Nansemond County-Suffolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Rawles, Capt. Benjamin F., 1960 

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Captain Rawles is Buried on Thursday 

  Funeral services for Captain Benjamin Fitzhugh Rawles were conducted 
Thursday at 4 p. m at the Hill Funeral Home by Dr. Hampden H. Smith, pastor 
of Main Street Methodist Church.  Burial was in Cedar Hill Cemetery. 

  Dr. Smith read Tennyson's poem "Crossing The Bar." 

  Miss Mildred Johnson sang the hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross," accompanied at 
the piano by Mrs. J. Webb Pinner Jr. 

  The casket was covered with a pall of pink roses, pink carnations, blue 
Dutch iris and acacia. 

  Pallbearers were Fire Chief Rufus Baines, J.S. Carter, J.T. Pierce, Vernon 
A. Jones, J.H. Hancock, B.F. Jernigan, Howard Mizell and Edward Hollowell. 

  Members of the Suffolk Volunteer Fire Department, Suffolk police, city 
officials and friends served as honorary pallbearers. 


Letter to the Editor 

Tribute Is Paid to Captain Ben Rawles

FOR WHOM THE FIRE BELLS TOLL 

  When the family, relatives and friends gathered together to pay their last 
respects to Ben Rawles, it was a symbol of esteem.  They, like many more of 
the citizens of Suffolk, paid a silent tribute and built a mental memorial to 
a man who left behind him a Job Well Done For Over A Quarter of A Century. 
He, like many others of Suffolk's Civil Service employees, had dedicated his 
life to the protection of and maintaining safety precautions for our lives, 
families and homes in all kind of hazardous weather, and no matter the hour 
and the personal risk. 

  Ben Rawles, like many other veteran civil service employees of Suffolk, was 
as regular on duty as the calender, year after year.  Faithfulness and loyalty 
have been shown to our city by these devoted guardians of peace and property. 
Even the temptation of higher pay and easier position didn't entice them. 
Wealth and power was not what they sought.  Ben Rawls, like many other civil 
service employees of Suffolk, gave a dedication of service. 

  The passing of Ben Rawles was not in vain, as he like many others in the 
public service looking forward to retirement had the foresight to train other 
men to take his place, so the walls of safety and protection would always 
stand.  Let us not forget those who serve us and place them in the passing 
parade.  Let us hear the fire bell more often, to cherish and appreciate those 
unsung men that are still with us today... Not wait until they are gone. 
     Robert Jake Hayes 


Captain Benjamin Fitzhugh RAWLES, Suffolk fireman, 
b. 8 Sep 1908, Suffolk, d. 9 Feb 1960, Suffolk, 
interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery (Block F, Lot 89*), Suffolk, 11 Feb 1960, 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 38, No. 36, Fri., Feb. 12, 1960, p. 3 

*Additional information: 

Cedar Hill list, an extension of the 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/cemeteries/cedar_p.txt 

His parents, Benjamin Travis RAWLES & Geneva A. (TURNLEY RAWLES) FORD, 
   are buried in adjacent Lot 88. 

D.Cert. 4677 (Suffolk #9) 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/r420b3ob.txt