Obituary of Arthur St. Clair DeBerry, Jr.

Arthur St. Clair DeBerry, Jr.  -  Born January 18, 1929 to Arthur S. DeBerry Sr. and Frances Rubilee (Ruby) Whitehead DeBerry, died at home December 14, 2020. He was the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. George Thomas DeBerry (Virginia Hyman) and Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Raymond Whitehead (Eugenia Deal).  He was a native of Tarboro, North Carolina.

His mother operated DeBerry’s Colonial Dining Room, nationally recognized for its food and hospitality by Ford Times and Duncan Hines, on the Common in Tarboro, for many years prior to her death in 1977.

A graduate of Tarboro High School, NC State and the UNC  School of Law, he became a protégé of L. Watts Norton in Durham after a stint in the US Army Quartermaster Corp during the Korean War.  He was discharged from the Army with the rank of Captain.

Watts Norton provided the foundation for a lifelong career with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company where he began work as a college agent and eventually held Mr. Norton’s position as General Agent for North Carolina.  Upon retirement, DeBerry’s agency was ranked in the Top Twenty of the Northwestern Mutual  system.  He continued to serve clients as a Senior Agent until his death.

A long time Rotarian, DeBerry was a Paul Harris Fellow, as are all members of his immediate family.

DeBerry was predeceased by his wife of 45 years Martha Decker DeBerry of Miami Shores, Florida, in 2002.  Surviving are a son, David Tadley DeBerry, his wife Barbara Wood, two granddaughters Eleanor Virginia and Kathryn Olivia of Durham, a daughter Juliane Virginia DeBerry Roberts, her husband Kirk, also of Durham and his second wife, Mignon Rodgers  Wilson DeBerry, her daughter Julie, and granddaughter Zoe,  of Chapel Hill. 

He also is survived by first cousins Ruby Christine Whitehead, Herman Deal Whitehead, Miriam Sollee Owens, and Olivia Sollee Kelly, their extended families, as well as descendants of the Anderson, Boyette, Bradley, Bryant, Deal, DeBerry, Gammon, Hyman, Mayo, Millard, Pippen, Turner, Sellars,  Sollee, Sills, and Whitehead families of eastern North Carolina.

A private family burial will take place in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.  A memorial service will be scheduled later.

In lieu of food or flowers the family suggests gifts be made to institutions the DeBerrys supported in life, University United Methodist Church – Chapel Hill, Duke Memorial United Methodist Church - Durham, St. James United Methodist Church – Tarboro, Louisburg College, 501 North Main Street, Louisburg, NC  27549, Asheville School, 360 School Road, Asheville, NC 28806, The North Carolina Symphony, UNC-CH, The Rotary Foundation, The FedEx Global Endowment Fund at UNC-CH, or the NC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill, in honor of Arthur and Martha DeBerry. 

Also, cards or letters recounting events in Arthur and Martha’s lives will be accepted and placed in a scrapbook for their grandchildren.  Please mail these reminisces to DeBerry, Ste 201, 5102 Chapel Hill Blvd, Durham, 27707.

Walker’s Funeral Home in Chapel Hill is assisting the family.