FRED EASON


YOUNGSVILLE  - Fred Eason, 91, died Friday, March 11, 2011 at Parkview Retirement Village in Sanford. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today (Wednesday, March 16) at Bright Funeral Home, 405 S. Main Street, Wake Forest.

He was born in Johnston County to Henry Edgar (Tom) and Eloise Eason. He graduated from Kenly High School in 1935 and Wake Forest University in 1941, where he attended on a baseball scholarship. He later attended UNC for graduate studies.

During WW II, he was a Naval officer in the South and Central Pacific where he skippered PT boats, receiving a Bronze Star and reaching the rank of lieutenant. He began his career in education in 1946 as an English teacher and administrator in Raleigh City Schools. He also served as principal of Elizabeth City High School. He took the position of founding president of Isothermal Community College in Spindale in 1965 from which he retired in 1978.

He was predeceased by his wife, Imogene, and a brother, Tom Eason.

Surviving: brothers Kenneth Eason (Emily) of Sanford, Don Eason (Charlotte) of Newport News, Va.; sister, Edith Wilkerson of Jacksonville Fla.; daughter, Vicki E. Baylus (Steve) of Youngsville; sons, Jack Eason of Leasburg, N.C. and Ross Eason (Sherry) of Hubert N.C., and their children Nicholas Eason of Clemson, SC and daughter Catherine Eason of College Park Md.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory should be made to the Isothermal Community College Library, Spindale, N.C., or the ICC Foundation at P.O. Box 804, 286 ICC Loop Road, Spindale, NC 28160.

A service of Bright Funeral Home and Cremation Center, Wake Forest

www.brightfunerals.com