Ernest Joel Sewell

Ernest Joel Sewell

Ernest Joel Sewell, 84 of Holden Beach, NC, formerly of Mobile, Alabama, passed away on Monday, August 11, 2025, in the Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center, following a time of declining health.

Ernest, or “Ernie” as he was affectionately known, was born in Mobile, Alabama, on October 24, 1940, and was the son of the late Chester Ernest and Ruby Melton Sewell.  In addition to his parents, Ernie was predeceased by his first wife, Patricia Lancaster Sewell, in 1978; a stepdaughter, Karen Suzanne Settle; and a brother (infant), Malcolm Vance Sewell.

Ernie was a proud man from humble beginnings.  His birth in Mobile, Ala, was towards the end of the Great Depression.  Through ingenuity, hard work and perseverance, he paid his own way through college, becoming the first in his family to earn a college degree.  A graduate of The University of Southern Mississippi and LSU Graduate School of Banking, where he taught for several years during the summer session,  he rose to become the President and CEO of a well known North Carolina bank.  One of his proudest moments was when he grew the bank to over a billion in assets and was written up in the Wall Street Journal.  He served on many boards, most notably the Wake Forest School of Business, World Trade Association, and was a director of the Richmond Federal Reserve. He was an eloquent, humorous speaker and was awarded the first and only Lewis Grizzard Award by the Cape Fear Chapter of the North Carolina World Trade Association.

He was an accomplished pilot, lover of military history, hunter, fisherman and all-around good guy.  His retirement years afforded opportunities to truly reap what he had sown. Nothing gave him more pleasure than making people laugh, and he would often ride through his neighborhood wearing seasonal costumes on “Big Red,” his etrike, which he rode for over 3,000 miles within the neighborhood. 

He was a family man and always referred to his loving wife, Rowena, as his beautiful bride.  Nothing gave him more joy than being with his family. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy continues through his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Surviving are his loving wife of 45 years, Rowena Porter Sewell; a daughter, Tisa S. O’Cain (Steve) of St Simons Island, GA; a son, Vance Sewell (Cari) of Culpepper, VA; a step-daughter, Victoria Shawn Angiono (Michael) of Sandia, TX; a sister, Faye McGinnis (Phil) of Woodstock, GA; grandchildren, Elijah O’Cain (Mallory), Luke O’Cain (Abby), Chase Sewell Elhabbal (Noah), Kennedy Sewell, Canon Sewell (Selina), Traci Joelle Sewell, Isabelle Sewell, Carson Sewell, Bode Sewell; step-grandchildren, Dauphine Burns, Margaret Burns, Elizabeth Burns; and great grandchildren, Clark Elhabbal, Austen Elhabbal, and Arlette Sewell.

A private celebration of life service will be held at a later date.

The family respectfully requests that donations be made in his name to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or https;//www.stjude.org/ or to the Wounded Warriors Foundation, PO Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516 or https:www.woundedwarriorsproject.org/.

Online condolences may be sent to www.fulwoodfuneralservice.com.