Stanley Edward Peacher, 79, of Milton, Fla., died Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, leaving behind a family who loved and cherished him dearly.
An avid University of Alabama football fan, Ed was born and raised in the Loxley area and attended Marion Institute, where he played football, basketball and baseball.
After graduating from Marion, Ed attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where he met his future wife Joye, and served briefly as a member of the United States Army after graduation. After an honorable discharge, Ed continued to serve as an Army reservist for 28 years, retiring as a full bird colonel in 1987.
In 1958, Ed and Joye moved to Milton, where he began a long career with American Cyanamid, retiring in the late ‘90s as a senior consultant after having traveled the world to bring Cyanamid’s technology to other countries.
Although both Ed’s military career and career with Cyanamid brought him much success, his greatest accomplishments came as a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather as well as a coach and mentor to the scores of young men he coached on various little league teams over the last 40 years.
A longtime supporter of Milton High School athletics, Ed spent many a night cooking hamburgers for the Quarterback Club and Baseball Boosters Club and never tired of donning his MHS ball cap to attend an athletic event with a grandchild in tow.
He also served as a second-grade Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church from the mid-1960s until 2010, sharing the stories of the Bible and conducting his weekly Bible drills with the hundreds of young children who passed through his class over the years.
Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Stanley and Anna Mae Peacher.
Ed is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joye Ingram Peacher; four children and their spouses, Mike and Debbie Peacher, Jeff and Holly Peacher, Patti and Ronald Miller, and Clay Peacher; nine grandchildren, Brant, Caitlin, and Ashleigh Peacher, Lindsey, Kelsey, Chandler, and J.C. Peacher, and Bailey English and Tillman Peacher.
Ed Peacher always had a smile on his face and a cheerful greeting to those he met. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends, but we take comfort in the knowledge that he now resides with his heavenly father.
Funeral services were held at First Baptist Church of Milton on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, with Dr. David Spencer officiating. Burial followed at Milton Cemetery.
Active pallbearers were Mike Peacher, Jeff Peacher, Clay Peacher, Brant Peacher, J.C. Peacher and longtime friend, Jimmy Hudson. Honorary pallbearers were Murry Rutledge, Max Williams, Carl Jordan, Brian Jordan, Kevin Glover, J.B. Brock, Bailey English, Bryan Geiger, Ryan Johnson, Cory Peaden and Hunter Channell.
Those wishing to make a donation in his memory may contribute to the Student Ministry fund at First Baptist Church of Milton, 6797 Caroline St., Milton, FL 32570.
Arrangements by Lewis Funeral Home, Milton, Fla.
