Benjamin Sumner

Mr. Benjamin Jerome Sumner, affectionately known by many simply as B.J., age 78, of 406 Ravenwood Road in Walterboro and formerly of Hilton Hall Lane in Walterboro, entered into his state of eternal rest early Monday morning, May 10, 2010, at the Trident Medical Center in North Charleston. He was the husband of fifty-two years to the late Mrs. Louise Hitt Sumner who died in 2007.







The relatives and friends of the Sumner family are invited to attend the funeral services for the late B.J. Sumner which will be conducted 3 oclock Wednesday afternoon, May 12, 2010, from Grace Advent Christian Church, 398 Mount Carmel Road, Walterboro, with The Reverend Wayne Lucas and The Reverend Nelson Howe officiating. Interment will follow in Glendale Memorial Cemetery, 2210 Mount Carmel Road, Walterboro. Serving as Casket Bearers will be: Bobby Hitt, Ray Hitt, Bill Bryan, Tommy Dunn, Michael Shell, and Gerald McAlhaney.







Mr. Sumner was born June 11, 1931, in Augusta, Georgia and was a son of the late Robert Bernard Sumner and the late Ester Prescott Sumner. B.J. had received his degree in engineering and worked for the South Carolina Electric and Gas Urquart Station where he retired as the Assistant Plant Manager. He was an active member of Grace Advent Christian Church in Walterboro. He possessed an avid love for trains, and collecting them was his greatest pastime along with wood crafting. The expertise he had with building and crafting wood was truly remarkable and the pieces he created will always be cherished by people and their families for whom he created them. He cared deeply for his grandchildren and great grandchildren and was always his happiest when he was in their presence.







Surviving are: a son, Thomas E. Tim Sumner and his wife Donna of Walterboro; two daughters, Joyce Sumner Traylor of Walterboro and Linda Sumner Butler and her husband Jerry of Walterboro; and a sister, Geri Shell of Grovetown, Georgia. There are six grandchildren, Karen Craven of Walterboro, Angella Warren and her husband Marc of Walterboro, Pamella Brownlee and her husband Jimmy of Walterboro, Jarred Sumner and his wife Heather of Walterboro, Jason Wise of Augusta, and Eric Sumner and his wife Erin of Simpsonville; and eleven great grandchildren, Josh Craven, Ryan Craven, Brittany Brownlee, Chalsea Brownlee, Mollie Warren, Gus Warren, Thomas Sumner, Olivia Sumner, Andrew Sumner, Anna Sumner, and Audrey Sumner. He was preceded in death by a brother, Earl Sumner; and a sister, Carolyn Gwinn.







Flowers will be accepted or for those that so desire, the family has respectfully requested that memorial contributions be directed in his memory to: Grace Advent Christian Church, 398 Mount Carmel Road, Walterboro, South Carolina 29488.







For those that wish, memorial messages and thoughts of condolence as well as memories of B.J. may be shared with the Sumner family by visiting: www.briceherndonfuneralhome.com.







The family will be at the Sumner residence, 406 Ravenwood Road, Walterboro.







Family and friends are invited to call from 6:00 until 8:00 this Tuesday evening at THE BRICE W. HERNDON AND SONS FUNERAL HOMES, WALTERBORO CHAPEL, 1193 Bells Highway, Walterboro, 843.538.5408.

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