Willis Andrew Shell was born in Caldwell County, North Carolina, on December 20, 1875. Shell was working as vice president and manager of Shell Chair Co. when the factory relocated from Lenoir to North Wilkesboro in 1913. Shell likely lost his job following a devastating July 1916 flood, in which the Shell factory was destroyed. He later moved to Newport News, Virginia, where he worked as a bank teller. Shell died there on December 25, 1973.