By Staff
Staff Reports
Rachel Fox Futrell, 88, a resident of 1206 Summit Ave., Washington, and whose family owned the Washington Daily News for 50 years, died Wednesday at the Heart Center of Eastern North Carolina in Greenville.
Survivors include her son, Ashley B. “Brownie” Futrell Jr. and his wife, Susan, of Washington and two grandchildren, Gretchen Suzanne Futrell and Ashley B. “Ace” Futrell III.
Futrell’s husband, Ashley B. Futrell Sr., who died Feb. 11, 2005, took over leadership of the newspaper Nov. 15, 1949, just 10 days before he married her. Later, she became active with the newspaper’s operations so he could serve as a state senator from 1965 to 1971.
The Futrell family sold the newspaper this summer.
Until several months ago, she was a frequent visitor to the newspaper’s offices. On Jan. 28, she attended the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet where the newspaper was honored during the 20th-anniversary year of receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service.
For her involvement with the restoration of the Turnage Theater, the Turnage Theaters Foundation created the Rachel Futrell Society, which helps raise funds for the foundation.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later.