THOMAS EDWIN SHUMATE
March 21, 1922-Feb. 11, 2014
Thomas Edwin "Ed" Shumate, 91, passed away Tuesday morning at home.
Born in Martinsville, Va., he was the son of the late Harry J. Shumate and Pattie Snow Merrimen Shumate.
He was preceded in death by a son, Edward Adam Shumate; brothers, Harry J. Shumate Jr. and Charles W. Shumate; and sisters, Dorothy Valentino and Olivia Matthews.
Prior to retirement, Ed was a licensed funeral director and partner in Shumate Funeral Home with his family, and was a real estate agent in Goldsboro for many years.
He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Goldsboro Elks Lodge No. 139.
Ed was a 1940 graduate of Goldsboro High School, where he was a high school all-American swimmer. He swam against and defeated swimmers from Duke University and the University of North Carolina while still in high school, prompting a scholarship to swim for the Tarheels.
While at the University of North Carolina, and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Ed left college to join the United States Army/Air Corps.
During World War II, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross three times and the Air Medal five times for combat missions in the China-Burma-India theater, where he flew 281 missions.
During the Korean War, he served as an instructor for Air Force cadets at Stallings Field in Kinston.
A service to celebrate Ed's life will be held Monday, Feb. 17, at noon by the graveside at Willowdale Cemetery, with the Rev. Jim Willoughby officiating.
Family members will greet friends at the grave.
Ed is survived by his sister-in-law, Shirley S. Shumate; numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews; a very special friend and driver, Jimmy Russell; his Shumate-Faulk and Parkside Florist family; and his friends and staff at the Mar Mac McDonald's.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to Meals on Wheels, 601 Royall Ave., Goldsboro, N.C., 27534
Shumate-Faulk Funeral Home is serving the family, and online condolences may be directed to www.shumate-faulk.com.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on February 16, 2014 1:53 PM