Earl Walter Wooten

Earl Walter “Bobby” Wooten, age 88, of Duck, NC passed away on October 7, 2025 after a courageous battle with MDS and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  Earl was born to Earl and Eloise Wooten in Columbia, SC on September 23, 1937. He was raised in Columbia and Blythewood, SC, enjoying a taste of both city and country life during his youth.He briefly attended Newberry College, before deciding that he was “wasting his Pa’s money” there and he transferred to Palmer Business College in Columbia. It was a serendipitous move, as that’s where he met Hilda Minshew of Dillon, SC who would become his bride and the love of his life during their 66 years of marriage.

During the first years of  marriage the couple lived in Columbia and Sumter, SC where they began their family and Earl served in the United States Naval Reserves. In 1966, Earl, Hilda and their young family visited the Outer Banks for the first time, both agreeing that they had been born a long way from home. Twenty years passed as they raised their three children David, Jennifer and Sean in numerous areas of North and South Carolina. During that time, Earl worked as a Systems Analyst for companies including IBM in Research Triangle Park and Belk Store Services in Charlotte.

Earl and Hilda answered the call to live on the Outer Banks in 1986, when Earl switched career paths and started his own mobile accounting business as an Enrolled Accountant, serving many wonderful small business clients from Ocracoke to Rich Square, NC.  Earl was a member of Mensa and a prolific reader of non-fiction history books. He enjoyed varied hobbies over the years including camping with his family, and fishing both from the surf and on his boat “Dreamer”.  He and Hilda were Parrot Heads, and loved attending Jimmy Buffett concerts throughout the Southeast.

In the early 2000’s he became an avid road cyclist, traveling the country to participate in week-long bike rides. In 2006 at age 69, he embarked on his biggest biking challenge, a three-month cross-country tour from Seattle, WA to Washington, DC. It was the adventure of a lifetime as he and a group of newly made friends traversed mountains, prairies, small towns and cities across the country.

Once his grandchildren were born, Earl cherished spending time with them whenever he had the opportunity. All three were (are) soccer players, and he developed a true love of the beautiful game. He attended his granddaughters’ games in Kentucky any chance he could, but as his grandson Phoenix lived nearby, he and Hilda found themselves spending most weekends watching him play, traveling throughout North Carolina, to Virginia, Columbus, OH, Cambridge, MA and many stops in between. He was always his grandchildren’s most dedicated fan for all of their life’s pursuits.

The greatest love of Earl’s life was his family. He is survived by his wife Hilda, sons David Wooten and his wife Susan of Simpsonville, SC; Sean Wooten and his wife Jantaporn of Kill Devil Hills; and daughter Jennifer Wooten of Manteo; as well as his grandchildren Sarah Wooten, Rachel Wooten and Phoenix Wooten to whom he was known as Cappy. In addition, he is survived by his sister Kathy Johnson (Bobby) of West Columbia, SC; sister-in-law Cecelia Mesica of Dillon, SC and brother-in-law Carroll Gene Minshew (Barbara) of Floydale, SC as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He is proceeded in death by his parents Earl and Eloise Wooten; brother-in-law Joe Newton Minshew; brother-in-law Roland Minshew; and sister-in-law Ernestine Minshew.

The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff at the Outer Banks Cowell Cancer Center in Nags Head for their incredible support and compassionate care during his treatments there over the past year and a half.   As per Earl’s request, no services will be held. Memorial donations may be made to the OBX Storm Scholarship Program or WUNC North Carolina Public Radio. To quote Earl’s favorite philosopher Jimmy Buffett, “some of it’s magic, some of it’s tragic, but I had a good life all the way.” Please share expressions of sympathy with the family via the online register at www.gallopfuneralservices.com .