Members of the American Legion’s Pou-Parrish Post 132 decided in October 1995 to create a scholarship endowment at Johnston Community College. The purpose of the scholarship was to help students from Johnston County who need financial help to attend college. “The...

Annie Batten Lee spent her life on a family farm in Johnston County, but she also spent some time working as a teacher’s assistant and was a firm believer in the importance of education. Her son, Ayden Lee, created a scholarship endowment to honor her. “This was a...

Honored as distinguished citizens at the 2016 Evening for Education, both Ayden and Betty Lee have demonstrated their unwavering support of Johnston Community College and its students. The Ayden and Betty Lee Scholarship Endowment was created as a collaborative...

Barbara Anders Hoffman’s father wanted all four of his daughters to go to college and get science degrees so they could support themselves if necessary. Mrs. Hoffman was the second daughter and the only one who attended secretarial school rather than college. But she...

The Branch Bank & Trust Endowment was initiated in 1996 by Ernie Ward, who at that time was the senior vice-president and commercial market executive for Branch Bank & Trust (BB&T) in Johnston County. Since just after the Civil War, the home-grown banking...

Brannon Worth Brady was an only child and the kind of adult son who would stop by Bojangles to pick up breakfast for his parents on mornings when his job for Johnston County Utilities brought him close to home. He had attended the heating and air conditioning program...

The Burlington Foundation Scholarship Endowment Fund was initiated with a gift of $1,000 in 1992 from Burlington Industries, Inc. Despite numerous changes in the company, particularly the acquisition of Burlington Industries by International Textile Group, the fund...

The Burton W. and Rose Gordon Sugg Scholarship Endowment carries the name of a couple who raised eight children in Smithfield and strongly supported education and reading. Jefferson L. Sugg, who created the endowment, wanted to help students with financial need. He...

Carol B. Arnn is a longtime nurse who wanted to give back to the new generation of nurses. She and her family created the Carol B. Arnn Nursing Scholarship Endowment at Johnston Community College to do just that, said her son, Nathan Arnn. The Arnn family operates...

A Memorial Tribute to Caroline Connet By George Thomas Shock, a terrible sense of emptiness and loss, disbelief, sadness, grief…none of the usual words that come to mind at a time like this are adequate to express what I have felt since learning of Caroline’s...

When Frank Holding was a kid, he loved to hang out at Smithfield Mule Company with its owner, C.O. Heavner. He’d go there after school and sometimes skipped school just to spend time with the mules and Heavner. He never forgot that relationship with Heavner and...

Neal Lancaster, local golf player turned PGA pro, has collaborated with the Johnston Community College Foundation for over twenty years to raise scholarship funding for JCC students. In fact, his annual golf tournament, the Neal Lancaster – Four Oaks Charity...

Carol Dominique said it was a joy to watch daughter Diana Douglas with young children. “They just flocked to her,” she said. Ms. Douglas mentored many of the young women she taught at Johnston Community College, and a scholarship now carries her name in the school of...

Richard and Esther Hill McDowell were solid, loyal North Carolinians. Richard was born and raised in Brunswick County and served in President Roosevelt’s CCC service before WWII. He served in the Navy during WWII in Guam and the South Pacific and fought in the Battle...

When Freddie Price died from brain cancer, his fellow instructors from Johnston Community College wanted to honor him. They decided to establish a scholarship in his name that would support a JCC student enrolling in a trade. Price had been a vocational...

Fred Earl Brink got to know most every kid who grew up in Smithfield between 1946 and 1976 while working at the movie theaters his wife’s family operated in small towns across Eastern North Carolina. “He didn’t really have a connection to (Johnston Community...

Virginia Williams met her husband, Jerry, in high school. Even then, he was a hard-working, aggressive person, she said. That industriousness led to a successful career in the timber business, from corporate positions to running pulp mills, sawmills and plywood...

The Jim and Herberta Uzzle Scholarship was established by their children and grandchildren so that their commitment to education could continue to support others in their educational journey. Jim and Herberta met as students at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton...

In 1987, the NC General Assembly approved HB 893 allowing Johnston County to levy a room tax. In November of that year, the Johnston County Commissioners levied a 3% county-wide occupancy tax, and the Tourism Authority was formed to promote tourism. The Tourism...

Kathleen Benson lived most of her life as a farmer’s wife and mother, raising five children on husband Shelton Benson’s family farm. She began her adult life, though, as a nurse and returned to that career after her children were in college. She didn’t end her role...

Veronica Marol grew up on a farm outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression. While these outside events impacted her life and those of her seven older siblings, a more direct incident shaped her worldview. At the tender age of...

The Universal Leaf North America tobacco company may reside in Nashville, NC, and be part of a global group of 32 companies, but it strives to make a difference as locally as where their employees live. “One of our objectives as a company to be in the community,”...

Growing up during the height of the Great Depression on farms limited Wade H. and Annie P. Stephenson’s ability to get an advanced education, but they were determined to change that for their own four children. After suffering a stroke, Wade Stephenson told his...