Home News Archives General John Trammel Church, Sr. – 1917-1999

John Trammel Church, Sr. – 1917-1999

HENDERSON — John Trammel Church, Sr., 81, of 420 Woodland Road, died on Saturday, Feb. 27, 1999. He was born in Raleigh, N.C., on Sept. 22, 1917, son of the late Charles Randolph Church and Lela Johnson Church.

His family moved to Salisbury, N.C., where he attended public schools. After two years at Catawba College, Mr. Church entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. He graduated in 1942 with a B.S. degree in Pharmacy.

Upon his graduation, Mr. Church enlisted in the Marine Air Corps following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He received flight training and was awarded his commission and wings at Corpus Christi, Texas, in June 1943. He was assigned to Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 243 of the 32nd Marine Aircraft Group, which was engaged in the battle for the Southern Philippines. Capt. Church flew 89 air combat missions from January through July 1945 in support of the Southern Philippines Campaign. During these months, he flew daily dive-bombing and strafing attacks on the Japanese in the battles for Mindanao and Zamboanga in the Philippines, Jolo Island in the Sulu Archipelago, and Sanga Sanga and Bangao islands off Borneo. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two gold stars in lieu of two additional DFCs and the Air Medal with two silver stars.

Mr. Church joined Rose’s Stores, Inc., the Henderson, N.C.-based chain of variety stores, in 1945 as a trainee in Store #1 in Henderson. The following year he was named an assistant buyer and appointed to the Board of Directors. Advancing through the company ranks, he was named senior vice president in 1963 while retaining his titles of secretary and merchandise manager. In 1973, he succeeded Thomas B Rose, Jr., as chairman of the company’s board of directors. The chain then consisted of 223 stores in 13 southeastern states, with annual sales of $272,942,000. When he became chairman emeritus of Rose’s in 1984, the company consisted of 193 discount stores with annual sales of $927,395,000. He served as a member of the board of directors of the National Retail Merchants Association, vice president of the American retail Council, president of the N.C. Retail Merchants Association and of the N.C. Chain Store Council. Mr. Church continued as a member of the Rose’s Board of Directors through the completion of the company’s reorganization in 1995. Following his retirement from the board, after nearly 50 years of service as a director, he continued to have an active interest in the welfare of the company and its associates for the rest of his life. Also, Mr. Church for many years was a director of Peoples Bank & Trust Company, which later merged to form the present Centura Bank.

In addition to his business career, Mr. Church had a distinguished career in politics and civic affairs. He served seven terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives (1967-99 and 1977-91) and one term in the North Carolina Senate (1971-72). He was a key figure in securing the four-laning of the U.S. #1 Highway from Raleigh to Henderson and in obtaining legislative and financial support for numerous local institutions, including Vance County Schools, Vance-Granville Community College, Maria Parham Hospital and H. Leslie Perry memorial Library. Mr. Church was chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party (1972), a director of the North Carolina Railroad, chairman of the Kerr Reservoir Development Committee, and secretary of the North Carolina Ports Authority. He was a trustee of the University of North Carolina at chapel Hill and president of the UNC-CH Alumni Association, vice chairman of the Louisburg College Board of Trustees, a trustee of Peace College, a trustee and chairman of the board of trustees of Vance-Granville Community college, a director and chairman of the Maria Parham Hospital Board of Directors, a member of the advisory board of the National Council of Boy Scouts, president of the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce, and president of both the Henderson Rotary Club and the Henderson-Vance County United Way. He received numerous awards and recognition for public service, including the following: the I.E. Ready Award of the N.C. Board of Community Colleges in Nov. 1998; Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, 1997; Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award; and the Paul Harris Fellowship Award given by the Henderson Rotary Club.

Mr. Church was a generous contributor to local charities, both personally and through his business resources. He was a former member of First United Methodist Church of Henderson and served as chairman of its administrative board and board of trustees. He had been a member of The Church of the Holy Innocents, Episcopal Church, since 1994.

Mr. Church was married to Emma Thomas Rose from 1943 until her death in 1989. He is survived by his wife, Marion Lee Johnson Church; one daughter, Elizabeth Church Bacon of Henderson; one son, John T. Church, Jr., of Henderson; two grandsons, William Mangum Bacon IV of New York, N.Y., and John Church Bacon of Wilson; and one brother, Edward Johnson Church of Salisbury. He also leaves two loving and faithful companions, his dogs, Mollie and Sadie.

The funeral was held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 3, at The Church of the Holy Innocents by the Rev. Michael Dunnington. Interment followed in Elmwood Cemetery.

Pallbearers were his nephews: Charles Randolph Church III, Edward Johnson Church, Jr., Norman Luther Church, Jr., Thomas Walter Church, William Fenn Church, George Myrick Harvin, Lucius Herman Harvin III, Clayton Charles Johnson, Eric Ward Johnson and William Josephus Vaughan, Jr.

Memorials may be made to the Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 917, Henderson, N.C. 27536 or to Maria Parham Hospital Building Fund, 566 Ruin Creek Road, Henderson, N.C. 27536.

J.M. White Funeral Home handled the funeral arrangements.