December 20, 2005 Charleston Daily Mail Charleston, West Virginia Ceril McClistle Fitzwater, 83, of Clendenin, formerly of Clay, went home to be with the Lord after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. He died Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005, in Laurel Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, surrounded by his loving family. Born Aug. 25, 1923, in Clay County, he was the son of the late Morgan Shafter and Mary Ursula Price Fitzwater. His brothers, Creedis and Edsel, and his sister, Ermel Taylor, preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Willadene Hope Fitzwater of Clendenin; and his children and their spouses, Preston and Teresa Fitzwater of Clendenin, Valerie and Keith Brown of Fola, Chris and Elba Fitzwater of New Hampshire and Danita and Dwayne Mullins of Fola. He is survived by nine grandchildren whom he adored, Amanda Grayam and her husband, Mark, Amelia Fitzwater, Jeremy and Jessie Mullins, Caleb and Sam Brown and Fernando, Jonathan and Vanita Fitzwater; and three great-grandchildren, Jacob and Nicholas Grayam and Jayden Randolph. He is also survived by his brother, Carmel Fitzwater of Fola; and his sister, Vernal Taylor of Bickmore. Ceril was a lifelong member of Fola Missionary Baptist Church where he served as deacon, Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher and choir director. He helped develop the annual Christmas nativity that has been presented at the church on Christmas Eve for 44 years. In the 1960s, he directed the Fola Missionary Baptist Church Girls Chorus who traveled throughout the state. He was also a former scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 130, which the church sponsored. He was retired from Clay County schools where he taught at several schools throughout the county over his long career. He was the first principal of Clay County Junior High School, serving for nine years. Ceril finished his career as an educator doing what he loved most, teaching English at Clay County High School. Ceril epitomized the Greatest Generation. He served in the Pacific Theater as a deep-sea demolition diver and signalman with the U.S. Navy in World War II. During the war, Ceril participated in campaigns such as Iwo Jima and Saipan and survived his ship being sunk by a typhoon, another by an enemy torpedo and a transport plane ditching at sea. He was also a Pacific Golden Gloves boxer. After his discharge, he attended the Stamps-Baxter School of Music, Dallas, Texas, and for a short while toured throughout the southeast with The Four States gospel quartet. On his return home to Fola, he taught singing schools and worked in this family's logging business until he began his teaching career while attending college on the GI Bill. He attended Glenville state and received his BA degree from Morris Harvey College and his MA degree from WVCOGS, Charleston. The Rev. Tom Price and the Rev. Rodney Smith will conduct the funeral services at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21, at Fola Missionary Baptist Church, Fola. Burial will follow in the Fitzwater family cemetery, Fola. A gathering of family and friends will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Carl Wilson Funeral Home, Clay. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Ceril's memory to the West Virginia chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. The family requests that all former members of the Fola Missionary Baptist Church Girls Choir contact Mrs. Greta Brown at 304-587-2934. Carl Wilson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.carlwilsonfuneralhome.com. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.7/214 - Release Date: 12/23/05