William A. Oden, Jr. | Eastern North Carolina Now

Born: September 6, 1947, Died: November 21, 2017

    Mr. William "Bill" Augustus Oden, Jr., age 70, a resident of Harbor Road, Riverside, Washington, NC died Tuesday morning, November 21, 2017 at his home.

    Mr. Oden was born in Washington, NC on September 6, 1947, son of the late William Augustus Oden and Sarah Ellen Sykes Oden. He grew up in Norfolk, VA and attended public and private schools there. In 1969, he received a B.S. in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. After college, he served two years in U.S. Army Intelligence during the Vietnam War, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant.

    On July 13, 1974, Mr. Oden married the former Elizabeth Carrow Rodman of Washington at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. He is survived by his wife and two children, William Augustus Oden, III and his wife, Katherine Walker Oden of Wilmington, NC, and Elizabeth Oden Woodard and her husband, Dr. James Thomas Woodard of Rocky Mount, NC. He is also survived by his granddaughter, Alston Katherine Oden, who was born in December of 2014, and his grandson, John Rodman Woodard, who was born in September of 2016. In addition to his parents, Mr. Oden is preceded in death by his sisters, Mary Anna Oden, who died shortly after birth in 1944, and Sarah Ellen Oden, who died in 2007.

    Mr. Oden served on the Board of Adjustment for the City of Washington, was a former member of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, served on the Board of Directors for the Washington Yacht & Country Club, was a former member of the local Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, and was a former member and secretary-treasurer of the Washington Evening Rotary Club. Mr. Oden served on the Vestry of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, where he also was the church treasurer for nine years, and was a former member of the Diaconate of First Presbyterian Church, where he was a member. Most recently, Mr. Oden served on the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Foundation Board of Directors. He was a self-employed CPA in Washington, NC.

    A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, November 24, 2017 at First Presbyterian Church in Washington officiated by Pastor William Lee Kinney. Burial will follow in Oakdale Cemetery. Curtis Harcum Hathaway, Jr., Dr. Albert McCray Jones, III, Leonard Steven Lee, Sr., Henry Blount Rumley, Jr., Dr. Seth Campbell Rumley, Dr. Joshua Tayloe, and Paul Harrington Wetmore, Jr. will serve as pallbearers.

    The family will receive friends at the home.

    In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Foundation, 1209 Brown Street, Washington, NC 27889, or First Presbyterian Church, 211 West 2nd Street, Washington, NC 27889.

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