William Abel

Canton - William Joshua "Way" Abel, age 78, of 791 Abel Road died Saturday, January 04, 2003 at Haywood Regional Medical Center.

He was a native and life-long resident of Haywood County and was the son of the late Grover J. and Mattie Kirkpatrick Abel. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Elizabeth Abel and a brother, John Abel.

He was an active member of Long's United Methodist Church. He grew tomatoes and owned and operated several tomato packing houses. He packed and shipped tomatoes nationally from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky under the label of Pigeon Valley Tomato Company.

In addition to his wife of 49 years, Opal Lee Crawford Abel, he is survived by a son, John Melvin Abel and his wife, Ester of Canton.

A memorial service will be at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 7th at Long's United Methodist Church with the Reverend Michelle Chappell officiating. The family will receive friends from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Monday at Wells Funeral Home in Canton. At other times, the family will be at his residence.

Memorials may be made to Long's United Methodist Church Building Fund, c/o Elsie Harkins, 86 Coffee Branch Road, Canton, NC 28716.

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