Generation No. 5

N71. JOHN DAVID⁷ BRIDGERS (Estelle Sheppard⁶ Whichard, David Jordan⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born on July 4, 1920 in Kinston, Lenoir County, North Carolina.  He married Edith Holland Hamrick in August 27, 1945 in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, daughter of Thomas Carl Hamrick and Marietta Moore.  She was born in 1918 in Boiling Springs, Cleveland County, North Carolina; died on August 3, 2000 in Woodbridge, Connecticut; and was buried in Emerywood Baptist Church columbarium at High Point, North Carolina.

Edie’s grandfather operated a store and gave much of the land for Boiling Springs Junior College, which is now Gardner-Webb University.  Her father, Carl Hamrick, a candy salesman, was responsible for rebuilding the First Baptist Church in Boiling Springs during The Depression.  The church had extended itself to the point that its members were told that no more loans could be given to the church.  Carl Hamrick went to the candy company in Virginia and borrowed $5,000 as a personal loan so the church could be built.  That was unheard of during The Depression.  It would be the equivalent of one of us today taking out and paying off a personal loan of $1,280,000 to build a Baptist church.

According to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 189; “John David served as a navy pilot during World War II, graduated from Duke Medical School and served a residency in the study of pediatrics in the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa.  Dr. Bridgers is now (1982) in the practice of pediatrics in High Point, N.C., and has served several terms on the Board of Trustees of East Carolina University.”  Dr. Bridgers has since retired to Alpharetta, Fulton County, Georgia.

Marriage of John David Bridgers and Edith Holland Hamrick

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Wednesday, August 29, 1945, p. 2:

BRIDGERS-HAMRICK

Jacksonville, Fla. –– All Saints Chapel on the Naval Air Station at Jacksonville, Fla. was the scene of a beautiful naval wedding at eight o’clock Monday evening, August 27th, when Lt. (j.g.) Edith Holland Hamrick, U.S.N.R. was married to Lt. John David Bridgers, U.S.N.R.  The Chapel was appropriately decorated with candles, palms and white chrysanthemums and gladioli.

While the guests were assembling, Sp. W. Robert Key rendered a program of nuptial organ music, and just before the ceremony, Miss Elizabeth Bridgers of Greenville, N.C., sister of the bride-groom, sang “The Sweetest Story Ever Told” by Stults and D’Hardelt’s “Because.”

The Lord’s Prayer by Malotte was used as a benediction.

The bridesmaids were Ensign Marjorie Young, of Buchanan, West Virginia, and Lt. (j.g.) Dorothy Henry, of Atlanta, Ga.  They wore identical evening dresses of aqua chiffon with hats and veils of matching shades, and carried colonial bouquets.

The maid-of-honor, Miss Helen Hamrick, of Boiling Springs, N.C., sister of the bride, wore an evening gown of rose taffeta and net with hat and veil similar to the bridesmaids and carried a colonial bouquet.

The ushers were Lieutenants Elmer Maul, Richard Mills, James Barnitz and Richard Glass.

The bride entered with and was given in marriage by her brother, Felix E. Hamrick of Boiling Springs.  Her bridal gown was of white faille made with sweetheart neckline, pointed sleeves, a fitted bodice and full shirt.  Her white fingertip veil was becomingly worn in cap effect.  She carried a white prayer book with a purple orchid.  The groom with his best man, Lt. Sumner Rulon-Miller, Jr., met her at the altar.  The impressive double ring ceremony was performed by Lt. Harry A. Porter, Chaplain, U.S.N.R.

The gentlemen attendants all wore the full dress white uniform of the United States Navy.

The bride is the daughter of Mrs. Thomas Carl Hamrick and the late Mr. Hamrick of Boiling Springs, N.C.  She is a graduate of Boiling Springs High School, Gardner-Webb Junior College at Boiling Springs and The Woman’s College, University of North Carolina, Greensboro.  She was a member of the high school faculty in Sanford, N.C. before entering the Navy.

The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Leon Bridgers of Greenville, N.C.  He is a graduate of the Greenville High School and East Carolina Teachers College in Greenville.  Upon graduation he volunteered for the Naval Air Corps, which he entered in February 1941.  After receiving his wings, he made an 18-months tour in the Pacific as Navy dive bomber on carrier duty before returning to the States for six months.  He then returned to the Pacific for ten months of combat duty.  He holds the Air Medal with several stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross and Navy Cross.  Since his return to stateside duty in January, he has been Chief Flight Instructor at Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Fla.

Immediately after the wedding, the bride’s family gave a reception at the Officers Club of the Naval Air Station.

After a short wedding trip, the couple will reside in Jacksonville where they are both stationed at present.

Members of the bride’s family present for the wedding were Mr. and Mrs. Felix Hamrick, Misses Marietta and Helen Hamrick and Mrs. Hugh J. Mack of Boiling Springs, N.C.

Biographical Notes on John David Bridgers

Excerpted from http://tk-jk.net/Bridgers/

“John David (as he was called as a boy) Bridgers was (b)orn on July 4, 1920 in Kinston ... (he) was the first child of Samuel Leon Bridgers and Essie Sheppard Whichard and the first Whichard grandchild of his generation.

(H)is life is representative of an entire generation of Americans raised in small rural towns during the depression, coming of age on the battlefields of World War II, returning to school on the GI bill and parenting the Baby Boom of the 1950s.  Raised in Greenville, John David attended public schools and the then East Carolina Teachers’ College, now East Carolina University.  As a young boy he worked for the family newspaper The Daily Reflector and was an excellent student.  He graduated from college after just 3 years of study and was voted “Most Likely To Succeed.”  His main loves were theater, tennis and swing dancing.

After college he worked temporarily in the tobacco industry and for a local grocery store while looking around for something to satisfy his youthful wanderlust.  He found it in an ad in The National Geographic recruiting Naval aviators.  Joining the United States Naval Reserve, he obtained his wings shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor providing him with a front row seat in the Pacific theater.  As a carrier-based dive-bomber pilot, he saw action in most of the major sea battles of the war including Midway, Coral Sea and Leyte Gulf rising to the rank of Lt. Commander. Commendations included Air Medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross and The Navy Cross.

Excerpted from The Complete Marquis Who’s Who, Biographies, October 26, 2001: 1940: graduated from East Carolina Teachers College, Greenville, North Carolina 1941-60: Commander, United States Naval Reserve; combat service in World War II (Pacific Theater) and Korea 1950: graduated from Duke University Medical School, Durham, North Carolina 1954-56: flight surgeon, aviator 1956-62: Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 1956-62: resident pediatrician, Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia 1962-85: director, Out Patient Department, Children’s Hospital, Philadelphia 1985-88: private practice, High Point, North Carolina 1988-93: physician field representative, Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations 1994: medical director, Burnette Tomlin Memorial Hospital, Cape May Court House, New Jersey

In addition to these accomplishments, the end of the war found him with a wife, Edith Holland Hamrick (also from North Carolina), and a new name, “Jigs” (from his flight name, Jig Dog).  He met Edie, an officer in the WAVEs, at the end of the war while stationed in Florida and serving as a flight instructor. They were married in August 1945.

After the war, he attended Duke University medical school. John David, Jr. (Jock) was born in 1946 followed by Samuel Leon II (Sam) in 1948.

Called back to active duty for the Korean War, he served as a flight surgeon –– not seeing combat but learning to fly jets.  His third son, Carl Hamrick, was born in 1950 followed by his final son, Raymond Siebert, in 1952 and his first daughter, Barbara Jean, in 1954.

Following the Korean War, he became a pediatric resident at Childrens’ Hospital in Philadelphia and a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.  During those years, Jigs spent long hours at the hospital while Edie was busy raising the kids.  The kids remember Sunday afternoons at the hospital followed by visits to the local museums and summers in Maine or on the Jersey shore.  Ellen Holland (Holly), Edie & Jig’s sixth and final child, was born in 1960.

Shortly thereafter Jigs left Pennsylvania to return to North Carolina and enter private practice.  He joined Dr. John F. “Jack” Lynch, the son of his mother’s childhood friend, at The Infant and Child Clinic, an established pediatric practice in High Point, and was a partner in that practice until the mid-1980s.  As part of their practice, he and Dr. William Michel specialized in the treatment of hyperactive children before it was widely recognized by the medical establishment.

His community activities during those years included election to the High Point School Board including a term as Vice-Chairman and nomination by Governor James Hunt to the East Carolina University Board of Trustees.

In his early 60s, Jigs was again struck by that wanderlust, leaving his pediatric practice to join The Joint Commission for Hospital Accreditation.  He and Edie traveled the U.S. for several years before he accepted a position as Medical Director for Burdette-Tomlin Hospital in Cape May, New Jersey.  He served in this capacity until retirement in 1995 at which time he and Edie relocated to Connecticut.

By this time their children were living throughout the U. S. making it a priority to live near a major metropolitan airport. John, Jr. lived in Nashville and was a Colonel working for The Tennessee National Guard.  He had earlier served in the U.S. Army and received an MBA from Austin Peay University.  Sam, also living in Connecticut, was a neurologist having attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an undergraduate and a medical student and later taught at Yale.  Carl, a graduate architect from North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon, was in private practice in San Francisco.  Raymond also a graduate of UNC-CH was a television producer in Los Angeles for “Unsolved Mysteries.”  Barbara received degrees from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and Hunter College in New York City.  She is now the manager of the photography studio at The Metropolitan Museum in New York.  Holland was an undergraduate at UNC-CH and received a business degree from The American International School of Management in Arizona.  She is now the Director of Real Estate for Cinnabon in Atlanta.

Edie passed away in August 2000 and Jigs joined Holland in the Atlanta area ... While living in High Point, he and Edie were members of The Emerywood Baptist Church and were instrumental in the eventual building of a columbarium on the church grounds.  Edie is buried there and in her memory Jigs provided the seed money for a memorial garden to honor all those interred on the church grounds.  With this gift he found a new love and purpose.  He is now helping various family and friends in establishing gardens in Greenville, Boiling Springs, Woodbridge, CT and his current home in Georgia.  He spends the remainder of his time reading, working at his writing and keeping in contact with old friends, extended family, his six children, nine grand-children and two great-grandchildren ...”

Obituary of Edith Holland Hamrick

The Shelby Star, Shelby, North Carolina, Monday, August 7, 2000:

EDITH BRIDGERS

WOODBRIDGE, Conn. –– Mrs. Edith Hamrick Bridgers, formerly of High Point, died Thursday, August 3, 2000, at her home.

native of Boiling Springs, she was the daughter of the late T. Carl and Marietta Moore Hamrick.  She attended Boiling Springs Junior College, now Gardner-Webb University and Women’s College, now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  She taught high school for several years in western North Carolina.  She enlisted in the WAVES as a communications officer during World War II.  She did community work in High Point and founded the YWCA pre-school program that became the Developmental Day Care Program of High Point.  She was the first female to serve on the board of trustees at High Point Memorial Hospital and was an active member of Emerywood Baptist Church.  She married her husband in 1945.  They celebrated their 55th anniversary this month.  In 1984, people raised money in her name for the E.B. Hamrick Building on Gardner-Webb University campus.

She is survived by her husband, John D. Bridgers, M.D. of the home; six children, John D. Bridgers Jr. of Tennessee, Samuel L. Bridgers of Connecticut, Carl H. Bridgers and Raymond S. Bridgers, both of Calif., Barbara Bridgers Johnson of New York City and Holland Bridgers Burton of Atlanta; four sisters, Marietta Heinlein of Boiling Springs, Sadie Williamson of Bostic, Elizabeth Mack of Shelby and Margaret Kerr of Mechanicsburg, Pa.; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

The funeral will be Friday, August 11, 2000, at 2 p.m. at Emerywood Baptist Church.  Burial will follow at the church columbarium.

The family will receive friends after the service in the church fellowship hall.

New Haven Funeral Service of Connecticut is in charge of arrangements.

Issue:

N125–––i.––– John David⁸ Bridgers, Jr. was born in 1946 in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida.

N126–––ii.––– Samuel Leon Bridgers II, born in 1948 in Durham, North Carolina.  Sam is Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.

N127–––iii.––– Carl Hamrick Bridgers, born in 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts.  He is an architect with Holey & Associates of San Francisco, California.

N128–––iv.––– Raymond Siebert Bridgers was born in 1952.  He was named for Niles Raymond Siebert, a friend and cabin mate of his father for almost three years during World War II who died in Guam in 1944.  A television producer in Los Angeles, California, among his credits are “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Egypt Beyond the Pyramids” (The History Channel) and “Spirit of Yosemite,” a 23-minute documentary commissioned by the Yosemite Fund and the National Park Service that won the award for best non-broadcast program at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in 2001.

N129–––v.––– Barbara Jean Bridgers, born in 1954 at Philadelphia Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, married a Mr. Johnson.

N130–––vi.––– Ellen Holland (Holly) Bridgers, born in 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, married a Mr. Burton.

N74. ELIZABETH SUTTON⁷ BRIDGERS (Estelle Sheppard⁶ Whichard, David Jordan⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born April 21, 1924.  She married Norman Warren Wilkerson, son of Stephen George Wilkerson and Mattie Maude Mitchell.  He was born in 1921 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina; died on June 19, 2000 in Greenville, North Carolina; and was buried in Pinewood Memorial Park, Greenville, North Carolina.

Norman’s father “purchased the undertaking business of E. G. Flanagan, who was Greenville’s first licensed embalmer and funeral director,” according to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 729.  Pinewood Memorial Park cemetery was established by the family firm in 1958.  Norman attended East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina and graduated from the Cincinnati (Ohio) School of Embalming.

According to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, p. 189: “Elizabeth taught school in Kinston, Martin County and Greenville School Systems and at Carolina Country Day School.  For several years she was music director of Immanuel Baptist Church.”

Notes

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, June 11, 1962, p. 12:

GREENVILLE CLASS OF 1942 HOLDS REUNION

(CAPTION) TWENTY YEARS LATER ... Greenville High School class of ’42 officers with their wives and husbands.  Left to right are Mr. and Mrs. Norman Wilkerson, Capt. and Mrs. James Briley, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Briley and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Edward.  The offices were Mrs. Wilkerson, secretary; James Briley, vice-president; Leonard Briley, president; and Mrs. Edwards, treasurer.  Mrs. Wilkerson was the former Elizabeth Bridgers and Mrs. Edwards the former Rachel Fleming.  The Brileys are twin brothers.

Fifty-one members of the Greenville High School class of 1942 attended their 20th year reunion at the Greenville Moose Lodge Saturday night.  The class graduated 98 with 94 still living.

Class president Leonard Briley of Greenville was master of ceremonies.  His twin brother, Captain James Briley of the Air Force, read the class history and class superlatives.  Jack Edwards read the class prophesy and Elizabeth Bridgers Wilkerson gave a prayer for the deceased members of the class ...

Obituary of Norman Warren Wilkerson

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Tuesday, June 20, 2000, p. B-4:

NORMAN W. WILKERSON

GREENVILLE –– Mr. Norman Warren Wilkerson, 78, died Monday, June 19, 2000 at his home.  Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel.  Entombment will be in the mausoleum at Pinewood Memorial Park.

Mr. Wilkerson, a native and lifelong resident of Greenville, was a licensed funeral director and embalmer.  He was co-owner of S. G. Wilkerson and Sons Funeral Home and Pinewood Memorial Park, retiring in 1986 after more than 40 years of service.  A veteran of World War II, he served in the U.S. Army and was an active member of American Legion Post #39.  He was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church where he had served as a deacon, Sunday School teacher and choir member.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Elizabeth Bridgers Wilkerson; daughter, Ann Wilkerson Arant of Smithfield; sons, N. Warren Wilkerson Jr. of Belhaven, Douglas M. Wilkerson of Raleigh, Robert B. Wilkerson of Greenville; sister, Christine W. Mashburn of Greensboro; brothers, George W. Wilkerson and Herbert M. Wilkerson, both of Greenville; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.

The family will receive from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Wilkerson Funeral Home and at other times will be at his home.

Flowers will be accepted and appreciated.  Those desiring to make a memorial contribution are encouraged to consider the Arthritis Foundation for Sjogren’s Syndrome Research, N.C. Chapter, 3801 Wake Forest Road, Suite 115, Durham, NC 27703.

Issue:

N131–––i.––– Norman Warren⁸ Wilkerson, Jr., of whom below.

N132–––ii.––– Elizabeth Ann Wilkerson, of whom below.

N133–––iii.––– Douglas Mitchell Wilkerson was in 1982, branch manager of the North Carolina Credit Union, at North Wilkersboro, North Carolina.

N134–––iv.––– Robert Bridgers Wilkerson married Catherine Jeanette Stokes.

N75. DAVID JORDAN⁷ WHICHARD II (David Julian⁶, David Jordan⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born March 20, 1927 in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina.  He married Kathryn Van Nortwick on November 1, 1952 in Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church, Greenville, North Carolina, daughter of Nathaniel Oliver Van Nortwick and Zilda Ward.  David Whichard served as president of The Daily Reflector of Greenville, North Carolina until 1991, at which time his son Jordan succeeded him.  David was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1948 with Phi Beta Kappa honors.  After graduation, he joined The Reflector. 

According to a story announcing the sale of the The Daily Reflector after 113 years in the ownership of the Whichard family of Greenville, December 1, 1995:  “And just as (his father) David Jordan Whichard (I) urged the establishment of East Carolina Teacher Training School, Reflector editorials of the ’70s did the same for the East Carolina University Medical School, which was established in 1976.  Also during those years, Dave and (his brother) Jack directed the change from Saturday to Sunday publication in 1966, oversaw construction of a new building on Cotanche Street in 1956 with additions in 1969 and 1978 and directed the expansion of the company to include 10 weekly newspapers in eastern North Carolina.”

Marriage Notes for David Jordan Whichard II and Kathryn Van Nortwick

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, October 27, 1952, p. 2:

SATURDAY

6:30 p.m. –– The wedding at Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church of Miss Kathryn Van Nortwick and David Whichard will be solemnized.

7:30 p.m. –– Reception at the home of Mr. and Mrs. N. O. Van Nortwick on Rock Spring Drive to honor Mr. and Mrs. David J. Whichard.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, October 27, 1952, p. 2:

ENTERTAIN AT COUPLES PARTY

Mr. and Mrs. Norman Wilkerson and Miss Mary Andrews Whichard were host and hostess at a dessert bridge on last Friday night at the home of the Wilkersons.

They entertained to compliment Miss Kathryn Van Nortwick and David Whichard, who will be married this week.

Arrangements of white flowers and candles were used as table centerpieces, and on the mantel was a bridal scene placed in a setting of white flowers against a background of magnolia leaves.

After the guests were seated at the four tables, a dessert course of bridal ices in the shape of brides and grooms was served.  This was accompanied by petit fours and coffee.  During the games iced drinks and salted nuts were passed.

Scoring high for the men was Jim Lanier, while Mrs. Ben Rouse scored high for women.  A slam prize was won by Francis Jordan.

Miss Van Nortwick was presented with a bridal corsage and a gift of crystal from the hostesses at the end of play.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, October 27, 1952, p. 2:

HOSTESSES AT DESSERT BRIDGE FOR BRIDE ELECT

Miss Kathryn Van Nortwick was entered on Thursday night when Mrs. Beulah Brown and Mrs. Troy Dodson were bridge hostesses in her honor.

Three tables were arranged for a refreshment course when the players arrived.  Each table was centered with a small china cup holding a single burning taper and sprigs of fern.  A floral appointment of yellow roses formed a decorative touch for the mantel in the room where cards were played.

Bridal ices, cakes and coffee were served before the games began and iced drinks were served during the evening.  At the end of play, high score prize was given to Mrs. Clara Roberson of Bethel, and Lillian Wooten scored second high.  Others drew numbers for table prizes, which were the floral centerpieces on each table.  Mrs. D. J. Whichard Jr. and Mrs. N. O. Van Nortwick Sr. were special guests for the dessert hour.

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, November 3, 1952, p. 3:

FORMAL CHURCH RITES UNITE COUPLE

Miss Van Nortwick Weds
D.J. Whichard Saturday Evening

Miss Kathryn Ward Van Nortwick and David Jordan Whichard were united in matrimony in formal rites at Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church on Saturday, November 1, at six thirty in the evening.

The Rev. Leon Russell, pastor of the church, and the Rev. John Herbert Waldrop, Jr., pastor of the Methodist church in Newport, officated at the double ring ceremony.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Oliver Van Nortwick, Sr., and the groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Julian Whichard ...

The bride was given in marriage by her father ...

Mrs. Nathaniel Van Nortwick, Jr. and Mrs. W. Alva Van Nortwick of Jacksonville, Florida, sisters-in-law of the bride, attended her as matrons of honor ...

Immediately following the ceremony, the parents of the bride entertained in their honor at their home on Rock Spring Drive ...

After the reception the bride changed to a suit of mingled blue tweed with dove white and navy accessories for the wedding trip to Nassau ...

Mrs. Whichard is a graduate of Ward Belmont Junior College in Nashville, Tennessee, and of Duke University in Durham, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta social sorority and Phi Beta Kappa.  She has done graduate work at East Carolina College and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  She made her debut at 1947 Terpsichorean Ball in Raleigh.

Mr. Whichard was graduated from the University of North Carolina where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity.  He served in the Navy during World War II.  Since graduating from the University in 1948 he has been vice-president and managing editor of The Daily Reflector.

Biographical Notes on David Jordan Whichard II

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Saturday, July 23, 1994, p. B-2:

UNC-CH BOARD PICKS WHICHARD TO BE CHAIRMAN

By Chris O’Brien
Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL –– David J. Whichard II, a 1948 UNC-CH graduate who has served on his alma mater’s Board of Trustees for three years, was selected chairman Friday by his colleagues.

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, March 11, 1995, p. B-3: Six to be inducted into hall of fame CHAPEL HILL - Four journalists, an advertising executive and a retired public relations director will be inducted into the state Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations Hall of Fame next month. The journalists are David J. Whichard II, chairman of the Daily Reflector in Greenville and a member of The Associated Press board of directors; Philadelphia Inquirer reporter David Zucchino, who worked for The News & Observer; Time magazine correspondent Bonnie Angelo and Edward Jackson, a former Time and World Press Review editor. Billings Fuess Jr., who created the theme “Hershey’s, the great American chocolate bar,” is the advertising executive and will be joined by J. Kenneth Sanford, a retired public relations director for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The induction ceremony will be held April 9 at UNC-Chapel Hill. The hall of fame, sponsored by the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, honors people who have made significant, career-long contributions in their field.  Those honored may be native North Carolinians or those born elsewhere who became distinctively identified with the state.

He will replace John Harris, who has overseen the board for the past year as it dealt with numerous controversies from where to build a Black Cultural Center on campus to a dispute over allowing overnight visitors in dorms.

Excerpt from The Chapel Hill Herald, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Saturday, July 23, 1994, p. 3: NEWS BRIEFS ... (UNC) Trustees unanimously chose David Whichard II, 67, a Greenville resident who chairs The Daily Reflector’s publishing board, to a one-year term at the 13-member board’s helm. Whichard, who became a trustee in 1991 after 16 years on the Board of Governors, replaces Charlotte developer John Harris as chairman ...

Whichard, 67, who sat on the UNC Board of Governors for more than a decade, was nominated last year but declined the offer to Harris.

Peering over his black-rimmed bifocals Friday, Whichard gave little indication to the 30 or so people sitting in the meeting room what his philosophy will be like on the board, which sets policies governing the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He applauded the work Harris did during the past year and suggested that he wants to continue in that vein.  “I want to see this university continue to stride toward excellence as it has done so in the past,” Whichard said.

In the next year, he is likely to face a broad range of issues: helping choose the next chancellor, resolving minority conflicts and trying to boost faculty salaries.

Harris will remain on the board heading one of the most important committees –– the search committee helping to select the university’s next chancellor when Paul Hardin steps down next year.

Hardin said he was confident Whichard would serve the school well.  “This university has had a secession of good leaders,” Hardin said Friday.  “I am sure David Whichard will follow in that trend.”

... A native of Greenville, Whichard is noted in newspaper publishing circles.  He is the president and chief executive officer of The (N.C.) Daily Reflector, a paper that his grandfather started in 1882.  He graduated from UNC-CH in 1948 with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

His biography is filled with boards he has sat on.

He serves on the board of directors of the Global TransPark Foundation Inc. and Wachovia Bank of North Carolina N.A. in Winston-Salem.

And he sat for 16 years on the UNC Board of Governors, a body that oversees all the universities in the UNC system.

Issue:

N135–––i.––– Kathryn Oliver⁸ Whichard was born in 1955.  She married William C. Poston.  She is a 1975 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

N136–––ii.––– David Jordan Whichard III, born in 1957.  He married Ann Barwick; born in 1957.  Jordan was named president and publisher of The Daily Reflector newspaper, of Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina, in 1991, succeeding his father, and was elected president of the Southern Newspaper Association in 1999.  According to The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, December 1, 1995:  “Under (the) leadership (of David Jordan Whichard III) have come the transition to electronic photography, total computerization of newspaper editing, production and administration and the transition to seven-day a week, morning publication on Aug. 31, 1991.”

Jordan is a member of the Board of Trustees of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.  Active in civic affairs in Pitt County, he has served as president of the United Way and has chaired the Focus 2007 Strategic Planning Process for Pitt County.  He has worked with the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Boys and Girls Club of Pitt County.  Other offices include terms as president of the North Carolina First Amendment Foundation, and on the boards for the North Carolina Press Association, the School of Journalism Foundation of N.C. and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.  Whichard is a 1979 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a degree in Industrial Relations and Political Science.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, December 1, 1995:

AGREEMENT REACHED
IN REFLECTOR SALE

The owners of The Daily Reflector
and Cox Newspapers Inc. have reached
an agreement for Cox to acquire
The Daily Reflector and
nine area community newspapers.

The Whichard family, owners of The Daily Reflector since its founding in 1882, and Cox Newspapers Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., have reached an agreement in principle for Cox to acquire The Daily Reflector and nine eastern North Carolina community newspapers.

The proposed transaction was announced jointly Thursday by D. Jordan Whichard III, president and publisher of The Daily Reflector, and Jay Smith, president of Cox Newspapers.  Terms of the sale were not disclosed.  The acquisition is expected to be completed early next year.

Whichard will remain as publisher of The Daily Reflector and will continue to have overall responsibility of the affiliated publications.

“We are pleased to be joining forces with Cox to offer our readers, advertisers and employees the added benefits of Cox’s expertise in the newspaper industry,” Whichard said.  He cited Cox’s high standards for journalism, community stewardship and employee relations as important elements in the family’s decision to select Cox as the new owner.

Smith commented, “We look forward to extending the Whichard family’s tradition of service to our new readers and advertisers.  The Daily Reflector will be a fine addition to our group of daily newspapers, and the acquisition will more than double our number of weeklies.”

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, October 11, 1999, p. B-2: Whichard Elected President of Publishers Association WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. -- D. Jordan Whichard III, publisher of The Daily Reflector, was elected president of the Southern Newspaper Association at the group’s 96th annual convention. Whichard succeeds Gregg K. Jones, co-publisher of the Greenville Sun in Tennessee. Jones was elected chairman of the association’s board of directors. Burl Osborne, publisher of the Dallas Morning News in Texas was named president-elect. Walter E. Hussman, publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was elected treasurer ...

“The Whichard family began publishing in 1882 –– just 16 years before Cox was founded in Dayton, Ohio,” Smith said.  “Both have remained private; both have been led by family members.  The result is that the two companies not only have similar foundations, but share a similar set of values.”

In addition to The Daily Reflector, Cox will acquire The Times-Leader (Ayden-Grifton); The Beaufort-Hyde News (Belhaven); The Chowan Herald (Edenton); The Farmville Enterprise; The Duplin Times/Duplin Today (Kenansville); The Weekly Herald (Robersonville); The Standard Laconic (Snow Hill); The Enterprise (Williamston); The Bertie Ledger-Advance (Windsor), and several free distribution and specialty publications.

In a statement to employees, Whichard said he anticipated no layoffs, reductions in employee benefits or significant changes in employee-related practices as a result of the sale.

“For family owners, this was a difficult, emotional decision to sell after 113 years of family ownership,” The Daily Reflector Chairman David J. Whichard II said in a statement.  “Looking forward, however, it is absolutely the correct decision for our newspapers, their readers and the communities they serve.”

“Changes taking place in the communications industry make it highly unlikely we could effectively maintain our independent family ownership beyond the next decade.  The continued rapid growth in this area will place increasing demands on our newspaper to maintain and enhance their high quality service to all our constituencies.  With that in mind, it seems to us for many reasons this is the time to face squarely that reality, while we may choose the successor owner,” Whichard said.

“In Cox, we have a strong diversified information company that is firmly founded in newspapers, and dedicated to their excellence.  It is an excellent fit for our newspapers to join with a much larger family owned company with the strongest and best of newspaper traditions,” he said.

Cox is the nation’s ninth largest circulation newspaper company, whose 18 daily papers and six weeklies include The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Dayton Daily News, The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, and The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post.  The company’s other newspapers are located in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Texas ...

Excerpts from The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, December 1, 1995, p. A-3:

GREENVILLE’S NEWSPAPER IS SOLD

By Jerry Allegood
Staff Writer

GREENVILLE –– Cox Newspapers of Atlanta has agreed to buy The Daily Reflector newspaper of Greenville, a family-owned publication for more than a century, company officials said Thursday.

D. Jordan Whichard III, publisher of the Greenville newspaper, said his family reached an agreement with Cox for the sale of all of his family’s publications, including nine weekly papers in Eastern North Carolina.

He declined to reveal terms of the agreement or the sale price.

Whichard, who will continue as publisher, said the acquisition is scheduled to be completed early next year.

“We’re pleased to provide our customers and employees the benefits of Cox’s expertise in the newspaper industry,” he said in a statement.   “We’re looking forward to making The Daily Reflector an even better newspaper for Greenville.”

... The Daily Reflector is a morning newspaper that primarily serves Pitt County.   It has a daily circulation of 18,846 and a Sunday circulation of 21,307.

The Whichard family has operated a newspaper in Greenville since 1882.

“For the family, it’s a difficult and emotional decision,” Whichard said Thursday.

He said his family decided to sell because changes in the communications industry and changes in the family will make it more difficult to remain independent.

N137–––iii.––– Virginia Suther Whichard, born in 1960.  Gina was a 1982 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina and a member of Delta Delta Delta.

N76. JOHN SUTHER⁷ WHICHARD (David Julian⁶, David Jordan⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born October 30, 1928.  He married Jane Elizabeth Woodard, daughter of John V. and Pauline B. Woodard.  She was born in 1938.  Jack was a 1950 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Issue:

N138–––i.––– Elizabeth “Libba”⁸ Whichard, born in 1970; died in 1973.

N139–––ii.––– John Whichard.

N140–––iii.––– Sally Jordan Whichard married a Mr. Averette.  Has two daughters: Madison and Anna Gray Averette.

Notes

Excerpt from The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Sunday, July 7, 1991, p. E-1:

204 WOMEN TO MAKE THEIR DEBUT

wo hundred and four young women have accepted invitations to make their debut at the 1991 North Carolina Debutante Ball.

With that, the 65th social season of the state’s most prestigious debutante assembly begins.

The young women will be presented to society by their fathers at a white gown ceremony and ball Sept. 6 at the Raleigh Civic and Convention Center.

Leading up to the ball, there will be seven weeks of summer parties honoring debutantes and their families.

All rising college sophomores, the debutantes are selected by 200 secret nominators across the state.

They are judged on their families’ social, cultural and civic contributions to North Carolina.

Final approval of the debutantes is made by members of the Terpsichorean Club, a Raleigh men’s social club which has sponsored the ball since 1923.

The ball leader, traditionally a Wake County debutante, will be announced in early August ...

... (from) GREENVILLE –– Marjori Sills Brown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Mitchell Brown Jr.; Alice Taylor Evans, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Henderson Evans Jr.; Kathryn Lee Taft, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Chesson Taft; Edna Elizabeth Ward, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Charles Stuart Ward; and Sally Jordan Whichard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Suther Whichard.

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Sunday, May 18, 2003:

MEET 30 OF GREENVILLE’S
COOLEST, MOST TALENTED
PEOPLE AGE 30 AND YOUNGER

By William A. Peterson

... NAME: Sally Whichard Averette

AGE: 30

WHY WE PICKED HER: Because this married mother of two is a volunteer-service advocate.  A member of the Greenville Service League – a women’s service organization – since 1997, she recently held a fund-raiser at her home to promote “Service with a Smile,” a cookbook her organization published last year.  As chairwoman of the “Service with a Smile” committee, Averette helped promote the book, which raises money for the League.

Averette also was chairwoman of the League’s Charity Ball in 2000, and has served on various committees and boards, including the Friends of the School of Music.

“I enjoy all of my volunteer activities and find that (volunteering) truly gives meaning to my life,” she says.

BEST THING ABOUT BEING 30: “The best thing about being 30 is I feel that by being a bit older now, people take my thoughts and ideas more seriously now.  I am making up for my teen-age years,” she says.

WORST THING ABOUT BEING 30: “The worst thing about turning 30 is I am not in my 20s anymore,” she says.  “I enjoyed that decade very much.”

WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO BY AGE 40: “By the time I turn 40, I hope to have a little brother for my two girls, Madison, 4, and Anna Gray, 1,” Averette says.  “I plan on remaining in the Service League for the rest of my life, and I certainly hope to service my community in any way I am able for as long as I can and hopefully continue to make my parents, Jack and Jane Whichard, proud.”

...

N77. HENNIE RUTH⁷ WHICHARD (Walter Linden⁶, David Jordan⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1926 and married Verlin Junior Gripp, who died on July 22, 1992 in Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa; and was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City.  Their children include: (a) Bob; (b) Howard; (c) Linda; and (d) Mary Ann.

Obituary of Verlin Junior Gripp

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, July 24, 1992, p. B-2:

VERLIN JUNIOR GRIPP, 67; SERVICES TODAY

SIOUX CITY, Iowa –– Mr. Verlin Junior Gripp, 67, of 2224 Grandview Blvd., died Wednesday at a Sioux City hospital.

Memorial services today 1:30 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church.  Burial in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Mr. Gripp was born in Alta and graduated from Storm Lake High School and National Business Training College with an accounting major.  He had resided in Sioux City since 1945.  He was employed at Swift & Co. for 37 years, retiring in 1985.  A Marine Corps veteran of World War II, Mr. Gripp was a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

Surviving: his wife, Hennie Ruth Whichard Gripp, a native of Greenville, N.C.; sons, Bob Gripp of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Howard Gripp of Sioux City; daughters, Linda Bales and Mary Ann Guthmiller, both of Omaha, Neb., and Carolyn Zellmer of Sioux City; eight grandchildren.

Memorials have been established in his name with the American Cancer Society and St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

Arrangements by Nelson-Berger Northside Chapel, Sioux City.

Issue:

N141–––i.––– Linda Ruth⁸ Gripp.

N142–––ii.––– Robert Gripp.

N143–––iii.––– Carolyn Gripp.

N144–––iv.––– Mary Ann Gripp.

N145–––v.––– Howard Gripp.  In 1995, he recorded a music CD, “Walk Away,” released through Statue Records that was dedicated to his father.

N78. MARY ANDREWS⁷ WHICHARD (Walter Linden⁶, David Jordan⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1927.  She married first Addison Vars, Jr., who was born on June 30, 1919, in Buffalo, New York; died on April 9, 1973 in Dallas, Texas.  She married second Phillip Koonce.  According to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, published by the Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 710:

“Mary Andrews Whichard taught school in Hopewell, Va. after her graduation from East Carolina Teachers College and then went to Washington, D.C. to manage the office of Rep. Herbert Bonner (D-NC).  While there, she married Addison Vars, Jr., of Washington, D. C.  They had one son, Sheppard Linden Vars.  Mrs. Vars returned to Greenville after her husband’s death and later married Phillip Koonce.  She is associated with the school of Speech and Drama at East Carolina University.  Sheppard continues (written in 1982) his education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”

Obituary of Addison Vars, Jr.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Tuesday, April 10, 1973, p. 6:

VARS

Mrs. Addison F. Vars, Jr. died in Dallas, Texas, on Monday afternoon.  He had been in declining health for the past two years.

Mr. Vars was born on June 30, 1919, in Buffalo, New York.  He attended Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Yale University in 1941.  He served as a Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Prior to his illness, he was a resident of Washington, D.C.

Memorial services will be held Friday in Buffalo, N.Y.

Mr. Vars is survived by his wife, Mrs. Mary Andrews Whichard Vars of Greenville and two sons, Addison F. Vars III of Syracuse, New York, and Sheppard Andrews Vars of Greenville.

Issue:
Of Mary Andrews Whichard and Addison Vars, Jr.

N146–––i.––– Sheppard Andrew^s8 Vars, of whom below.

N79. JAMES EDWARD⁷ WHICHARD (James Henry⁶, Clarence Brown⁵, David Fleming⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1946.  Eddie married first Mary Frances Wayne on September 17, 1967 in Grace Free Will Baptist Church, Pitt County, North Carolina, daughter of Arthur Stuart Wayne and Mary Louise Barber.  She was born in 1948.  Is she the same as Mary Frances Whichard who married Robert Cecil Barnes, in Pitt County, North Carolina, on July 29, 2000?  He married second Patricia Lynn Toler, in Pitt County, North Carolina, on March 16, 2001.

According to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, published by the Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 710:

“Eddie attended the Pactolus School, Greenville City Schools and graduated from Rose High School.  He served four years in the United States Coast Guard and is now in the Coast Guard Reserve.  He is a graduate of East Carolina University and is now a teacher at the D. H. Conley High School.”

According to The Chronicles of Pitt County, North Carolina, published by the Pitt County Historical Society, Greenville, North Carolina, 1982, p. 168:

“Mary Frances finished high school at J. H. Rose High School and is a homemaker.  James Edward Whichard finished high school at J. H. Rose High School and has a B.S. Degree in Industrial Technology and also worked as a printer with his father, James H. (Jimmy) Whichard, who owns Renfrew Printing Company.  James Edward is currently (1982) teaching drafting at D. H. Conley High School near Greenville, N.C.  He has been in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve since 1967.  His military service includes Greenland, Nova Scotia, New Foundland, Labrador, Bermuda and Alaska.”

Marriage of James Edward Whichard and Mary Frances Wayne

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Monday, September 18, 1967, p. 3:

MISS MARY FRANCES WAYNE WEDS

In a double ring ceremony on Sunday at 4:00 p.m., Miss Mary Frances Wayne became the bride of James Edward Whichard in the Grace Free Will Baptist Church.

The Rev. Chester R. Phillips officiated at the ceremony.  A program of nuptial music was presented by Miss Lois Jane Hardee, organist, and Miss Julie Harris, soloist.  Miss Harris sang “Whither Thou Goest,” “Because” and “The Lord’s Prayer ...”

Parents of the couple are Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Stewart Wayne of Greenville and Mr. and Mrs. James Henry Whichard of Rt. 5, Greenville.

Given in marriage by her father ...

Miss Joanne Humbles of Kinston was maid of honor.  Miss Catherine Verna Whichard, sister of the bridegroom, was junior bridesmaid, and Miss Gwendolyn Elizabeth Wayne, sister of the bride, was flower girl ...

James H. Whichard served his son as best man.  Ushers were William Ralph Whichard, brother of the bridegroom, Mitchell S. Avery Jr. and Thomas Bland, all of Greenville, and Noel Lee III of Washington, cousin of the bridegroom ...

Mrs. Mark Smith of Greenville, grandmother of the bride, wore ... Mrs. David Bowers Sr. of Norfolk, Va., grandmother of the bridegroom, wore ...

The bride is a graduate of Rose High School and is presently employed by General Electric Supply Co.  The bridegroom is a graduate of Rose High School and attended East Carolina University.  He is now serving with the United States Coast Guard ...

Issue:

N147–––i.––– Brian Edward⁸ Whichard, born in 1969.  Probably the same Brian Edward Whichard who married Sabrina Lana Keith, in Washington County, North Carolina, on June 30, 2000?

N148–––ii.––– Emily Frances Whichard, born in 1975.

N149–––iii.––– Stuart Thomas Whichard, born in 1978.

N85. VERNON ALBERT⁷ WARD, JR. (Mary Elizabeth⁶ Jones, Frances Gertrude⁵ Whichard, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born March 27, 1913 in Bethel, Pitt County, North Carolina; died January 7, 2000.  He married Elizabeth Wells, who died August 3, 1999.

Obituaries of Vernon Albert Ward, Jr.

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, January 14, 2000, p. B-6:

VERNON WARD JR., 86, Jan. 7.  Arrangements by Wilkerson Funeral Home.

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, January 14, 2000, p. B-2:

WARD

Greenville –– Vernon A. Ward, Jr., 86, retired Professor of English at ECU and longtime Greenville resident, died Friday, (January) 7, 2000.

Dr. Vernon Ward, Jr. was professor emeritus of English at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina Photo: From: East Carolina University Special Collections

Mr. Ward was born March 27, 1913 in Bethel, NC, son of Dr. Vernon A. Ward, Sr. and Elizabeth Jones Ward.

He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and was a long-standing member of the ECU English faculty.

He had published several books of poetry and was chair of the East Carolina University Poetry Forum which regularly published the magazine “Tar Heel Poets.”

Mr. Ward was married to Elizabeth Wells Ward-Ferguson, who recently preceded him in death on August 3, 1999.

He is survived by a daughter, Elinor Cleghorn of Drury, Mo.; son, Joseph W. Ward of Pittsford, N.Y.; brother, Dr. Joseph M. Ward of Cape Carteret, NC; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Abiding by Mr. Ward’s request, private arrangements were made for interment, through Wilkerson Funeral Home in Greenville.

Issue:

N150–––i.––– Elinor⁸ Ward married Mr. Cleghorn.

N151–––ii.––– Joseph W. Ward.

N89. JOSEPH MAJOR⁷ WARD (Mary Elizabeth⁶ Jones, Frances Gertrude⁵ Whichard, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) died after January 7, 2000 when he is named as a survivor of his brother, Vernon Albert Ward, Jr., in the latter’s obituary in The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Friday, January 14, 2000, p. B-2.  He married Patsy Blalock.

Biographical Notes on Joseph Major Ward

Possibly the author of the letter to the editor of The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, which appeared on Friday, May 24, 1996, p. A-20:

MUCH ADO ABOUT LITTLE

Not one person in a hundred has any real interest in whether or not Adm. Jeremy Boorda fudged a little in connection with his combat decorations.  If he did, his transgression was minor compared to those of millions of us, including most if not all of our presidents.

Unfairness and/or outright sham occur in most systems which award individuals citations or other recognition for outstanding achievement.  An article by Newsweek pointing to our shortcomings in this area might be in the public interest.  An article pointing a finger at Admiral Boorda for a minor transgression would have only helped fill the coffers of those involved in its publication.

On what authority do I speak?  Well, it just so happens that I have two medals with which I am authorized to wear Combat “V” pins.  I think one of those awards was justified.  The other I consider to be a farce.  And for every earned citation relating to bravery under fire, there are a lot of comparable acts that never receive formal recognition.

JOSEPH M. WARD, M.D.
Cape Carteret

Possibly the author of the following letter to the editor of The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, which appeared on Thursday, May 1, 1997, p. A-24:

JUDGING DRUNKEN DRIVERS

Kudos to The N&O for selecting Katherine Phelps Prescott as Tar Heel Of The Week on April 20.  Clearly, she has a strong will and is performing a great service by leading MADD in the fight against driving while intoxicated.

Her criticism of some judges and some defense attorneys as being too lenient with drunken drivers should not fall on deaf ears.  On the other hand, our courts appear to be improving.  And I think that we should give our newly found judicial bipartisanship part of the credit.

At one time, I favored non-partisan merit selection of judges.  Presently, non-partisan election is my favorite –– with bipartisan (or multi-partisan) elections running a close second.

JOSEPH M. WARD, M.D.
Cape Carteret

Issue:

N152–––i.––– Joseph⁸ Ward.

N153–––ii.––– Stuart Ward.

N154–––iii.––– Nonie Ward.

N100. GEORGE WALTERS DEY⁷ WHICHARD, JR. (George Walter Dey⁶, Claude Linden⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born on February 18, 1947 in Norfolk, Norfolk County, Virginia; died April 23, 1998 in Norfolk, Virginia.  He married Sandra Prosser.

Obituary of George Walters Dey Whichard, Jr.

The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Virginia, Saturday, April 25, 1998, p. B-4:

George Walters Dey Whichard Jr., 51, a resident of 518 Northwood Road and a native of Norfolk, died Thursday, April 23, 1998, at his home.  Survivors include his wife, Sandra Prosser Whichard of the home; two sons, Brandon Dey Whichard of Austin, Texas and Josh Steward Whichard of Delaware, Ohio.

A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Sunday in Paul Funeral Home, Washington.  Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. today in the funeral home and other times at the home, 518 Northwood Road, Smallwood, Washington.

Issue:

155–––i.––– Brandon Dey⁸ Whichard.  The “Brandon Whichard” in the story below may be him.

Excerpt from The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, Monday, August 19, 2002, p. C-1:

TRACKING AUTOMATED PHONE
AND WEB SYSTEMS IS TURNING
INTO A BOOMING INDUSTRY
'FRONT DOOR' MONITORS

By Louise Story
Globe Correspondent

As more customer transactions are made through automated phone systems and Web sites, third-party monitoring services suddenly find themselves in demand ...

... “It’s not just being up but being able to do things when you get there,” said Brandon Whichard, product manager for BMC Software Inc., a monitoring firm based in Houston.  Whichard noted that the demand for online transactions –– as opposed to just a flashy home page serving as an advertisement –– has risen in the past couple years.

156–––ii.––– Josh Steward Whichard.

N111. WILLIS PADGETT⁷ WHICHARD (Willis Guilford⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1940, in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina.  Judge Whichard married Leona Irene Paschal on June 4, 1961 in Siler City, Chatham County, North Carolina.  A daughter of Len Broughton Paschal and Eva Gilbert, she was born in 1942 near Siler City, North Carolina.  After twelve years on the North Carolina Supreme Court, Justice Whichard retired in 1999.  He is the only person in the state’s history to have served in both chambers of the General Assembly and on the state’s two highest courts, having prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Biographical Notes on Willis Padgett Whichard

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, October 26, 1990, p. B-1:

JUDICIAL HOPEFULS VIE FOR HIGH COURT;
WHICHARD ADD SCHOLARSHIP TO KNOW-HOW

By Jane Ruffin
Staff writer

he first thing people notice about Willis P. Whichard is that he looks as if central casting had sent him for the role of state Supreme Court justice.

His hair is gray, his voice is deep and he has a slow, thoughtful way of speaking.

He’s even getting a degree in judging –– a doctorate of juridical science.  His dissertation is on James Iredell, a North Carolinian appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington.

But his background is far from that of a cloistered legal academic.

Justice Whichard, a Democrat, springs from real North Carolina politics, the kind fought in the General Assembly, where he represented Durham County for 10 years.

Excerpt from a candidate profile in The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, October 26, 1990, p. B-1: Willis P. Whichard, Democrat. Justice Whichard, 50, has been on the Supreme Court since 1986.  He was a judge on the state Court of Appeals from 1980 to 1986 and before that was in private practice in Durham, where he lives.  He served in the state Senate from 1974 to 1980 and in the N.C. House from 1970 to 1974. Justice Whichard’s first political involvement was working as a college student in Terry Sanford’s 1960 campaign for governor.   “That’s what got me involved in the process that ultimately led to where I am now,” he said.  He and Mr. Sanford, now U.S. senator, have been friends for almost 31 years.  “It’s been at least six months since I’ve seen him,” Justice Whichard said.  “At the same time, the relationship is such that if I need to talk to him, I don’t hesitate to call ...”

In the legislature, he got interested in alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders and later chaired a commission whose study on the subject got national attention.  He still gets calls about it.

In its use of alternative punishments, North Carolina has “come further in a decade than I thought we would when we started this,” he said.  “But we have not gone as far as we need to in light of the pressing problems of the system.”

He was considering running for other political offices, including attorney general, lieutenant governor and governor, when former Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. asked him in 1980 to fill a vacancy on the state Court of Appeals.

After six years on the Appeals Court, he was elected in 1986 to the Supreme Court.

“I did not set out on this track at all,” Justice Whichard said.  “I had not planned to become an appellate judge.  It was an opportunity that came out of the blue.  Fortunately, I had a month to six weeks to think about it, because I think if I had had to make a quick decision, I probably would have said no.”

Given time to think it through, he said, he realized the chance might not come back.   Then, too, he’d seen the court from the inside, as a law clerk in the 1960s to Justice William H. Bobbitt, later chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

“Justice Bobbitt was my first real mentor as an adult, and the year I spent here assisting him was perhaps the best year of my life,” he said.

“And while it would be altogether inaccurate to say that I left there at the end of the year saying I’m going to be back here someday as a member of this court, I think there was a seed planted in my subconscious that said, ‘You might like to do this someday’.”

Republicans have portrayed Justice Whichard as part of a “liberal” majority on the court.

But such a bent is far from clear.

In making legal decisions, he said, he believes in deferring to the legislature and to court precedent.

“At the same time,” he said, “there is an old maxim that when the reason for the rule changes, the rule should change, and I don’t think courts should be fossilized.”

He dissented in one case that GOP leaders have tried to make a political issue.  In that case, he disagreed with the court majority, which upheld a jury’s award of $78,000 to a fired schoolteacher whose dismissal hearing had been deemed unfair.

Justice Whichard was the author of opinions for the court finding the state’s obscenity law constitutional and, for the first time, approving the use of DNA “fingerprinting” in rape cases.

But when it comes to opinions he is proudest of, he tends toward the esoteric.

He cited, for example, opinions he wrote on employment security law and on the Equitable Distribution Act, a state law on dividing the property of couples who divorce.

Descended from four generations of Clay County residents, he escapes occasionally to the mountain town of Hayesville where he has a house.

“I can work four or five hours a day there and get more done than I can in a full day here, and still have time to hike in the mountains, swim in the lake, work in the yard and give me a chance to get my mind off the things I usually have it on.”

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Tuesday, September 2, 1997, p. A-1:

WHICHARD LEAVING HIGH COURT

By Kevin Porter
Staff Writer

DURHAM –– Willis P. Whichard, a justice on the N.C. Supreme Court since 1986, announced this weekend that he will retire at the end of his current term.

Noting that “even an extraordinary job can grow wearisome,” Whichard, 58, of Durham, said he is leaving the bench to spend more time with family and to try his hand at something else in life.

“Taken seriously, the work of a Supreme Court justice is always demanding and at times quite confining,” Whichard wrote in a prepared statement.  “It will soon be an appropriate time for me to have fewer such demands and to enjoy the ... enhanced freedom.”

Whichard has spent the past 27 years as a state official; at the end of next year, he will qualify for full state benefits from the state Judicial Retirement System.

“I will, at the end of this term, have maximized the economic benefits of it,” he said in a telephone interview Monday.  “I will have maximized the life experience part of it.”

Excerpt from an editorial endorsement in The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, October 21, 1990, p. J-6: The News and Observer strongly endorses for re-election all three Democratic Supreme Court incumbents.  Chief Justice James G. Exum Jr., and Associate Justices Willis P. Whichard and John Webb have done excellent work and will do more given the chance ... Justice Whichard, the first person ever to serve in both legislative houses and both state appellate courts, has been an active, thoughtful and creative leader in those roles and more.  A legislative study he led a decade ago kicked off North Carolina’s progress in alternative punishments for non-violent offenders.  Compassion and concern, especially for children and families, are writ plain in his long record.  He is everything a Supreme Court justice should be.

Representing Durham in the N.C. House from 1970 to 1974, and in the Senate from 1974 to 1980, Whichard is the only person in the state’s history to serve in both chambers of the General Assembly and on both of the state’s highest courts.  In 1980, Gov. Jim Hunt appointed Whichard to the N.C. Court of Appeals, a position he retained in a 1982 election.  Six years later, he was appointed to the Supreme Court; in 1990 he was elected to the seat.

Whichard will fulfill his current eight-year term, which will end in December 1998.   He said he timed his announcement to give potential candidates a chance to prepare to run for the job.

Current and former colleagues described him as a hard-working and deliberate judge.

“He was thoughtful and prepared,” said James Exum of Greensboro, a former chief justice.  “He never said anything unless he had something to contribute and to move the discussion along.”

The current chief justice, Burley Mitchell, said he’ll be sorry to see Whichard go.

“It’s a real loss to us,” he said.  “Whichard is as close to a pure legal scholar as we’ve got on the Supreme Court.”

Whichard is one of the few members of the Supreme Court with a doctor of juridical science degree, the highest law degree available.  He received that degree –– and a master of laws degree –– from the University of Virginia.   He earned his law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gerald Arnold, chief judge of the Court of Appeals and a classmate of Whichard’s at Chapel Hill, described him as a low-key guy who “stood his ground and did it very effectively.”

One of Whichard’s best-known opinions in recent years was a Supreme Court ruling in March 1996 that allowed cities and counties to continue using taxpayer-funded incentives to recruit new companies.

Whichard is considered a moderate judge, though he doesn’t like to be pigeonholed.

“I don’t like to put labels on judges, but if you insist on putting one on me, moderate [or] centrist would be most accurate,” he said.

Whichard hasn’t planned his next career step; one possibility is teaching at the UNC law school, where he now leads a seminar on the judicial process ...

Whichard is one of two Supreme Court justices who won’t be running for re-election next year.  Justice John Webb, also a Democrat, turns 72 next September and must retire.

Whichard said his decision to retire was not an easy one.

“Two of the most difficult decisions of my life have been the one 17 years ago to don the judicial robe and the one now to remove it soon,” he wrote.  “Both required giving up something that was important and that I loved.  But life is a process of giving up things, and wisdom consists of perceiving accurately the most appropriate time to do so.”

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, January 1, 1999, p. A-3:

WHICHARD LEAVING PUBLIC LIFE

oday, for the first time in 28 years, Durham’s Willis Whichard is not holding a public office in North Carolina.

Whichard spent Thursday cleaning out his office at the N.C. Supreme Court where he spent more than a decade as an associate justice.  Whichard did not seek re-election last year, and his seat will be taken Monday by Mark Martin, a Republican who is currently a N.C. Court of Appeals judge.

Whichard, a soft-spoken, cerebral man, has been one of Durham’s leading Democrats since he was elected to the state House in 1970.  He served two terms in the House and three terms in the state Senate before Gov. Jim Hunt appointed him to the Appeals Court in 1980.  He sat on the Appeals Court for six years and spent 12 years on the Supreme Court.

He is the only person in North Carolina history to serve in both houses in the legislature and on both of the state’s highest courts.

Before his appointment to the Appeals Court, Whichard had been regarded as a potential statewide political candidate.

His was a protege of the late Gov. Terry Sanford and was North Carolina manager for Sanford’s 1976 presidential bid.

Whichard said he had mixed feelings about leaving public life.

“I think any major transition in life is a mixture of grief and exhilaration,” Whichard said.  “On the whole, I’m excited.  It has been a splendid experience, but I’ve done it enough.  I have no second thoughts about the decision.  The decision to step down at this point was the right one.”  Among his best known opinions was a Supreme Court ruling in 1996 that allowed counties to continue to use financial incentives to recruit new companies.   He last won re-election in 1990, defeating Sam Currin, the current state Republican Party chairman.

Whichard, 58, said he plans to take a six month sabbatical before deciding what he wants to do.

He will be a campus fellow, studying religious classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and taking a French language course at Duke University.  He will lead a two-week walking tour in France next year.

“I would hope that at the end of that time,” Whichard said, “I would ready to go back to work.”  Whichard, a lawyer, said he was weighing several career options, including the law and teaching.  He is one of the few state judges with a doctorate in juridical science.

The Herald-Sun, Durham, North Carolina, Monday, January 4, 1999, p. B-1:

RETIRED JUSTICE WHICHARD
RULES HIMSELF READY TO RELAX

By John Stevenson

When Willis P. Whichard of Durham woke up over the weekend, he found himself without public responsibility for the first time in 28 years.

He retired Thursday after 12 years, one month and five days as an associate justice of the state Supreme Court.  Before that, he held public offices ranging from the General Assembly to the Court of Appeals.

Excerpt from The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, February 26, 1999, p. B-1: Former state Supreme Court justice to head Campbell law school By Elizabeth Wellington Staff Writer DURHAM –– Barely a month after the Durham Bar Association lauded him for his legislative and judicial career, retired state Supreme Court Justice Willis P. Whichard is about to start a new one –– as dean of Campbell University’s School of Law. Whichard, who lives in Durham and retired from the bench at the first of the year after 12 years on the Supreme Court, will take over at Campbell’s Norman A. Wiggins School of Law on July 1.  That’s exactly the end of the six months he said he wanted as a sabbatical before starting a new job ... Whichard, 58, replaces Patrick Hetrick, who stepped down in May to return to teaching full time. Hetrick led Campbell’s school of law for 10 years.   James McLaughlin will continue to serve as acting dean until Whichard’s arrival ... Campbell University, the state’s third-largest Baptist school, is in Buies Creek, about 50 miles south of Durham in Harnett County.  Its law school is named after its president for 31 years, Norman A. Wiggins.

“I am going to take what I project will be a six-month break,” he said in an interview.  “I started delivering the old Durham Sun at age 10.  I’m now 58½.  I’ve never slowed down.  It’s time for what I consider to be a pregnant pause.  For the first time in my life, I won’t be driven by a specific job or task.”  Whichard left the Supreme Court with a parting legal shot heard around the state.

He drafted a decision, filed Thursday, his last day at work, in which the Supreme Court said a controversial state law was unconstitutionally applied to a Durham defendant.  In writing the decision, Whichard reversed earlier rulings from Durham County Superior Court and the state Court of Appeals.

The law in question allows domestic-violence suspects to be locked up for as long as 48 hours without bond.

But since Whichard concluded that the Durham man’s constitutional rights were violated under the law, criminal charges against him must be dismissed.

Whichard was one of only two people from Durham ever to serve on the state’s highest court, and the first in more than 50 years.  The other was Justice Willis J. Brogden, who was at the Supreme Court from January 1926 until he died in 1935.

But Whichard has a leg up on his Durham predecessor: Brogden served nine years and 10 months.

Nor is that Whichard’s only claim to distinction.

He also was the first person ever to have served in both houses of the General Assembly and on both of the state’s two highest courts –– the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

A 1965 graduate of law school at the University of North Carolina, Whichard was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1970 and served there until his election to the state Senate in 1974.  He remained a senator until 1980, when he gained a gubernatorial appointment to the state Court of Appeals.

He went on to the Supreme Court in 1986.

MAKING AN IMPACT

Noting that only 85 people thus far have served on the state’s highest court, Whichard said Thursday that his job there was a rare opportunity.

“You have an opportunity to shape the jurisprudence of the state,” he added.  “I would like to think the quality of our jurisprudence has been enhanced by my opinions here.  I can’t point to any specific thing.  You decide discrete cases, and lots of them.”

“But if you serve a long time, you can have more impact than a governor,” Whichard said.  “You are shaping law that impacts every citizen of the state.  It’s both rewarding and scary to realize that 200 years from now, somebody may rely on an opinion I wrote to decide an important case.”

Even though he is retired, Whichard won’t be slowing down entirely.

Within days, he will become a “campus fellow” at UNC.  Under a program created by the university’s Institute for Arts and Humanities, he will read religious classics and discuss them with a professor –– not for grades, but merely for his own edification.

“I wanted to get away from law and do something that would make me learn and think in a different vein,” Whichard said.  “I’ve always been interested in religion.”

Whichard also will take an introductory course in French at Duke University.

Then it will be on to a two-week walking trip through southern France in June.

After that, it’s anybody’s guess, Whichard said.

FUTURE PUBLIC SERVICE

While he has no plans to run for another public office, it is likely he will enter into “some type of public service I can do in the private sector,” he predicted.

“The nice thing about my profession is that you don’t ever have to quit altogether,” Whichard added.  “There will always be something for a lawyer to do who’s willing to do it.”

Whichard received numerous retirement accolades from friends and colleagues.

Superior Court Judge Orlando F. Hudson, Durham’s senior judge, said Whichard is a top-notch jurist.

“He is a source of inspiration for all of us with local ties,” Hudson said.  “It’s important to have someone to serve as a role model.  He’s done that very well.”

And Burley Mitchell, chief justice of the state Supreme Court, said in a telephone interview that Whichard “has a unique blend of all the attributes that go into making a great Supreme Court justice.”  Among them are a willingness to work hard and pay attention to detail.

“That’s what we deal with: detail,” Mitchell said.  “He also is an outstanding legal scholar.  That’s important in a common-law court such as ours.”

“We will feel his absence tremendously,” Mitchell added.  “With his leaving, we lose an awful lot of institutional memory.  We all will have to work harder individually as a result.  Justice Whichard was superb.  He constantly made very constructive suggestions for improvement here.  He has been a tremendous public servant in the truest sense.”

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, Thursday, January 14, 1999, p. B-3:

PEERS ADJUDGE RETIRING STATE JUSTICE FAVORABLY

By John Sullivan

Staff Writer

DURHAM –– Lawyers from the Durham Bar Association gathered in downtown Durham on Wednesday to honor the only person in the state’s history to serve in both houses of the legislature and the state’s two highest courts: retiring state Supreme Court Justice Willis Whichard.

“He acted as a thoughtful, reserved interpreter of the law but spoke and wrote very forcefully about issues,” Superior Court Judge David Q. LaBarre said.

Willis Whichard is the only person in the state’s history to have served in both chambers of the General Assembly and on the state’s two highest courts, having prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

That was one of many tributes to Whichard, who began his career in Durham as a state legislator with people such as veteran state Rep. George Miller Jr.

Miller reminisced about an earlier time in Tar Heel politics when he and Whichard campaigned together for the House on the same Democratic ticket as gubernatorial candidate Skipper Bowles.

On Wednesday, Miller peered over his glasses and past a shock of white hair as he recalled how Whichard spent $48 in his successful bid for the state Senate in 1978.

“His name and footprint will always be on the region for legislation such as the Coastal Management Plan,” Miller said.

“He has had an impact on the environmental history of this state and this country, and that was not an easy task, to tell Eastern North Carolinians what they could do with their land,” Miller said.

Since his election to the House 28 years ago, Whichard, 58, has been one of the state’s leading Democrats.

He served two terms in the House and three terms in the Senate before Gov. Jim Hunt appointed him to the state Court of Appeals in 1980.  Six years later he was elected to the state’s highest court, where he sat for 12 years until he retired Jan. 1.

Although none of the justices could attend, Durham bar president Drew Marsh summarized a letter from the court.  It said Whichard always was considered the court’s scholar, one of the few judges in the state with a doctorate in juridical science ...

... “We value liberty in our society, and as one of the great justices of the court said, liberty dies by degrees,” Whichard said.  “Some would say a few extra hours in jail is not important, but that loss of liberty can expand exponentially.”

Whichard said he would let history judge his tenure as a state Supreme Court justice, just as his mentor, Chief Justice William Bobbitt, told Whichard when he retired.

Whichard humbly accepted the praise of his peers, but he said he probably had been overlauded.  He thanked the bar and credited its members for his success.

“I could not have done without the support of this county,” Whichard said.  “I am one of you forever.”

Excerpt from The Herald-Sun, Durham, North Carolina, Friday, February 26, 1999, p. C-3:

WHICHARD: APPOINTMENT
AS DEAN ‘RIGHT EXCITING’

By John Stevenson

Retired state Supreme Court Justice Willis Whichard of Durham said Thursday he is excited and honored to have been named dean of Campbell University’s law school.

“It’s a right exciting venture,” said Whichard, who retired Dec. 31 after 12 years on the state’s highest court.

The 58-year-old Whichard will take over July 1 as dean of the Norman Adrian Wiggins Law School at Campbell.  “Our law school has enjoyed almost unprecedented success in the two decades it has been serving our state and nation,” said Campbell President Norman A. Wiggins.  “We are grateful for the leadership of the past and believe that Justice Whichard is the ideal person superbly qualified to lead [the law school] into the new century.”

Whichard said education always has excited him, especially legal education.

“I am honored to have been selected as the next dean of this fine institution and look forward to working with university administration, students, faculty, staff and alumni to build upon the excellent tradition my predecessors and their faculty colleagues have established,” he said.

But Whichard said it would be premature to “articulate a detailed vision” of what he hopes to accomplish as dean.

“I’ve just got to get in there and get a feel for it and see what needs to be done,” he said ...

Issue:

N157–––i.––– Jennifer Diane⁸ Whichard, of whom below, born in 1968 in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina.

N158–––ii.––– Ida Gilbert Whichard, of whom below, born in 1976 in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina.

N112. OBIE GUILFORD⁷ WHICHARD (Willis Guilford⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1943 in Durham, North Carolina.  He married Nancy Beth Winegardner on December 21, 1969 in Williamsport, Warren County, Indiana, daughter of Paul Herbert Winegardner and Mary Elizabeth Cline. She was born in 1945 in Williamsport, Indiana.  He is an economist with the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.  The BEA is one of the world’s leading statistical agencies and provides up-to-date economic statistics and analyses relied upon by government officials, business people, households, and individuals.  BEA’s economic statistics, which provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of the U.S. economy, are critical in making decisions affecting monetary policy, tax and budget projections, and business investment plans.

Whichard is the author of numerous academic papers, including: “Measurement and Classification of Service Sector Activity: Data Needs for GATS 2000” commissioned by the World Bank WTO-2000, “U.S. Direct Investment in 1979,” Survey of Current Business, Volume 60, Number 8, U.S. Department of Commerce: August, 1980, “United States Statistics on Trade in Services,” presented at APEC Seminar of Statistical Reporting on Services Trade, Tianjin, China. August 14-17, 2000, and many others.

E-mail from Dr. Obie Guilford Whichard, July 29, 1999

For the last 24 years, I have lived in Falls Church, Virginia, which is within commuting distance of my job with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington.  For 6 years before that (1969-75), I lived in your current state, where I had a job teaching economics at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Notes

The Complete Marquis Who’s Who^®, Biographies, April 16, 2002:

WHICHARD, OBIE GUILFORD

SOURCE: Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America, 1st Edition; Who’s Who in the East, 21st Edition, 22nd Edition

BIOGRAPHY: economist; Born in Durham, N.C., Son of Willis Guilford and Beulah (Padgett) W.; Married to Nancy Beth Winegardner, Dec. 21, 1969; children Paul Guilford, Mary Amanda.  A.B., U.N.C., 1966, Ph.D., 1972. Asst. prof. U. Ga., 1969-75; economist Bur. Econ. Analysis, U.S. Dept. Commerce, Washington, 1975-; chief rsch. br. Internat. Ivestment div., 1988-. Contbr. articles to profl. jours. Chmn. Indsl. Devel. Authority of Falls Church, Va., 1984-86, vice chmn. 1986-; mem. exec. com. Citizens for a Better City, 1988-. Mem. Am. Econ. Assn., Profl. Mgrs. Assn.

ADDRESS: Office, Bur Econ Analysis (BE-50), 1401 K St NW, Washington, DC, 20005-3418

Issue:

N159–––i.––– Paul Guilford⁸ Whichard, born in 1975 in Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C.

N160–––ii.––– Mary Amanda Whichard, born in 1978 in Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C.

N113. ERNEST BRYANT⁷ WHICHARD III (Ernest Bryant⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1946 and married Jane Frances Reinhardt on June 7, 1969 at the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina.  She is a daughter of Dr. James Franklin Reinhardt and Jane Washburn.  Ernest Whichard, Jr. named in the stories below, may be the same as #N113, Ernest Bryant Whichard III.

Marriage of Ernest Bryant Whichard III and Jane Frances Reinhardt

The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Thursday, June 12, 1969, p. 3:

WHICHARD-REINHARDT VOWS SAID ON SATURDAY

GREENSBORO – Miss Jane Frances Reinhardt was married to Ernest Bryant Whichard, Jr. of Robersonville at 8 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Chapel at First Presbyterian Church by Dr. John A. Redhead, pastor.

The bride’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. James Franklin Reinhardt, received afterward at Starmount Forest Country Club.

The bridegroom is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Bryant Whichard of Robersonville.

The couple will live in Washington.

The bride, a graduate of Page High School, was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree in music education.  She is employed by the Alamance County School System as band director for Mebane schools.

The bridegroom is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a degree in economics.  He was named to the Order of the Old Well and joined Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.  He completed one year of law school at UNC-CH, and he is employed by Gov. Scott’s Committee of Law and Order during the summer.  He will enter Army Officers Candidate School in September.

The bride had her sisters, Mrs. A. D. Frazier, Jr of Durham and Miss Martha Reinhardt for honor attendants.

Bridesmaids were the bridegroom’s sister, Miss Amanda Whichard of Robersonville, Miss Angela Alexander of Statesville, Miss Ginger Seehorn of Lenoir and Miss Grey Dickens of Laurinburg.

The bridegroom had his father for the best man.  The bridegroom’s brothers, James Whichard and Harvey Whichard, both of Robersonville, ushered with the bride’s brother-in-law, Mr. Frazier, Barry Justice of Birmingham, Ala., Frank Hodges of Chapel Hill and Ben Kennerly.

Biographical Notes on Ernest Bryant Whichard III

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Wednesday, June 28, 1995, Section: People & Places, p. 7:

Ernest B. Whichard Jr., CLU, CHFC of Greensboro has earned membership in the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table.

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Wednesday, July 26, 1995, Section: People & Places, p. 5:

WHICHARD RECOGNIZED

Ernest B. Whichard Jr., CLU, ChFC, of Greensboro has been recognized nationally as a qualifier for Professional Achievement in Continuing Education (PACE).

PACE is co-sponsored by the American Society of CLU and ChFC and the American College, both located in Bryn Mawr, Penn.

As a PACE qualifier, Whichard is committed to earning a total of 60 continuing education credits every two years in a variety of insurance and financial service areas.

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Monday, October 30, 1995, p. B-5:

ON THE MOVE: INSURANCE

Eleven members of the Greensboro Life Underwriters Association (LUA) were named to the 1995 Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Honor Roll.  The qualifiers are: Sydney Britt, Robert Burton, Ronald Erickson, Lawton Gresham, Kim Ketchum, Paul Plybon Sr., Robert Plybon, David Sprinkle, Ernest Whichard Jr., Howard Arbuckle III and William Hall Jr.

Ernest Bryant Whichard, principal in Whichard & Associates of Greensboro, North Carolina, is a member of the Board of National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA)

Issue:

N161–––i.––– Susan Michelle⁸ Whichard, born in 1970.  Michelle married Michael Thomas Willoughby.  She received her Ph.D. from the School of Psychology at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

N162–––ii.––– Sandra Leigh (Sandy) Whichard was born in 1976.  She married Richard Sean Farrow, son of Richard Lamar Farrow, on August 25, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Marriage of
Sandra Leigh Whichard
and Richard Sean Farrow

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Sunday, June 16, 2002, p. D-10:

Mr. and Mrs. Ernest B. Whichard, Jr. of Greensboro are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Sandra Leigh Whichard, to Richard Sean Farrow of Alpharetta, Georgia.  Sean is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lamar Farrow of Alpharetta, Georgia.  An August wedding is planned at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia.

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Sunday, March 9, 2003, p. D-8:

WHICHARD-FARROW

Sandra Leigh Whichard and Richard Sean Farrow were united in marriage Sunday, August 25, 2002 at six o’clock in the evening on the garden terrace of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia.  Reverend John R. Wilson of Greensboro, North Carolina and Dr. Allen Jackson of New Orleans, Louisiana officiated.  Music for the ceremony was provided by the Renaissance String Quartet, vocalist Karen List, and guitarist Larry Farrow.

Following the ceremony, the parents of the bride hosted a reception in the Great Hall of the Fernbank Museum, with music provided by the Just Friends Jazz Quartet of Greensboro, N.C.  On Saturday evening, the parents of the groom hosted a rehearsal dinner at Avondale Estates Clubhouse.  The day of the wedding, a brunch for the wedding party was hosted by the parents of the bride at the Holiday Inn Convention Plaza in Decatur, Georgia.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Bryant Whichard, Jr. of Greensboro, North Carolina.  She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Jane Washburn Reinhardt of Lincolnton, North Carolina, and the late Dr. James Franklin Reinhardt, both formerly of Greensboro; and Mr. Ernest Bryant Whichard, Sr. and the late Cleo James Whichard of Robersonville, North Carolina.  The bride is a graduate of Page High School in Greensboro, and graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where she received a bachelor of science degree in architecture.  She is currently an architectural designer with Veenendaalcave in Atlanta, Georgia.

The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lamar Farrow of Alpharetta, Georgia.  He is the grandson of Mildred Keeton and the late Herbert Dallas Keeton of Birmingham, Alabama; and Ellis Farrow and the late Louise Jennings Farrow, of Birmingham, Alabama.  He is a graduate of Milton High School in Alpharetta and graduated from the State University of West Georgia, where he received a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design.  He is currently a graphic designer for International Business Publishers in Atlanta, Ga.

The bride was given in marriage by her father and was attended by her sister, Susan Michelle Whichard Willoughby of Cary, North Carolina, as matron of honor.  Bridesmaids were cousins Jane Elise Bocock of Lincolnton, N.C., and Carrie Virginia Frazier of New York, New York; Robin Caldwell Bradley of Greensboro, N.C.; Sonia Joyce Martinez of Atlanta, Ga.; Julia Kathleen Mortenson of Charlotte, N.C.; Jennifer Young Scott of Atlanta, Ga.; Amy Sue Wilson of Greensboro, N.C.; and sister-in-law of the groom Jill Anne Farrow of Augusta, Georgia.

The groom chose his brother Dr. Bradley Matthew Farrow of Augusta, Georgia to serve as best man.  Groomsmen were Eric Laine Barton of Boyce, Louisiana; James Wesley Legg of Jacksonville, Florida; Ryan Clayton Nettleton of Smyrna, Ga.; Jay Rarick Sjoholm of Atlanta, Ga.; Josh Ryan Stull of Roswell, Ga.; brother-in-law of the bride Michael Thomas Willoughby of Cary, N.C.; and cousins of the bride John Branch Bocock of Lincolnton, N.C., and James Reinhardt Frazier of Chicago, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Roussel of Cumming, Georgia greeted guests.

The couple spent their honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.  They reside in Atlanta, Georgia.

N114. AMANDA GRAY⁷ WHICHARD (Ernest Bryant⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1949 and married a Mr. Precythe.

Issue:

N163–––i.––– Kelly⁸ Precythe, born in 1983.

N116. WILLIAM HARVEY⁷ WHICHARD (Ernest Bryant⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1955.  Harvey married Elizabeth Ann Wells on May 27, 1978 in St. Paul United Methodist Church, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, daughter of George Henry Wells.

Marriage of William Harvey Whichard and Elizabeth Ann Wells

Excerpt from The Daily Reflector, Greenville, North Carolina, Sunday, May 28, 1978, p. C-4:

MISS WELLS, MR. WHICHARD WED

GOLDSBORO – On Saturday at three o’clock in the afternoon in St. Paul United Methodist Church here, Miss Elizabeth Ann Wells and William Harvey Whichard exchanged their vows in a double ring ceremony.  The officiating minister was the Rev. Junius Neese.

A program of wedding music was rendered by Roger Searles, director of music at St. Paul, and the St. Paul Bell Ringers ...

Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Wells of Goldsboro are parents of the bride.  The bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Bryant Whichard of Robersonville.

Given in marriage by her parents ...

Miss Karen Walters of Raleigh was maid of honor.  Bridesmaids were Miss Susan Culbreth of Lumberton, Miss Betsy Houston and Miss Dianne Tolman of Goldsboro, and Miss Amanda Whichard of Wilson, sister of the bridegroom.

Ernest Whichard was his son’s best man.  Ushers were Ernest Whichard, Jr. of Greensboro and James Whichard of Raleigh, brothers of the bridegroom, Mike Wells of Goldsboro, brother of the bride, and Tracy Wilkerson of Booneville.

The wedding was directed by Mrs. Edward T. Smith.

Following a wedding trip to the Bahamas, the couple will reside in Nashville, Tenn.

The bride is a 1974 graduate of Goldsboro High School and a 1978 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The bridegroom is a 1973 graduate of Robersonville High School and a 1977 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He is an adjuster associated with the Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Nashville ...

N164–––i.––– Karen Elizabeth⁸ Whichard, born in 1979.

N165–––ii.––– John Bryant Whichard, born in 1982.

N117. RUSSELL EDWIN⁷ BENNETT, JR. (Ida Gertrude⁶ Whichard, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1945 and married Arlene Ferdoucha on June 22, 1968.

Issue:

N166–––i.––– Susan Lynn⁸ Bennett, born in 1973

N167–––ii.––– Russell Edwin (Rusty) Bennett III, born in 1976.

N118. JANE MOORING⁷ BENNETT (Ida Gertrude⁶ Whichard, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1948.

Issue:

N168–––i.––– Mary Catherine⁸ Stephenson, born in 1969.

N119. JOHN WHICHARD⁷ BENNETT (Ida Gertrude⁶ Whichard, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1952.  He married Bonnie Sue Todd on March 1, 1974.  She was born in 1956.

Issue:

N169–––i.––– John Whichard⁸ Bennett, Jr., born in 1982.

N170–––ii.––– Audry Nichole Bennett was born in 1984.

N120. CAROL ANNE⁷ KRAPE (Mary Elizabeth⁶ Whichard, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1947.  She married Paul Dean Dobbs on September 16, 1967.

Issue:

N171–––i.––– Paula Diane⁸ Dobbs, born in 1970.

N172–––ii.––– Michelle Renee Dobbs was born in 1973.

N173–––iii.––– William Dean Dobbs, born in 1979.

N121. MARY KATHERINE⁷ KRAPE (Mary Elizabeth⁶ Whichard, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1952 and married James Wayne Yates on June 8, 1974.

Issue:

N174–––i.––– James Benjamin⁸ Yates, born in 1982.

N175–––ii.––– Elizabeth Rae Yates, born in 1984.

N122. STEPHEN JOSEPH⁷ WHICHARD (Benjamin Oscar⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1947 and married Madeline (Meme) Mecchi on April 15, 1972.

Issue:

N176–––i.––– Todd Benjamin⁸ Whichard, born in 1981.

N177–––ii.––– Amanda Rae Whichard, born in 1983.

N124. MARK EDWARD⁷ WHICHARD (Benjamin Oscar⁶, Ernest Bryant⁵, Willis R.⁴, Nancy³ Fleming, David², John¹) was born in 1954 and married Patricia ? on April 15, 1987.

Biographical Notes on Mark Edward Whichard

The “Mark Whichard” named in the story below with the California Highway Patrol, may the same as Mark Edward Whichard, son of Benjamin Oscar Whichard.

The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, Monday, December 31, 2001, p. 1 (Metro Desk):

A POODLE’S POOR MANICURE
AND OITHER OUTRAGEOUS 911 CALLS

By Steve Lopez

When Mark Whichard got to the CHP communications center the day after Christmas to handle 911 calls, he knew he was in for a workout.  Only three of the 13 positions were filled, thanks to vacations and people calling in sick.

“It translates into calls not getting answered,” says Whichard, a 47-year-old Monrovia resident who didn’t catch his breath for several hours that morning.

That’s right.  You punch in 911, and it’s dial-a-prayer.  And it happens even when more of Whichard’s colleagues help man the battle stations because there are too many people with cell phones and too few people on the other end of the line.

In October, I wrote about two women who witnessed serious car accidents in Los Angeles and couldn’t get through to 911.  In one case, a motorist died at the scene.  Dozens of readers have shared similar 911 frustrations since then, and Whichard has kept me plugged into the bunker scene at the CHP communications center in Los Angeles, where Vermont Avenue meets the Hollywood Freeway.  In California, all 911 calls from cell phones go through the Highway Patrol.

“You get a call every eight seconds.  It never stops, you never get a chance to rest, and the number of calls is increasing on a daily basis,” Whichard says.  “Let me tell you how stressful it is.  My supervisor took me to the emergency room last Tuesday because I was experiencing chest pains.”

Some fresh bodies showed up four hours into Whichard’s Dec. 26 shift, and he made it through another day without going into cardiac arrest.  But Josie Ayala-Hodson, a 911 dispatcher in the Vallejo office, says dispatchers are screamed at daily by callers who are on hold several minutes, and sometimes as long as 20 minutes.

“They constantly tell us, ‘Somebody’s going to die!’ “ says Ayala-Hodson, who represents 700 dispatchers statewide and declares it’s time for the state to do something.

Like what, asks CHP Commissioner Dwight “Spike” Helmick.  He sympathizes with dispatchers, but says they’re fools to think more money or bodies are on the way any time soon.  One problem is that the CHP can’t keep the dispatchers it has.  Once they’re trained, they jump to police agencies that pay up to one-third more than the starting CHP salary of $2,800 a month.

“I think it’s going to get nothing but worse,” Helmick says.  “Maybe we ought to consider turning it over to the private sector.”

For the record, Helmick says the Dec. 26 staffing shortage at the CHP’s L.A. office was “a scheduling screw-up” and not a routine occurrence.  He claimed no 911 calls went unanswered that morning.

How can he know for sure?  It’s possible that callers got tired of being on hold and hung up.  In September, according to the CHP, one-third of 911 calls took more than a minute to answer.

Frankly, given the life-and-death nature of the problem, Helmick ought to get hold of the governor or someone in the Legislature and do something about it.  But having said that, it’s becoming painfully clear that this is less about the failure of government than about the death of common sense.

“I’d say five or six of every 10 calls you get, nobody’s there,” Whichard says.  “You can sometimes answer 10 or 15 calls in a row, and nobody’s there.”

Why?  Because a lot of people will drop a cell phone into a glove box or the bottom of a purse, hitting a pre-programmed button that automatically dials 911 and clogs the lines.  Whichard has heard coins dropping into the bottoms of purses, and he’s heard babies cooing as they play with a cell phone mom or dad has just handed them.  He’s also had people dial 911 just for the fun of it, or to see if it really works.

Clearly, the republic is doomed.  I knew it the moment cell phones went designer, if not the first time I saw a 10-year-old with one.  In the culture of clueless self-absorption, you can keep the phone on in movie theaters and dial 911 for a case of the hiccups.

Every day the sun rises in California, thousands of citizens use cell phones to dial 911 for directions, weather reports and other frivolous information.  In my first column on the subject, I suggested it might be a good idea to find these people and cane them.  As I hear more stories, I realize I was being too soft.

“I got one call from a woman complaining about a bad manicure for her poodle,” Whichard says.  “It’s hard to keep your tongue inside your mouth because these people are so stupid and have absolutely no consideration for the world around them and the possibility that someone might have an actual emergency.  It’s bad enough that they don’t know the difference between Bakersfield and San Diego, but you have to practically beat information out of people to find out where they are, and then you find that their emergency is nothing but sheer stupidity.”

There’s a $200 fine for frivolous 911 calls.  But it’s impossible to track culprits using cell phones until new technology is in place, and wireless carriers have bullied regulators into extending a 2001 deadline to 2005.

Helmick says the state has run several campaigns to inform dunderheads that 911 is only for true emergencies.  Billboards, public service announcements and warnings in phone bills have all been tried, but these smart bombs have not penetrated the helmets of their intended targets.

Maybe it’s worth one more try.  I see a TV spot with Whichard taking a call from the woman with the poodle.

In the meantime, my best advice, other than taking a ball-peen hammer to the cell phones of acquaintances who aren’t too bright, is that you program the seven-digit phone numbers of police departments in your area in case 911 is jammed when you’ve got an emergency.  It could save your life.

Steve Lopez writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

I have not confirmed that the birth announcements below are related to #N124, Mark Edward Whichard:

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Thursday, January 27, 1994, People & Places Section, p. 1:

January 24, 1994 ...

... Mr. and Mrs. Mark Whichard, Greensboro, a girl ...

The News & Record, Greensboro, North Carolina, Sunday, January 9, 2000, People & Place Section, p. 15:

December 31, 1999 ...

... Mr. and Mrs. Mark Whichard, Greensboro, a boy ...

Issue:

N178–––i.––– Patri(c)k Benjamin⁸ Whichard, born in 1987.

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