FRANKLIN — Deacon Ernest Lee Banks Sr., 89, of 31085 Riverdale Drive, died on Dec.7, 2015, in Southampton Memorial Hospital.

A native of Hertford County, North Carolina, he was the fifth child of the late Ernest Sherwood and late Nannie Picot Banks.

He accepted Christ at an early age and joined Diamond Grove Baptist Church. He was ordained as a deacon in 1962. He once served as president of the Diamond Grove Baptist Church Usher Board and also a delegate of the Southeastern Church Union. He held the office of church treasurer from February 1974 to January 2002. He also served as president of the Senior Choir for several years.

Deacon Ernest Banks earned his living through farming and as a school bus driver for the Southampton County Public School System.

Survivors include his wife, Ruth Ann Banks (62 years); three daughters, Dr. Catherine O. Banks of Salisbury, Maryland; Betty Jean Mann (Robert) and Ruth Ardell Banks of Hampton, Virginia; and one son, Ernest Lee Banks Jr. of Southampton County, Virginia.; adopted granddaughter, Jackie Hall Carter (Joseph) of Leesburg, Virginia; sisters, Estella Worrell, Henrietta Barham; and brother, Samuel Banks.

The funeral will be on Monday, Dec. 14, at noon in Diamond Grove Baptist Church, 30466 Riverdale Drive, Franklin.

The viewing will be on Sunday, Dec. 13, in Elvin Vaughan Funeral Home, Franklin.