Elmer Anderson Deal Sr.

Elmer A. Deal Sr. BURLINGTON - Elmer Anderson Deal Sr., 80, of the 1500 block of Hanover Road, passed away at 10:19 a.m. Oct. 26, 2008, in Alamance Regional Medical Center. Born Nov. 23, 1927, in Iredell County, North Carolina, Elmer was the son of the late Elmer Durant and Sarah Elizabeth Cline Deal. He served as a military policeman with the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict. On June 12, 1951, Elmer married Betty Lou Houpe before leaving for Germany, and on his return, the couple moved to High Point and Elmer began a career in the plumbing business. Elmer was transferred to Henderson in 1958 and lived there until 2000, when he moved to Burlington to live with his daughter and son-in-law due to his declining health. In 1975, Elmer and Betty established Elmer A. Deal and Sons Plumbing Inc., a business currently in its 33rd year of operation. The couple built their business from the ground up, working side by side. Betty suffered a massive stroke in April 1999 and was never able to leave a nursing facility after that. She passed away April 9, 2005. Another great tragedy of Elmer's life was the loss of his youngest son, Eric, at the age 42, Dec. 1, 2005. Having lost Betty eight months earlier, Elmer never fully recovered from this double blow. Survivors include his daughter and son-in-law with whom he made his home, Debra and Rickie Chandler; two sons and three daughters-in-law, U.S. Navy retired Master Chief Operations Specialist Elmer A. Deal Jr. (Andy) and Juanita Lee Deal of Suffolk, James H. and Patricia B. Deal of Wake Forest and Vicki G. Deal of Henderson, N.C.; grandsons, Ryan W. Chandler (Angela) of Gibsonville and Robert A. Deal of Suffolk; granddaughters, Kathryn Deal of Norfolk, Jamie Deal of Raleigh, N.C., Allison Deal of Wake Forest, Erica Deal of Henderson; three stepgrandchildren, Jana Davis (Kevin) and Joshua Hatchell of Apex, N.C., and Jake Hall of Henderson; five great-grandchildren, Will and Tyler Chandler, Jacob Deal, Alex Jameson and Annabelle Wood; two brothers, Henry D. Deal (Phyllis) of Statesville and Eugene D. Deal (Jewel) of Greensboro, N.C.; four sisters, Frances D. Shoemaker of Graham, Nancy D. Deal of Catawba, N.C., Linda D. (Bill) King of Lenoir, N.C. and Dorthea D. (Charles) Brown of Statesville, N.C. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; one son; and three sisters, Arlene D. Russell, Grace D. Myers and Dora Lee D. Combs. Visitation was held Wednesday morning from 9:30 until 11 a.m. at J.M. White Funeral Home, 60 Zeb Robinson Road, Henderson. A funeral was conducted at 11 a.m. in the J.M. White Funeral Home Chapel by the Rev. Tim Burgess. There will be no graveside service. Arrangements were by J.M. White Funeral Home of Henderson, N.C.