Isaac Sumners

Isaac Sumners, known to his many friends as “Bud” and to his family as “Papa Bud,” passed away Monday, Nov. 23, 2020, while in loving hospice and family care following an extended illness.  He was 83.

A private graveside service for immediate family will be held on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020 (Roll Tide), at 11 a.m., at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home & Jefferson Memorial Gardens, in Hoover, Alabama.  Out of an abundance of caution, the family regrets not being able to receive friends due to COVID-19.

A resident of Tallahassee, Florida, Papa Bud was born in Sylacauga, Alabama, on Sept. 21, 1937.  He lived most of his life in Birmingham, Alabama, and attended Woodlawn High School and both the University of Alabama and Howard College.  He proudly served in the Alabama Army National Guard from 1954 to 1963.  He also was a member of the Bluff Park Masonic Lodge #856 in Hoover, the Birmingham Valley Scottish Rite Bodies and the Birmingham Zamora Shrine Temple.

Papa Bud was employed by Dorsey Trailer as Sales Manager for many years, covering the State of Alabama while based in Birmingham.  He and his wife of 51 years, “Mama Kate,” moved to Dothan, Alabama, in 1989 where he served as General Manager of Action GMC until his retirement.  Following Mama Kate’s death in 2008, Papa Bud moved to Tallahassee, Florida, to be close to his son and family.

A devout Christian, Papa Bud attended Bluff Park United Methodist Church and Dothan First United Methodist Church, respectively.  After moving to Tallahassee, he became a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral.  Papa Bud greatly loved his family, friends and his extended church family.

Survivors include son Dwight and his wife Beth, of Tallahassee; 2 adult grandchildren, Tyler and Lauren and her husband Seamus Toner of Tallahassee; brother John Sumners and his wife Sylvia, of Birmingham; and numerous nieces and nephews and cousins across Alabama and Mississippi.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in memory of Bud or Papa Bud can be made to St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, 4784 Thomasville Rd, Tallahassee, Florida 32309.  Phone: 850-701-0664.  Website: www.stpetersfl.com.  The family also encourages memorial donations to local hospices.