The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Homepage

Related Photos

  • Lee R. Hall poses for a picture with Twin County Pride Inc. board member Patsy Daughtridge during the 9th annual Twin County Hall of Fame ceremony Thursday night at Nash County Community College in Rocky Mount.

    IMG_1470.jpg

  • Frank Weaver, left, looks at his painting during the 9th annual Twin County Hall of Fame ceremony while Twin County Pride Inc. board member, Ann Edge, looks on, Thursday night at Nash County Community College in Rocky Mount.

    IMG_1494.jpg

  • Lois Reddrick, right, accepts on behalf of her late first cousin, William Fuller, during induction ceremonies for the Twin County Hall of Fame while Twin County Pride Inc. board member Frank Maynard looks on.

    IMG_1461.JPG
November 16, 2012

Honorees include Fuller, Hall, Weaver

Staff Writer Calvin Adkins

TARBORO — ROCKY MOUNT — Three people with Edgecombe County ties were among the Twin County Hall of Fame's 10-member Class of 2012  — Willie Howell Fuller, Lee Rawling Hall and Frank Byrd Weaver.

The honorees were recognized Thursday night during the annual induction ceremony and banquet in the Business Center at Nash Community College.

Fuller, who died Jan. 2, 1995, was honored posthumously. His first cousin, Lois Reddrick of Greenville, accepted the honor on behalf of Fuller's daughter, who did not attend.

Willie Howell Fuller was born in 1919 and was 22-years-old when World War II began. He had graduated from Tarboro Colored High School in 1937 and attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. While at Tuskegee, Fuller joined the training for pilots and became one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. He served as a second lieutenant from 1942 to 1947 as part of the 99th Fighter Squadron European Theater and flew 76 combat missions. He received an Air Medal with Oak Leaf. After the war, Fuller and his wife made their home in Georgia and Florida where he became district executive for the South Florida Council of Boy Scouts.

"It was a great honor for him to have been nominated in the Twin County Hall of Fame," Reddrick said. "With his film coming out and Veterans Day, it was very timely."

Hall

Hall made his name when he became the superintendent of Edgecombe County Schools in 1968.  During his tenure as superintendent, he consolidated several county schools to establish the integrated high schools of North Edgecombe and SouthWest Edgecombe. The athletic complex at North Edgecombe was named the Lee R. Hall Complex in 1993 upon his retirement. The SouthWest Edgecombe High School athletic complex is also is named in honor of Hall. After retiring, Hall continued being active in the community by joining several civic clubs. For several years he played a vital part in building houses for Habitat For Humanity in Edgecombe County.  

His work didn't go unnoticed. He was well-represented at the ceremony by his family, co-workers, former employees and members of the Kiwanis Club.

"It means that I'm so pleased to have so many wonderful friends, board members, family members — no one gets up there on their own," he said. "They are guided and pushed up there by other people. "When I looked out and saw so many wonderful people, I felt so absolutely blessed."



Weaver

Weaver was born in Edgecombe County. After graduating from Fayetteville State Teachers College in 1948, he began his educational career as a teacher in Warren County. In 1950, he returned to Edgecombe County as the principal of Providence Rosenwald School. He then organized and served as principal of Roberson School from 1951-56, and then Willow Grove from 1956-62. He earned a doctorate of education from Penn State and a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Shaw University. His outstanding work with elementary education led to him becoming the State Supervisor of Elementary Education for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Weaver then became an administrator in the community college system and wrote several guidebooks on adult education. He went on to become assistant superintendent of Durham City Schools. Weaver, who lives with his wife in Raleigh, said he was honored to be inducted.

"At 85 years old it means that I'm glad to be alive," Weaver said. "It's very exciting because I never dreamed of receiving such honor. Everything I did was such fun and pleasure … such an inspiration. I never thought that anyone was watching. I got the joy from doing it. It is a double blessing for someone to recognize you for it and have a special occasion to honor you."



Nash County inductees:

• Channing Hilliard Fries Jr. served 12 years as assistant superintendent for Nash County schools and in 1961 he became the superintendent of the system. He led the system through both integration and the consolidation of the Nash County School System, which led to the creation of Northern and Southern Nash High Schools. Fries died in 2007 at the age of 92.

• Book author Jack Kerouac, who wrote about life and composed his most famous work, “On the Road,” in Rocky Mount. Kerouac is considered to be the father of the Beat Generation, a new style of writing that appeared in the 1950s. Kerouac died in 1969.

• Josephine E. Newell earned a chemical engineering degree at the age of 16 from University of South Carolina. She began her practice in Bailey in 1951 and treated patients for the next 23 years. Dr. Newell was involved in numerous state health care projects. She is one of the founders of the County Doctor’s Museum in Bailey and a published author.

• Joseph Leonard Rawls Jr. became chairman and president of a new restaurant operation in Rocky Mount, Hardee’s Food Systems in 1961. When he left the company in 1975, there were more than 900 Hardee’s across the southeast. Rawls also was founder of Canton Station restaurants, known as Management Affiliates. He died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 51.

• James Edward “Butch” Robbins joined the U.S. Army in 1967. In 1968, while deployed to fight in Vietnam, he stepped on a mine and lost both legs and an arm. He returned to North Carolina to the farm life he knew well. Later, he became an auctioneer and then owned his own auction firm. Robbins wrote “So You Think Times are Tough!” and became a motivational speaker, encouraging others to succeed as he has.

• Arthur Lynwood Tyler joined Henry Belk in 1931 and together they opened the Belk-Tyler Store in Rocky Mount, the first of 14 stores in the chain that would eventually employee hundreds and serve the southeast as one of the leading retail clothing stores of the region. Tyler died in 1978.

• Itimous “Tim” Thaddeus Valentine Jr. served in the N.C. House from 1955 to 1960 and was then elected as a U. S. Congressman for six terms from 1982 to 1994. During his services in Congress, Valentine was chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation.

The goal of the Twin County Hall of Fame is to preserve and celebrate the diverse history of Edgecombe and Nash Counties and to honor citizens who have made broad and lasting contributions to the betterment of the community or who have brought recognition to the community through their accomplishments.

Paintings are drawn of each inductee by Tarboro artist Susan Fecho. Replicas of the paintings are given to the honorees or their families.

Text Only
Homepage
AIB-1.jpg

AIB co-chair Buddy Hooks, left, discusses courthouse square with AIB judge James Abraham, center, and chair of the courthouse square project Martie Thompson. James “Jim” Abraham, of Savannah, Ga., and Ed Hooker, of Fort Riley, Kansas, were in Tarboro Monday and Tuesday to judge the community’s entry in the America in Bloom competition

Local News
  • Nash Health Care seeking expanded affiliates

    ROCKY MOUNT — The Board of Commissioners of Nash Health Care has voted to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) to five, pre-selected regional tertiary hospital systems for evaluation of an expanded affiliation relationship.
    Nash Health Care operates a number of facilities, including five hospitals totaling 403 beds — Nash General Hospital, Nash Day Hospital, the Bryant T. Aldridge Rehabilitation Center, Community Hospital and Coastal Plain Hospital.

    June 19, 2013

  • AIB judging under way
Sports
Ryan-Chatt.jpg

Ryan Chatt

Opinion
  • You, too, can be a slacker spy

    Think you're a loser just because you dropped out of high school and never finished the military training you began?
    Think you're a dud just because you work as a security guard even though you dreamed of becoming a global savior?
    Well, don't beat yourself up. You, too, can become an international superspy like Edward Snowden.

    June 17, 2013

Lifestyles
  • 5501-WED-Whitley-Webb.jpg Whitley/Webb

    Pinetops-Caitlin Layne Whitley and John Robert Webb were married on June 8, 2013 at half past three in the afternoon at Pinetops Baptist Church.
    The Reverend John Melancon performed the ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Michael Whitley. Grandparents of the bride are the late Mr. and Mrs. James Carlton Jernigan and the late Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Lane Whitley.

    June 17, 2013 1 Photo

Obituaries Archives
Food
  • Steak.jpg Elegant Entertaining With Bold Flavors

    Summer entertaining is easy with simple, crowd-pleasing recipes from light bites to sweet delights that require almost no time in the kitchen.
    Invite over a few of your closest friends, heat up the grill and set out your favorite wines for a truly memorable outdoor dinner party. Select simple recipes that can be prepared ahead of time and quickly seared on the grill once your guests have arrived. Everyone will enjoy the food and you'll love that you're not trapped in the kitchen. Prep, chop and marinate everything then store it all in containers.
    Continue the trend of simplicity by serving food-friendly wines, such as those from Las Rocas. Las Rocas, which literally means "the rocks" because of the rocky soil where the grapes are grown, produces an incredibly vibrant Garnacha and refreshing RosÈ that pair wonderfully with these dishes.

    June 19, 2013 2 Photos

  • Zesty Mexican Meals Made Fast
  • It's grillin' time!
  • Great fondue
Events
  • Edgecombe Events June 20

    Edgecombe Events should be submitted by noon the day before publication. Items eligible include notices of local meetings and activities of non-profit organizations, clubs, schools and civic groups in the community. Information should be brief and typewritten, neatly printed or via e-mail. Questions? 823-3106 or e-mail: events@dailysoutherner.com. Leave  a daytime contact phone number.

    June 19, 2013

Our Community
Tarboro's 2012 Christmas Parade


Poll

Do you have any plans for the July 4th holiday?

Yes
No
Undecided
     View Results
CNHI Network News
AP Video
Ex-Hit Man's Past Is a Shock to Some Neighbors Fans: Gandofini 'Put New Jersey on the Map' Does Future of Human Race Depend on Kansas Mine? Reining in 'Bad News' Sports Parents James Gandolfini Dies at Age 51 Fmr. TWA Flight 800 Investigators Want New Probe Raw: Heat, Spurs Back on Court Ahead of Game 7 Dolce and Gabbana Convicted of Tax Evasion Paris, Prince Depositions Used in Jackson Trial Coiffed Cattle Get Their Close-up In Berlin, Obama Channels Cold War Activism Police at Patriots Tight End's Home for 2nd Day Fed Suggests Bond Purchases Could Slow AP: DOJ Broke Own Rules Seizing Phone Records Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Facebook
Peter Temple Tribute
Photo of the Day