Sumner Parham Broughton

Sumner was born in Washington, DC, on May 2, 1936, the second of two children born to Edwin Fuller Parham and Margaret Pou Parham. Sumner attended Saint Mary’s School and Junior College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Sumner’s focus was always on family. She built a life around loving and supporting her children, her husband Robert, siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and out-laws. She loved them all and spent her days planning her next opportunity to express that love.

In her last months, she was remarkable in the unreasonable grace, calm, comfort, and understanding she offered those around her, both friends and family alike.

In recent years, one of the highlights of the year for Sumner was to treat family and close friends to an outing to see Ira David Wood’s A Christmas Carol, followed by wining and dining them at the Angus Barn. She longed to visit Africa and retrace the footsteps of her beloved husband, Robert.

Sumner is survived by four children, son Sidney Sawyer Campen III, his wife Wendy, and their daughter Sawyer Lynn, and a great-granddaughter, Sydney Lynn Faulkner of Federalsburg, Maryland; daughter Sumner Brooke Schwab and her children Sumner Lauren Schwab, Timothy Fuller Schwab, and Atlee Brooke Schwab of Raleigh; son Edwin Fuller Parham Broughton and his daughter Tristan Bain Broughton of Raleigh; and daughter Mary Lloyd Broughton and her son Robert Owen Markovich of Raleigh. She is also survived by her niece, Margaret Pou Clements Conolly and her children Margaret Clements Conolly and Davis Howell Conolly of Jacksonville, Florida; and a long-time friend and companion, Comencita Pettiford. Sumner also leaves behind an unusually large number of true friends, some of whom she has known for 70 years.

Sumner was preceded in death by the love of her life, her husband Robert, and her brother, Edward W. Pou Moran of Raleigh.

In lieu of flowers and for those inclined to a memoriam, please consider a donation to St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 4523 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27609; The Lost Colony - The Roanoke Island Historical Association, 1409 National Park Drive, Manteo, North Carolina 27954; The Robert B. Broughton Scholarship Fund, Wake Forest University, Post Office Box 7227, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109; or The Healing Place of Wake County, 1251 Goode Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603.

Family and friends will gather once more for a requiem celebrating Sumner’s life on March 12, 2014, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 4523 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27609. Burial will follow at Montlawn Memorial Park, 2911 South Wilmington Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. A visitation will be held Tuesday, March 11th from 6-8pm at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home , 300 Saint Mary’s St. Raleigh. Friends are also welcome at Sumner’s home located at 3400 Landor Road, Raleigh, North Carolina, immediately following the burial.

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone!”

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me - not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”

From a poem by Henry Van Dyke

Condolences may be sent to www.brownwynne.com.