George Deke Summers
George Deke Summers graduated from Andrew Lewis High School in 1962. He was a member of the Beta and Monogram Clubs and a delegate to Boys’ State. Deke lettered in football, basketball, golf, and track.
After graduating from Andrew Lewis, Deke studied economics and history at Hampden-Sydney College, later pursuing his M.S. in history at Radford University in 1972. Deke’s career as an educator began in 1967, when he taught math and coached baseball at Lee Junior High School in Roanoke. After one semester, he joined the staff at Andrew Lewis, where he taught American history and economics for eight years while serving as Assistant Football Coach to Eddie Joyce. In his tenure at Andrew Lewis, he mentored the 1971 team that was immortalized in the “Remember the Titans” and coached for the State High School All-Star football game. Deke was also an Assistant Basketball Coach to Richard Miley, and led his 1967 team to win the State Championship.
In 1975, Deke became Head Football Coach at Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia. While at Lee, his 1977 team won the Regional Championship before losing in the State AA Semi-finals, the only time before or since that Robert E. Lee High has achieved that level of success in football. Deke was honored as District and Regional Coach of the Year.
Leaving the educational profession in 1979, Deke went on to found what is now known as Automated Mailing Systems, a completely automated presort bureau and full service mailing facility for which he serves as majority owner and CEO. With over fifty employees, Automated Mailing processes more than 300,000 pieces of mail daily for hundreds of customers in Southwest Virginia and throughout the U.S. Deke was one of the first to be designated by the Mail Systems Management Association as a “Certified Mail and Distribution System Manager,” a nationally recognized certification in the mailing industry. He served as industry co-chairman of the Roanoke Postal Customer Council for ten years. Deke was selected as one of only eight industry representatives to serve on the National Postal Customer Council Advisory Committee, and to speak at local symposiums and National Postal Forums in Philadelphia, Nashville, Anaheim, and Washington, D.C.
Deke has long been a member of the National Association of Presort Mailers, serving as Treasurer and Vice-President of the Board of Directors. He assisted the Association’s legal counsel in preparation of rebuttal testimony before the Postal Board of Governors. In 2005, Deke joined two partners and co-founded Virginia Metal Processing, Inc., a company for which he serves as President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Virginia Metal primarily supplies the steel fabrication industry and other businesses with products that have been plasma burned, sheared, bent, punched, and formed for project-specific purposes.
Deke now lives in Goodview, Virginia. Since 2001, he has returned to the coaching profession, leaving work early to serve as an Assistant Varsity Football Coach at Cave Spring High School, Hidden Valley High School, and, for the past two years, as Offensive Coordinator at Northside High School.
In recognition of his outstanding career achievements, George D. Summers is inducted into the 2008 Salem Alumni Hall of Fame established by the Salem Educational Foundation and Alumni Association.
