R. Joel Trammell

R. Joel Trammell     

“Someday you will read or hear that Joel Trammell has passed away.  Don’t believe a word of it.  I shall be more alive than I have ever been.  I will just have changed my address.  I will have moved into the presence of God.”

Robert Joel Trammell (81), of Highway 231, Middlesex, North Carolina took possession of his Heavenly mansion on September 4, 2022.  He was ushered into the arms of Jesus by his mother and father who arrived in Heaven before him.

Joel was born on February 12, 1941 in Greenville, SC. He was preceded in death by his father, R. Paul Trammell, and his mother, Lessie Coats Trammell.  He is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Sue Stone Trammell of Middlesex, the loving Stone Family and his two little Maltese dogs, Molly and Duchess. 

Joel graduated from Carolina High School in Greenville, SC, class of 1959.  He received his B.S. from Lee University in Cleveland, TN, his M.A. and Ed. S. from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.  He was a lifelong learner and did additional graduate work at the College of William and Mary, University of Virginia, Columbia University, Board College, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University and several other institutions of higher learning.

Joel was employed with the Cleveland Daily Banner and The Chattanooga Times for fifteen years before entering the teaching profession.  He served as Assist Principal of Azalea Garden Christian School in Norfolk, VA for four years. He taught Advanced Placement United States History at Cox High School in Virginia Beach for 26 years.  He was twice named “History Teacher of the Year” for Virginia Beach Schools in addition to “Virginia History Teacher of the Year”.  He was listed in Who’s Who in American Education and Who’s Who in the South and Southwest in several yearly editions.  He also received the Virginia Governor’s Excellence in Teaching Award.  Joel received three National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships for graduate study and research, two Virginia Foundation for the Humanities fellowships, and two Gilder-Lehman Research grants for study at Columbia University in New York.  He served as Assistant Professor of History at Tidewater Community College for thirty-seven years. 

Most important to Joel were the enduring values of family and friendship and living by the Holiness-Pentecostal faith woven into his character from childhood.  The passion of Joel Trammell’s life was his church, the Church of God.  He was a member of the Church for 76 years.  He served his local church as a Sunday school teacher and member of the board of elders.  He served as a member of the International Church of God Historical Commission for 18 years.  Joel served as chairman of the Virginia Church of God Historical Commission editing and publishing.  He also published a history of the Azalea Garden Church of God in Norfolk, VA.  He served as a member of the Historical Commission for the Church of God in Eastern North Carolina.  In addition, he published numerous articles on the history of his church in several church publications including History and Heritage and The Church of God Evangel.  For many years, Joel Trammell taught Church of God History  to prospective ministers in a special ministerial training program.

Joel lived by the philosophy that “a day was not complete unless you laugh a little, cry a little, and pray a lot.”

Visitation with the family will be at the Midpoint Church (formerly Middlesex Church of God) on NC 231 Highway on Saturday, September 10, 2022 from 9:30 am until 10:45 am.  A Celebration of Life service will be held immediately following the visitation at 11:00 am.

Joel Trammell will be laid to rest in the Stone Family Cemetery adjacent to Midpoint Church.

Funeral arrangements are by Strickland Funeral Home of Louisburg, NC.

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