He was born on October 13, 1948, and was raised in Raeford. He was the son of Martha Joy (Tiny) and John Howard (Mac) McAnulty. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Patrick Looper McAnulty and his sister Nycee Stancil. He graduated from Hoke County High School, class of 1966, and served seven years in the U. S. Navy from 1969 to 1976. After he was discharged, he received his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in industrial organizational psychology from Old Dominion University. He had successful careers in private industry and for the federal government while performing human factors research in aircrew performance, training, and communications; conducting human-in-the-loop simulations; developing guidelines for long range navigation and global positioning systems and other navigational aids; assessing air transportation system improvements in various air traffic domains; evaluating air traffic controller workload, performance, and displays; and designing multiple highly-complex air transportation and air traffic control systems and workspace. He and Deborah loved to travel, play golf, go to the gym, hike, and bike ride. He also loved to play tennis and fly, achieving his single engine pilot's license in 1988.
He is survived by his wife, Deborah, of 21 years; his adopted children, and surrogate daughter Michelle Cunningham Huff, her husband Jake, and sons Michael and Sam; and sister-in-law Kathleen Gonsar and friend Joe Rocuski.
He wished to be cremated. A memorial service was held Saturday, May 4, 2019 at noon at Hayworth-Miller Funeral Home & Crematory in Kernersville. He will be interred at a later date at the VA Cemetery in Salisbury. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the charity of your choice.