Joseph H. Peele | Eastern North Carolina Now

Born: September 30, 1921, Died: February 13, 2015

    Mr. Joseph Howell Peele died Friday, February 13, 2015 after a short illness.

    He was born September 30, 1921 in Belhaven, NC the son of Staton James Peele and Lona Rosamond Midgette. As a young man he was a member of the Trinity Methodist Church in Belhaven. He was valedictorian of his class when he graduated from Belhaven High School. He graduated from NC State College with a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1942. At NC State he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. He was also a member of Gamma Sigma Epsilon, Pine Burr, Phi Eta Sigma, the Swimming Team, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and Agromeck. Joe was in the ROTC while at NC State, first a Sargent then a 4th Lieutenant.

    Upon graduation, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Infantry and reported to Fort Bragg for active duty on June 26, 1942. After basic training at Camp Walters in Mineral Wells, TX, he attended Officers Training School at Fort Benning Georgia. He was shipped overseas December 7, 1942 on the S.S. Ile de France from San Francisco, CA. After docking in Pearl Harbor and Wellington, New Zealand, he landed in Bombay, India on January 10, 1943 where he was assigned to the Ramgarh Training Center, Upper Assam to train Chinese Troops. He was transferred to the Air Transport Command in Sookerting, Assam, India where he supervised air shipments to China. During this tour he made a number of trips 'over the hump' landing in different airfields in China. Joe was in Calcutta, India waiting for a ship back to the US when he heard about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. He boarded a Liberty ship loaded with P-51 fighter planes on October 6, 1945 bound Newark NJ via Colombo, Ceylon and the Panama Canal. He was then assigned to the air base in Nashville TN and then discharged at Scott Field, St. Louis, IL. At that time he returned to Belhaven. Sadly, both of his parents had died while he was overseas.

    In 1946 Joe moved to Plymouth and began working for the North Carolina Pulp Company, later to become Weyerhaeuser. He worked at Weyerhaeuser for 36 years, with job assignments that included Chemist, Assistant Power Supervisor, Power Superintendent, and finally Manager of Power, Recovery and Chemical Processing. Joe was a well-liked Weyerhaeuser employee and at one time there was a road within the plant named Joe Peele Office Road.

    While in Plymouth Joe met and married Mary Elizabeth "Lib" Bray, daughter of Dr. Thomas Latham 'Bill' and May Robinson Moore Bray. They had three children, Thomas Howell, David Bray, and Susan Elizabeth. While in Plymouth Joe was a member and past President of the Jaycees, and was a President of the Plymouth Country Club. Joe was long-time member of the Wolfpack club and avid supporter of NC State sports. Joe spent 14 years as a member of the Washington County Board of Education from 1963-1976 where he provided a calming voice for reason and justice during this turbulent time. He was preceded in death by his second son David in 1990 and then lost the first love of his life when his wife Lib Peele died in 1993.

    From 1992 until 1996 Joe was a resident of Bath, NC where he spent time on the water sailing and boating. He was a member of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and active member of the community.

    In 1996, Joe married Mavis L. Rodman and moved to Washington, NC. He was a member of the Washington Yacht & Country Club, the Merrymakers and Ramblers Supper Clubs, a Friend of the Brown Library, the Turnage Foundation, the Committee of 100, and the Pamlico Tar River Foundation. Joe was a strong supporter of the Washington Estuarium where he volunteered every Wednesday morning for 16 years. He loved to tell visitors about eastern North Carolina and got to meet people from all of the country and the world.

    Joe is survived by his son Thomas Peele of Virginia Beach, his daughter Susan Peele Crofton and son-in-law Dr. Kevin Crofton of Durham, his step-daughter Ellen Rodman Hathaway and son-in-law Curtis Hathaway of Charlottesville, VA, as well as granddaughters Brittony Bray Peele of Virginia Beach, Ann Clarke and Brooke Hathaway of Charlottesville, and grandson, Nicholas Christian Peele of Greenville.

    Services will be held 11:00 am Monday, February 16, 2015 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Bath with burial to follow at Hillside Memorial Gardens in Plymouth. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to either the Washington Estuarium, the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Bath or St. Peters Episcopal Church in Washington. In addition, the family would like to thank the staff of the Broad Creek Rescue Squad, Vidant Beaufort Hospital, and Ridgewood Manor who provided vital and caring support during a time of need.

    Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com

    Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington is honored to serve the Peele family.