Elton Roy Peele, 87, head of the Drivers License Division for the State of North Carolina for 18 years, died early Monday April 19,1999 following heart valve replacement surgery.
Mr. Peele headed the Drivers License Division from 1947 through 1965. During his tenure there he improved the professionalism of license examiners and was awarded a national prize by the American Optometry Association for instituting eye examinations for drivers licensing. He went to the N.C. Department of Corrections in 1965, supervising its data processing, and retired in 1974.
An active sportsman, he played golf up until the time he entered the hospital for heart surgery and shot his age. He was a graduate of Wake Forest College when it was located in Wake Forest, NC, and served as an officer in the Navy in World War II.
He is survived by his wife, Hazel Peele of Raleigh; two daughters, Mary Katherine (Mrs. Thomas J. Bolch) of Raleigh and Louise (Mrs. Robert C. Jordan) of Elizabeth City; a step-daughter, Sheila (Mrs. Clyde Stevens) of Raleigh; two sisters, Esther Peele Woods of Virginia Beach and Ruth Peele Banks Holland of Wilson; and nine grandchildren. His first wife, Katherine Monson Peele of Raleigh, was Chief Clerk of the North Carolina Utilities Commission until her retirement in 1978. She predeceased him in 1991.
Services were held Wednesday April 21, at 2 p.m. at Crabtree Baptist Church followed by burial at Montlawn Cemetery. Family visitation was Tuesday April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Funeral Chapel at Montlawn.