Warren Sumrall, Longtime Merritt Island Evangelist, Dies at 88

OBITUARY — Warren Dale Sumrall, the longtime Merritt Island evangelist whose Scripture signs became a familiar sight to generations of students traveling to Merritt Island High School, died Sept. 13 at his home after a brief illness. He was 88.

For nearly four decades, Sumrall stood along North Courtenay Parkway on school mornings displaying the words of Jesus to passing students and motorists.

“I consider it an honor to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to quote him publicly,” Sumrall told Space Coast Daily earlier this year, adding that he trusted God’s word “will not return void.”

Friends and family gathered Oct. 24 at First Baptist Church of Cocoa, where Sumrall attended in his later years, to remember a life of evangelism that reached far beyond the roadside.

His public sign ministry began while he was still working in the space program, displaying homemade Scripture signs from his pickup truck at Kennedy Space Center. He later took that witness to local schools and became a fixture outside Merritt Island High School beginning in the late 1980s.

Sumrall also served for years with Canaveral Port Ministry, participated in local Christmas parades with Christian banners, and joined First Baptist Cocoa in door-to-door evangelism. At the church, he served with young people and even offered students money to read and copy portions of the Gospels.

“I just always loved his heart for the Gospel, and he would do anything for the Gospel,” Youth Pastor Gaston Kinney said.

Pastor Dean Williamson described Sumrall’s work as a “prophet-like ministry to this community” and challenged those gathered to continue the public witness he modeled.

“Who’s going to take up the mantle and represent Jesus publicly in Brevard County, especially in Merritt Island?” Williamson asked.

Sumrall was born Oct. 21, 1937, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Alabama and later worked in the aerospace industry, moving with his family to the Space Coast in 1976 to continue his career with IBM at Kennedy Space Center.

He retired in 1996 to care for his first wife, Cynthia, after she developed Alzheimer’s dementia. She died in 2003. He later met Paula Roman through Canaveral Port Ministry, and the two married in 2015.

Sumrall is survived by Paula; his son, Richard; his daughter, Angelyn Trimble, and her husband, Gene; two granddaughters; and one great-granddaughter.

In his February interview, Sumrall closed with the message he had spent much of his life sharing publicly:

“To be a real winner in life, you must know Jesus, love him and serve him.”

— Christians of Brevard is a multi-church initiative that seeks to amplify the voices of local churches and ministries for the purpose of encouraging the local body of Christ and advancing the Kingdom of God. Join our Facebook community @ChristiansOfBrevard