At 44 years, Vance's Pegram is the dean of commissioners

By Jason King
Assistant Communications Director

Vance County Chairman Danny Wright calls him his "mentor." Fellow Commissioner Deborah Brown says he is "everybody's favorite commissioner." County Manager Jerry Ayscue considers him the "epitome of a public servant."

Vance County Commissioner Tim Pegram converses with fellow Board members Terry Garrison (left) and Deborah Brown (sitting) prior to their July 7 meeting. (Photos by Jason King)

If only everyone could be so popular. Quiet and unassuming by nature, Commissioner J. Timothy Pegram isn't your typical elected official. But his willingness to stick up for his constituents – whomever the opponent – has made him a successful one.

In December, Pegram will complete his 44th year in office – likely the longest tenure of any county commissioner ever (the next longest the Association has been able to identify is Bertie County's C.H. Edwards, who served 39 years, eight months before retiring in December 2000). Pegram isn't finished; this November his name will once again appear on the ballot for the county's District 2 seat. He has no opposition.

In his 44 years of service, Pegram has earned a reputation as a "crusader for the average citizen," according to Ayscue, who has worked with Pegram as county manager since November 1984.

"As an elected official, he understands the responsibilities and privilege of being a representative of the people," Ayscue said. "I consider Mr. Pegram as the epitome of a public servant. He is special."

Pegram was already a seasoned commissioner when Wright joined the board in 1982. A past president of the NCACC – one of two currently on the Vance County board, the other being Commissioner Terry Garrison – Wright said Pegram commands such respect that if his opinion on an issue differed from Pegram's, "I would always reassess my thinking just to make sure that I wasn't leaving something out."

"He has been the champion of the 'little man' and the poor man more than anybody I've ever met," Wright said.

First elected in 1958, Pegram was in office in time for the NCACC's 50th anniversary. After eight years on the Board of Commissioners, however, Pegram's district had moved due to redistricting. During the six-year period he was off the board, he lost an election for the only time in his life, falling to longtime NCACC District Director John E. Wilson. He was voted back on in 1972.

Called a mentor by both his board chairman and county manager, Tim Pegram's 44 years in office is believed to be the longest for a county commissioner in state history. His 36 consecutive years of service is second only to former Bertie County Commissioner C.H. Edwards, who served a little less than 40 years, from 1961 to 2000.

While he said he doesn't like to admit that he has lost an election, it was probably for the best that he had a break from public service to be able to focus on a budding business he owned, Henderson Truss Supply. Now retired after selling the business several years ago, Pegram and his wife of more than 50 years, Peggy, follow Southern Vance High School athletics with devout interest: their daughter, Darlynn, who played basketball and volleyball at the University of North Carolina, coaches the volleyball team, and their son-in-law Randy coaches softball. Granddaughter Ashley recently completed her fourth season on the Tar Heels softball team.

As his family has enjoyed success on the field, Pegram has enjoyed it on the county board.

"Sometimes I don't know myself how I am as successful as I am in politics," said Pegram. He is quick to credit his wife, who worked for many years as a receptionist at a local doctor's office, with helping to get his name out to potential voters.

One trait that makes Pegram so popular is that he values the opinions of others, even if he does not agree with them. His willingness to work to amicable solutions has won him admiration from colleagues and constituents alike.

"I consider all the actions of the governing body to be of importance," he said. "Some may be more important to me and some may be more important to somebody else. That's the reason you have different people and different thinking, so you can have a happy medium.

"I don't think that I have a commissioner that I don't have a good relationship with right now.

"I think over the years I've been well liked."

Pegram's first year in office coincided with the establishment of a full-time NCACC office, led by Alex McMahon, an assistant director at the UNC Institute of Government who became the first full-time executive director of the Association in 1959.

Pegram said McMahon helped him a lot during his early years as commissioner, and Pegram later served as the NCACC's District 8 Director in 1978 and again from 1986-87.

"I have probably made a better commissioner by my dealing with the Association," he said.

Not only has he served Vance County and the Association well, he also served on the Kerr-Tar (Region K) Council of Governments Board of Directors, including a stint as chair from 1981-82, and held the Region K appointment to the Joint Regional Forum for several years.

Pegram admits he recently had a hard time deciding whether or not to run for another four-year term, but he has no set timetable for ending his historic career of public service.

"I'm guessing this will probably be my last term," he said. "My wife wants me to stay on. If I didn't stay on the board I'd probably sit down at home and dry up.

"But I wouldn't be afraid to run four years from now if I were in good health."