pursuing what he has always wanted to do.
"He went to school and has a degree in history and he wanted to use it," Shaffer said. "I'm glad he's going to be in the schools but I wish he was going to be here."
Rob Cranford, who helped build Morrow into one of the leading insurance agencies in the area, had interests that ranged broadly outside his profession. A staunch Democrat, Cranford supported state and national candidates. Like his son, he was a history buff with a voracious appetite for biographies and non-fiction books on politics and history.
A 2005 graduate of HHS, Charlie Cranford graduated from N.C. State University in 2009.