Joseph John Summerell ’39

Joseph John Summerell ’39 died October 24, 2005, at home in Raleigh, N.C. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to1945, ending his naval career at the rank of lieutenant commander of the minesweeper USS Measure. He was employed by Superior Stone Company for more than thirty years. He was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury and served in many capacities with the church, including senior warden. He was a member of the Salisbury Rotary Club, and served as its president for several terms. Several years after moving to Raleigh in 1975, he retired from the stone business and went into business with his brother, Howard Summerell, to form Virginia-Carolina Controls. He was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh and the Milburnie Fishing Club. His wife, Berta Allen Russ Summerell, died in November 1998. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Howard Mitchell Summerell ’36 of Richmond, Va. He is survived by a sister, Nancy Lee Summerell Kitchin, of Wake Forest, N.C., as well as three children: Berta Allen Summerell Hamilton ’78 and husband Frank Hamilton ’77, of 2818 Hydrangea Pl.,Wilmington, N.C.; J.J.Summerell, Jr. ’80, and wife, Virginia Robertson Summerell ’80, of Greensboro, N.C.; and William Russ Summerell ’85 of Roatan, Honduras. He also has five grandchildren: Anna Summerell Hamilton ’08 and William Ritter Hamilton, of Wilmington; and Amelia Mitchell Summerell, Lee McGowan Summerell, and Joseph John Summerell of Greensboro.