A funeral for Capt. John Gayle Anderton, 97, of Saluda, was held at 2 p.m. Friday in Bristow-Faulkner Funeral Home, Saluda. He died Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011.

Mr. Anderton was born in Bohannon on Dec. 5, 1913, the son of Harry Elmore Anderton and Ora Maude White Anderton. He had lived in Middlesex County for the past 65 years. He attended Peninsula High School in Mathews and Pugsley Nautical Academy in New York.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Frances Moore Anderton; brother, Donald Anderton; and sister, Dorothy Gayle.

Survivors include two daughters and two granddaughters.

Mr. Anderton was a merchant seaman for 16 years and a Captain during World War II where he served in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. He was a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. Mr. Anderton was a past president of the Middlesex Ruritan Club, a Boy Scout Leader, a Past Master of Urbanna Masonic Lodge #83 and a member of the Royal Arch Chapter #59.

He served as chairman of the Middlesex County School Board for 10 years. He was a member of the former Centenary United Methodist Church and present member of Forest Chapel United Methodist Church. He was president of Moore’s Dairy Farm in Saluda, and farmed into his late 80s.

Burial with Masonic Rites was held in Middlesex Memorial Cemetery, Urbanna.

Memorial gifts can be made to Riverside Walter Reed Hospice, P.O. Box 1130, Gloucester, Va. 23061; the Central Middlesex Volunteer Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 790, Urbanna, Va. 23175, or a charity of your choice.