Thomas C. Ealy, 91, passed away Thursday at his home in Charlotte, NC.

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday Sept. 15 , 2009, at Overlook Cemetery in Eden, NC. He will be buried beside his beloved wife, Garnice Knight Ealy. Fair Funeral Home is assisting the Ealy family.

Mr. Ealy and his family moved from the Leaksville area in 1960 after selling their furniture-antique stores.
Mr. Ealy trained as an artist at the University of Michigan in the late 1930s, while working his way through college. He painted, as well as collected, beautiful art through-out his life and passed on his passion for art to both surviving sons, W. Carl Ealy, nationally renowned artist and founder of Pathway Art Cards, and Dr. George T. Ealy, M.D., Ph.d., a professor of microbiology in Jacksonville, FL.

Ealy was born in Dickson, Tenn., in 1918, and upon graduating high school with top honors (second in his class), he majored in art at the University of Michigan. A veteran of World War II, Ealy was honorably discharged from the United States Navy in 1945 after serving in the Pacific Theater in the Philippines.
After teaching art initially after college, Ealy became involved full-time with the growing real estate market in Charlotte. Initially starting as a real estate salesman, he quickly became a well-known Realtor in town and was named Charlotte's "Outstanding Realtor" in 1969.

In 1964, Tom and his wife, Garnice Knight Ealy (deceased), founded Ealy Realty Co., which served the Charlotte area for more than 40 years before his semi-retirement in 2007 at age 89. Ealy was elected to the Charlotte Symphony League in 1989 and was an active patron of the Opera Carolina and the Mint Museum for many decades.
One of his proudest moments, on his 70th birthday, was playing a round of golf with his son, George, and hitting a hole-in-one at the Belvedere Golf Club in Hampstead, near his summer home on Topsail Island.

A memorial service in Thomas C. Ealy's honor will be held at the Chapel of Christ Church Episcopal in Charlotte at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009. Donations in Ealy's honor should be made to Christ Church Episcopal.
Online condolences to the family at www.fairfunerlhome.com.

Published in the Eden Daily News on 9/13/2009