After 97 years of bringing joy to all who knew him, Horace Jernigan has embarked on his final voyage. Born during the Great Depression to John Louis Jernigan and Mary Helm Jernigan on the Peach-A-Rena Farm south of Goldsboro, he was the sixth of eight boys. He grew up cropping tobacco in Wayne, Nash and Lenoir Counties. He graduated from Louisburg College in 1947, received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from N.C State University in 1949, and joined the State Highway Commission as a transitman, surveying highways in eastern North Carolina, including N.C. 12 on the Outer Banks.

Drafted in 1950 during the Korean War, he had the good fortune to be sent to Germany and assigned to the Headquarters Battalion, Combat Command A, Second Armored Division (Patton’s former division). The Commanding General offered him an appointment to West Point, which he respectfully declined. A favorite among his many Army stories was making a successful beer run in a tank!

Following his Honorable Discharge, Horace rejoined the Highway Commission (now the Department of Transportation), where he served with distinction for nearly 42 years, rising to Head of the Location and Surveys Unit, responsible for all geodetic, route location and cadastral surveys, and production of the State Highway Map. Two of his proudest achievements were the spectacular, much-photographed Linn Cove Viaduct around Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and U.S. 52 north of Winston-Salem, which affords beautiful views of Pilot Mountain as it winds toward that peak. He served as president of the State Employees’ Association, and on the Equity Committee of the State Retirement System Board. He retired in 1992, and was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the State’s highest civilian honor, as well as the Road Gang, NCDOT’s highest honor.

In 1954, he met the love of his life on a blind date. He and Sarah married on July 21, 1956, and honeymooned in Key West. They remained inseparable for 70 years, and had many adventures, two of which were son Allen (Marie) and daughter Felicia! Never shy of new experiences, in the 60’s the family went to the Florida Keys, and the 1964 New York World’s Fair in a “piggy back” camper atop a 1960 Ford F-100 pick-up (no air-conditioning in either). He traded the camper for an Argosy travel trailer, which they took to Bar Harbor, Maine. After the kids left home, Mom and Dad were free to roam: driving all over the west in a Roadtrek camper van, then truck camping their way above the Arctic Circle along the Alaskan Highway. Later they toured Europe with friends for their 50th wedding anniversary. They enjoyed visiting his sister-in-law Frances at her cottage near Bar Harbor, hiking Acadia National Park, and eating lobster.

There is so much more to tell, but there is so little space. Truly a Renaissance man of the Greatest Generation, he was a master engineer, carpenter, mechanic, electrician, gardener, blue water navigator, outdoorsman and fisherman. He loved building and fixing things, trout fishing in the mountains (including hiking through Linville Gorge), surf-fishing on Core Banks and Portsmouth Island, raising beagles and rabbit hunting, always with his many buddies (Allen joined him when he could). He was the master navigator on two epic blue water sailing deliveries, including rounding Cape Hatteras at night in troubled seas. He made legendary peach ice cream
and smoked a mean standing rib roast. A big fan of Eastern North Carolina BBQ, he relished making “BBQ Runs” with Allen and his friends. We spent many happy times at our family place at Carolina Beach. We cruised the waters in his Boston Whaler.

But most of all, he loved his family, and we will always love him back. If we were in need, he always came to the rescue. He adored his parents, and loved his brothers and their families, who were always a fun and mischievous bunch. He was the last of them. We are grateful to have known and loved him for so many years.

In Lieu of Flowers, Memorials may be given to

Louisburg College ATTN: Institutional Advancement, 501 N. Main St., Louisburg, NC 27549

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/louisburg-college