COLUMBIA -- Harold H. Dugger, 81, of Columbia died Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1997, at the University of Missouri Medical Center.

He was born Aug. 19, 1916, at Winnetoon, Neb., the son of Silas C. and Minnie Holmes Dugger. He married Jennie Irene Burckhardt on June 9, 1946.

He taught English and social studies in Morrisville before World War II. During the war, he served in the U.S. Army.

He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 1951 and taught at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn. From 1960-1981, he taught in the history department of Southeast Missouri State University, serving as department chair from 1974-1978. He retired in 1981.

He was a member of various organizations, including AAU, the Organization of American Historians, Southern Historical Association, Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, State Historical Society of Missouri, Missouri History Conference and the Historical Society of Greater Cape Girardeau.

He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was an ordained deacon in the First Presbyterian Church of Johnson City in 1958 and an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church of Cape Girardeau in 1963.

He moved with his wife to Lenoir retirement community in 1992.

Survivors include his wife and a daughter, Ellen Lorraine Dugger of Columbia.

He was preceded in death by a brother.

Friends may call at Memorial Funeral Home in Columbia from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Private graveside services will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery in Columbia. Drs. H. Wilkes O'Brien, George A. McCall, Miles White and the Rev. Thomas Bass will officiate.