William Henry Vernon Sr.

William Henry Vernon, Sr.

William H. Vernon, former Delaware State Representative.

William Henry Vernon, Sr. courageously lost his yearlong battle with cancer on March 10, 2014. He is now at peace in heaven.

Bill was born in Odessa, DE on June 29, 1944. He grew up in Rehoboth Beach, DE and graduated from Rehoboth High School in 1962. He then attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA where he belonged to Phi Delta Theta fraternity. His summers lifeguarding for the Rehoboth Beach Patrol and his days at Georgia Tech held some of his fondest memories. He loved going to the beach, boating, fishing and driving his Corvette. He was a member of the Beachcombers Corvette Club. He especially loved his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He flew to Atlanta almost every year to attend the football games. It was in Atlanta that he met his future wife, Sharon Soden, of W. Palm Beach, who was teaching there. Bill could often be seen early in the morning riding his bike to the boardwalk and then going to gym where he liked to work out.

After graduation, Bill went to Officers Candidate School and served in the U.S. Coast Guard which included a tour of Vietnam.

Upon return to the states, Bill went to work with Anderson-Stokes Real Estate in Ocean City. In 1975 he became the owner of Vernon Real Estate. Vernon Real Estate was eventually sold to O'Conor, Piper, and Flynn, which was bought out by Coldwell Banker Realty, it was later bought out by Coldwell Banker Resort Realty. At Coldwell Banker he was the Senior Vice President of Commercial and Investment Real Estate. He recently was bestowed with the prestigious 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sussex County Board of Realtors.

Bill is a former president of the Rehoboth Beach Chamber of Commerce and also served in The Delaware House of Representatives under Governor Pete duPont from 1977 to 1981.

For 4 years, Bill served as chairman of the building committee for the New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lewes, DE, of which he was a member. He was very proud of what the building committee accomplished in building a new church.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Sharon Vernon, his daughter, Jennifer B. Vernon, and his son, William H. Vernon, Jr., his brother, Geoffrey Vernon and his wife, Allison, his brother Gainan Vernon and his nephew, Glenn Vernon. Also a brother-in-law, Larry Soden and a niece, Debbie Soden Safranek.

A Memorial service will be held on March 25th at 11 a.m. at New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lewes.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes donations to be made to the American Cancer Society or the Building Fund of the New covenant Presbyterian Church, 3072 Savannah Rd., Lewes, DE 19958.

Please visit Mr. Vernon's Life Memorial Webpage and sign his online guestbook at www.parsellfuneralhomes.com