William Donald Branch

William Donald Branch April 25, 1932 – December 16, 2015 William Donald “Bill” Branch, 83, of Morehead City passed away Wednesday. His funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday at Joyner’s Funeral Home, Wilson. Interment will follow in Maplewood Cemetery, Wilson. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 10:30 – 11 at Joyner’s Funeral Home, 4100 Raleigh Road Parkway, Wilson. Bill was born on April 25, 1932 in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Charles L. Coon High School, in Wilson and moved to New York City before serving with the US Coast Guard, stationed on the Absecon and Wolf Trap Light. Later, Bill attended NC State University, where he was a member of the Beta Tau Chapter of Sigma Nu Fraternity, and he graduated from Louisiana State University School of Banking. After graduating, his first job was with Commerce National Bank in Lake Worth, Florida. It was in Florida where he met his wife of fifty-six years, Sandra Leavitt of Concord, Massachusetts. He began his thirty-one year career with BB&T in Wilson and worked at several locations throughout the Eastern part of North Carolina including Beaufort, where he opened the BB&T there as a City Executive. After retirement, he contracted as Credit Consultant for Craven Electric Supply in New Bern, worked part-time with a Prescription Assistance Program, and then he volunteered at the Broad Street Clinic in Morehead City. Bill was a past member of many United Methodist Churches in the communities. He enjoyed serving as a Sunday school teacher, Chairman of Finance Committee, Treasurer, and on other committees. Bill was a member of the United Way, Red Cross, Heart Fund, Jaycees and Rotary Club where he served as President of Williamston Rotary Club and President Elect of Roanoke Rapids Club. Bill received the Rotarian of the Year and the Paul Harris Fellow Award in New Bern. He was the President of Carteret County, North Carolina of Commerce and the President Elect of Halifax County and Martin County Chamber of Commerce, President of New Bern and Roanoke Rapids Toastmaster, President of the Palm Beach County Florida Chapter of American Institute of Banking and Officer of other A.I.B. Chapters. Bill loved spending time with his family and friends and attending his grandchildren’s sporting events and school activities, playing golf, and he especially enjoyed the beach and playing ping pong at Peppertree. Bill is survived by his loving wife, Sandra Leavitt Branch of the home; his daughters, Donna Lilley and husband, Rusty, Debbie Griffin and husband, Dennis, and Kathi Bowen and husband, Dan; grandchildren, Tiffany Griffin Pegram and husband, Lee, Jonathan Griffin, Samantha Lilley, and Zach and Colby Bowen; great-grandchildren, Tyler and Ryan Pegram; his brother, Louis Agnew and wife, Martha, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his grandson, Stephen Ray Griffin; sister, Pat Barnes Boyette; parents, Andrew Moore Branch and Eugenia Killette Branch; and parents, Sam and Vivian Agnew. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials in his honor to the Broad Street Clinic, 534 N 35th Street, Suite K, Morehead City, North Carolina 28557, the Crystal Cost Hospice House, 100 Big Rock Way, Morehead City, North Carolina 28557 or the American Heart Association, c/o Mrs. Phyllis Babb, 1108 Windemere Drive, Wilson, North Carolina 27896.