On May 11, 2014, Grady Lee Ernest Carroll, Sr. passed from this world surrounded by family at Carteret General Hospital. He was born in Wallaceville, SC, on May 23, 1926, to Jesse Lee Ernest Carroll and Cora Fowler Carroll. He received an AB degree at Maryville College, TN, and an MA degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with additional studies at the University of Tennessee, the University of Michigan, NC State University, Appalachian State University, and Indiana University.
He was a veteran of the US Army with combat service in Germany in 1945. He was an educator in public schools, primarily in Raleigh, NC. He married Betty Simmons Blackwelder in 1953. He was the author of ten books and monographs on local, state and church history and genealogy and was a contributor to newspapers and magazines. He was a member of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church for over 50 years, was a Sunday school teacher of the John L. Cameron Sunday School Class, and church historian of Hayes Barton and St. Peters United Methodist Churches. He was a member of the Wake County Historical Society, Historical Society of the United Methodist Church, charter member of the Charles Wesley Society and charter member of the Raleigh City Museum. His personal ministry in life was sharing “words of wisdom” with family, friends and acquaintances.
Left to cherish his memory are his son, Lee Carroll and wife, Debbie of Morehead City, sisters Jettie Crook and Iva Jane Wall, brother Bill Carroll of Rutherfordton; also, grandchildren, Grady (Gray) Lee Ernest Carroll, III, Joshua Noah of Morehead City, and Elizabeth Lewis of Fayetteville, and great-grandson Jaxon Camber Carroll of Morehead City. He is preceded in death by his wife of nearly 50 years, Betty Carroll; also, his parents, brother Marvin Carroll and step-son, Harold B. Blackwelder.
A memorial service will be held at St. Peters United Methodist Church, 111 Hodges St., Morehead City, NC at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, May 14 officiated by Rev. Karl A. Zorowski. A committal service will be held at Montlawn Memorial Park, 2911 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC at 2:00 PM on Thursday, May 15 with Rev. Rick Clayton officiating. The family will receive guests after each service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Betty Simmons Carroll Scholarship Fund, Hayes Barton United Methodist Church, 2209 Fairview Rd, Raleigh, NC 27608.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, St. Mary’s Street, Raleigh, NC.
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