DATE: Friday, June 27, 1997                 TAG: 9706270663

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   55 lines

ELIZABETH CITY BANKER, COMMUNITY LEADER DIES

J. Stanley Peel, a retired senior vice president of Wachovia Bank and one of Elizabeth City's best known community leaders, died suddenly Thursday morning in Nags Head where he was attending a family gathering. He was 64.

Throughout his life Peel's round face was constantly wreathed in a smile that always seemed about to break into a laugh, a trait that endeared him to hundreds of friends who had business with his bank.

In World War II, the Everetts, N.C., native joined the U.S. Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel with the Air Force Reserve.

Peel went to work for Wachovia Bank in 1960 and retired in 1995 as a senior vice president in the Elizabeth City office. By then, a considerable part of eastern North Carolina had landmarks and flourishing commercial ventures that Peel decided deserved financing.

Throughout his life, Peel had an abiding determination to help the University of North Carolina and anyone who wanted to go to school there. Only Peel's personal records could reveal how many young men and women he helped send to Chapel Hill or other UNC campuses.

Peel's personal dedication to church work was well-known.

He was an active member of the First United Methodist Church, where he was past chairman of the administrative board; past district lay leader, past chairman of the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee and at the time of his death he was treasurer of the Elizabeth City District of the United Methodist Churches.

Peel served as an officer or a member of an astonishing number of philanthropic enterprises.

He was a member of the Rotary Club; a former chairman of the advisory board for the Salvation Army and the Elizabeth City Foundation Inc. He served on the board of trustees at Elizabeth City State University and was vice chairman of the College of the Albemarle Foundation Board.

He was currently chairman of the Marine Science Board of UNC-Chapel Hill.

In Elizabeth City, Peel was president and board member of the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce in 1972 and 1973; he was past chairman of the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County Committee of 100 and was voted ``Boss of the Year'' by the Elizabeth City Jaycees. He was a past president and drive chairman of the Albemarle United Way and served on the directors board of the Pasquotank Arts Council; the Museum of the Albemarle, and Elizabeth City Downtown Inc.

He is survived by his wife, Judith Whitehurst Peel of the home at 1115 Park Drive, Elizabeth City; two daughters, Melanie Peel Dunford, of Chesapeake, and Lou Ellen Peel, of Elizabeth City. Also surviving is a sister, Anna P. Bolick, of Conover, N.C., and a brother, Charles Taylor Peel, of Durham, N.C.

Funeral services will be Saturday morning at 10 a.m. in First United Methodist Church with the Rev. E.M. Thompson and the Rev. Josh MacKenzie officiating.

Burial will be in West Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

The family suggests that memorial donations may be made to the Salvation Army, the First United Methodist Church or the American Cancer Society.

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