Alva Devon Pethel (Papa to all of his Grandchildren)
Alva ( we all called him Papa) spent his young years in Spencer, North Carolina working in Spencer Department Store. Still a young man, he went to work for Southern Railroad. He served for one year of service in the army during World War One. Papa worked for Southern Railroad Company and retired as a conductor after many years of service. He married Lottie Merle Shoaf and lived in Salisbury and his run after I was old enough to remember was from Salisbury to Atlanta and back again. In 1939-1940 my Grandparents moved to Greenville, South Carolina where my mother Sara Miller Pethel was a teenager and entered Greenville High School. Last physical address for my Grandparents was 103 Croft Street, Greenville, SC.
I remember so many wonderful things about my Grandfather. He was a quiet man, but you would not want to make him mad. He was a very tall man with big brown eyes. He always dressed like he was on his way to church, always sporting a hat. Eating my Grandmother's cooking was his favorite past time, and he would enjoy every bite. We always ate Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at their house and he would take forever to eat. We were all eagerly awaiting our dessert and he would continue with the main course for 30 minutes long after everybody else had finished. He liked his ice in his tea crushed in small pieces and would break the ice with his ice tea spoon. I have the silverware today and all of the ice tea spoons are dented on the bottom.
Papa loved to tease and one thing I remember as a child was him coming to our house and putting tissue paper on our cats feet with rubber bands and sit there and laugh and laugh as they would run around like crazy trying to get the tissue off of their little feet.
After retirement my Grandparents loved to travel and would take many trips and cruises to different places. They always brought us wonderful mementos from these trips. They traveled to Mexico, the Canadian Rockies (they said this was the most beautiful place they had ever seen) and loved spending time in the mountains of North Carolina in the summer months to escape the heat.
Papa was a member of the Men's Bible Class ant First Presbyterian Church, Greenville, SC and was a member of Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen and National Association of Railroad Employees Unit 121.
At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Mrs. Merle Shoaf Pethel (Lottie), a daughter, Mrs. Charles E. Robinson, Jr. of Greenville, S.C.;two sisters, Mrs. Worth Trexler of West Palm Beach, Fla. and Mrs. Robert F. Hogan of San Diego, California;two brothers, Ralph Pethel of San Diego, Calif. and Raymond Pethel of San Francisco, Calf.; three grandchildren;four great-grandchildren.
Name: ALVA PETHEL
Death Date: 27 April 1975
Place of Death: Buncombe
Marriage: Married
Residence: South Carolina
Institution: Veterans Hospital
Attendant: Physician
Method of Burial: Burial out of state
Autopsy: No
Obituary for Alva Devon Pethel:
Alva Devon Pethel, 79, of 103 Croft St., died Sunday in Oteen, NC.
Born in Kenton County, Ky, son of the late Walter Devon and Hattie Elizabeth Cook Pethel, he was retired conductor for the Southern Railway, Co., a member of The First Presbyterian Church, The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, The National Association of Railroad Employees, Unit 121 and a veteran of World War 1.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Merle Shoaf Pethel, a daughter, Mrs. Charles E. Robinson, Jr. of Greenville, two sisters, Mrs. Worth Trexler of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Mrs. Robert F. Hogan of San Francisco, Calif.; two brothers, Ralph Pethel of San Diego, Calif., and Raymond Pethel of San Francisco, three grand-children and 4 great-grandchildren.
Services will be 11 A.M. Tuesday at The Mackey Mortuary, with burial in Springwood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Thornwell Orphanage, Clinton, S.C. or The Episcopal Home For Children, York, S.C.
