Rowland Shaw Pruette died on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 87 years of age.
He was born on June 12, 1921 in Wadesboro, the son of Rowland Shaw Pruette Sr. and Elizabeth Hancock Pruette. In the summer of 1942, during Summer School at Wake Forest College, he met, and one year later married, Mary Virginia Price of Mount Olive.
He is a graduate of Wadesboro High School, Wake Forest College and Duke University Divinity School. He also studied at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem in the summer of 1971.
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as an infantryman in North Africa and in combat in Italy. After the war he was ordained and held pastorates at Booneville Baptist Church, Cullowhee Baptist Church, and Murfreesboro Baptist Church. While at Cullowhee he was also Baptist Student Union director. After serving as pastor of Murfreesboro Baptist Church he became a professor of religion at Chowan College where he taught for 19 years.
In retirement, he did interim pastorates at a number of churches in North Carolina and Virginia, eventually settling in Winston-Salem where he and Mary V. moved to Brookridge Retirement Community and joined First Baptist Church.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary V. Pruette; children, David Rowland Pruette and his wife, Sandy Pruette,of Farmville, Mary Beth Parker and her husband, Bob Parker, of Winston-Salem; grandchildren, Maria Pruette of Farmville, Anne Parker Butler and her husband, Rhett Butler, of Raleigh, Spencer Parker and his wife, Claire Parker, of Roanoke, Va., Austin Parker of Wilmington and his great-grandchild, Mary Cecilia Parker. In addition, he is survived by his brother, Frank Pruette and his wife Peggy of Sanford and sisters Betsy Bost of Charlotte and Peggy Mangum of Faison.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Murfreesboro Baptist Church, 200 W. Main Street, Murfreesboro, NC 27855 or the Pruette Scholarship at Chowan University, P.O. Box 1848, Murfreesboro, N.C. 27855.
The memorial service will be held at Murfreesboro Baptist Church on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM. Visitation will follow the service in the church fellowship hall.
Garrett Funeral Home-Ashley Chapel, Ahoskie, is serving the Pruette family.