SUMMERVILLE, S.C.—Rev. Dr. William Frye Summers passed away peacefully on July 15, 2019.
Bill was born on January 15, 1921 in Statesville, N.C., to Jason Watt and Roberta Frye Summers. He graduated from Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary and received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Hampton Sydney.
After graduating in 1944, he married Nan Allen Summers on August 31, 1944, and then volunteered as a Navy chaplain, serving with the First Marine Division in Tientsin, China.
After the war, Bill served as the pastor of the following churches: Handley Memorial, Birmingham, Ala; First Presbyterian Church, Clarksville, Tenn.; First Presbyterian Church, Tyler, Texas; Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Richmond; and First Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach.
Upon retirement in 1985, he and his wife moved to his beloved home, known as “Rest and Be Thankful,” on the Ware River in Ware Neck, Gloucester County, where they lived for the next 25 years. Then the time came, as he said, “to move closer to the cemetery,” so they moved to the lovely village of Weems.
There they loved and were loved by the Campbell Memorial Presbyterian Church. They were the tenants of the most gracious landlords, Jeff and Wendi Szyperski, until 2016 when they moved to the Presbyterian Village of Summerville in South Carolina.
He is survived by his wife of 75 years, Nan Allen Summers; a sister, Phyllis Ewart of Pawleys Island, S.C; four children, Rev. Dr. William F. Summers Jr., (Lynne), Rev. Dr. Charles A. Summers (Marsha), Glenn Ellis Summers (Denise), Nancy Summers Bonanno (Mark); 13 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
The service of resurrection will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Campbell Memorial Presbyterian Church, Weems. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Campbell Memorial Presbyterian Church, Weems, or the Employees Fund at the Presbyterian Village, Summerville, S.C.
