Edwin C. Nettles
WAKEFIELD—Edwin Carter Nettles Jr., a lifelong resident of Wakefield, died Dec. 25, 2008, in his home at the age of 72.
Born March 5, 1936, on Wilson Avenue across from the site that would later serve for many years as his law office, Nettles was the son of the late Dr. E.C. Nettles Sr. and Louise Robertson Nettles.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Kathryn Chappell Nettles; two daughters, Bryar Chappell Nettles of Richmond and Kathryn Carter Nettles of Boston; a son, Edwin Carter Nettles III of Wakefield; and a granddaughter, Kathryn Sandberg Brodell of Richmond. Mr. Nettles leaves two siblings, Charles Leland Nettles of Syria, Va., and Dr. Elizabeth Jane Nettles of St. Louis. Mr.
Nettles was a 1954 graduate of Wakefield High School, a 1958 graduate of The College of William & Mary and received his LL.B. and J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1961. He was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1961. He opened his sole practitioner law office in Wakefield that same year and practiced law there until he retired in 2000. He served as commissioner of Accounts for Sussex Circuit Court from 2004 until September 2008. He had served as Commonwealth’s attorney and Sussex County attorney from 1963 – 1995. Mr. Nettles’ Virginia State Bar Activities included memberships of the Board of Governors, Environmental Law Section; the Bar Council (1967-1975); the Board of Governors, Criminal Section (founding member, former secretary); Fourth District Ethics Committee; Committee on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar; Special Committee to Redistrict Council; Conference of Local Bar Associations; and The Virginia Bar Association. He was a member and Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, Sussex County Bar Association (former treasurer, vice-chairman and president) and member of Sixth Circuit Bar Association.
His many other professional and civic activities included: Association of Local Government Attorneys; member, Advisory Council, Virginia Legislative Study Commission of Commonwealth’s Attorneys; Virginia representative, National Taskforce on Organized Crime; secretary, Sussex County Planning Commission; town attorney, Town of Waverly; member, Industrial Development Committee, Sussex, Surry and Southampton counties and Criminal Justice Committee, Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions; chairman, Sussex County Democratic Committee (1988-1999); member, President’s Council, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Virginia Chapter, the Nature Conservancy and the John Clayton Chapter of Virginia Native Plant Society.
He was a Sussex County representative of the Bench Bar Committee, Sixth Judicial Circuit and member of the Committee to Draft Rules of Criminal Practice and Procedure (rules adopted 1971), Chowan Basin Soil and Water Conservation District and Board of Directors, Virginia Dept. of Conservations and Recreation. Mr. Nettles memberships included The Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys Association (president), The William & Mary Alumni Society, University of Richmond Law School Association (director for two terms) and the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was president of the Wakefield Ruritan Club, Waverly Rotary Club and Wakefield Sportsman’s Club.
Mr. Nettles was also a member of Wakefield Community Hunt Club and Waid’s Corner Hunt Club, Wakefield Baptist Church (chairman of the Board of Deacons), Phi Kappa Tau Social Fraternity and Delta Theta Phi Legal Fraternity, Pheasant Pluckers International, Franklin Virginia Chapter and chairman of Wakefield Shad Planking and Master of Ceremonies and Keeper of the secret “Shad Sauce” of the Wakefield Shad Planking Committee.
He had many hobbies as a gardener, birder, local historian, woodworker, cook, local expert on conservation easements and endangered species. He was a lifelong nature enthusiast and protector and had a special interest in the rare and endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker whose northern-most extent is Sussex County.
A lifelong devotee to the principles of the Boy Scouts of America, Mr. Nettles was scout master of Troop 24, Wakefield, and was the recipient of the Silver Beaver Award for adult leadership. He was an Eagle Scout as a member of Troop 24, Wakefield and was 4-Course Woodbadge trained.
A celebration of Mr. Nettles’ full and varied life will be held Monday at 11 a.m. in Wakefield (Purviance) Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home. The Rev. Macon B. Walton and the Rev. James Kerr will officiate. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday from 6 to 7 p.m. Burial will be in Wakefield Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to the Waverly Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 583, Waverly, VA 23890, Crater Community Hospice, 840 W. Roslyn Road, Suite E, Colonial Heights, VA 23834 or Wakefield Baptist Church, P.O. Box 764, Wakefield, VA 23888. Condolences may be posted online at www.jtmorriss.com.