WILMINGTON — Benjamin Herman Stancill, Jr. came to the end of his long and full life at the age of 96 and went to be with the Lord on November 26, 2023.
Herman was born in Pitt County, North Carolina in 1927 to Benjamin Herman Stancill and Mazie Jones Stancill. He grew up in Pender County, North Carolina, where he graduated high school.
At age 17, Herman joined the US Navy and served two years during WWII. Following military service, he attended business school and worked 38 years for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, Seaboard Coastline Railroad and CSX. He retired as Trainmaster-Agency Supervisor in 1986.
In retirement, Herman loved playing golf and presenting history of music programs at senior homes. He was a great fan of Big Band music, as well as a history buff.
Herman was a former member of the Suffolk Kiwanis Club, Smithfield Kiwanis Club, Suffolk Tri-County Traffic Transportation Club, the Port City Kiwanis Club of Wilmington, and the Cape Fear AARP Chapter that established a Nursing Scholarship at Cape Fear Community College. For 14 years he was the Chairman/Program Chairman in Wilmington of the Music of Yesteryear Group.
Herman was a devoted child of God and faithfully attended church. For many years, he sang in the choir at Wrightsville Beach Baptist Church and Ogden Baptist Church and taught Sunday School classes. His chronological history of Wrightsville Beach Baptist Church was encased in the cornerstone of the church’s expansion building in 2001.
Herman is predeceased by his beautiful wife of 54 years, Ruby, and their beloved son, Stanley Stancill; brothers Kenneth Stancill and Roger Stancill, and brother-in-law Ronald Nobles.
He is survived by three devoted children, daughter Jacqueline Stancill of Wilmington, NC; son Ben Stancill and wife, Michele, of Suffolk, VA; and daughter Tina Stancill of Wilmington, NC; three grandchildren he adored, Ray Smith, Daman Stancill (Heather), and Ashby Stancill Jones (William); and two precious great-grandchildren, Henry Stancill and Ruby Stancill; sister Doreka Stancill Nobles; brothers Len Stancill (Dianne) and Donnie Stancill (Peggy); sister-in-law, Faye Stancill; and many loving nieces and nephews.
A private graveside service will be held at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Grifton, NC.
Memorial contributions may be made to Ogden Baptist Church, 7121 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28411, or to Wrightsville Beach Baptist Church, 601 Causeway Drive, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480.