Strickland garners highway honor

Aug. 9—A stretch of N.C. 24 in Sampson County has been officially designated as the Jefferson B. Strickland Highway, now bearing the name of a man who has had a calling for public service and served his community and state in so many ways over his entire life.

A lifelong resident of Sampson, Jefferson Baggett Strickland served in state government as a member of the North Carolina Board of Transportation, as well as on local governments board as both as a commissioner for the town of Roseboro and as a member and chairman of the Sampson County Board of Commissioners.

"In each of those roles, Strickland worked tirelessly to ensure that N.C. 24 was widened and improved to better serve the community's transportation needs, including its role as an important military corridor and an economic engine for the region," a resolution for the Jefferson B. Strickland Highway read.

The Sampson County Board of Commissioners unanimously supported the request that the North Carolina Department of Transportation designate a section of N.C. 24 in honor of Jefferson B. Strickland. The North Carolina Board of Transportation honorarily made it official Aug. 2, designating N.C. 24 from Underwood Road to Dixie Road in Sampson County the Jefferson B. Strickland Highway.

The appropriate signs will be erected "at a suitable time," state officials said.

While news of his family's and local leaders' efforts were leaked to him months before, Strickland was surprised at his 85th birthday party with news that the state board intended to move forward with the road naming. He turned 85 on June 7 and celebrated with family on June 10. At the celebration, he was presented a mock-up of the kind of sign that will bear his name.

Strickland is a longtime leader who was instrumental in highway and county issues for many years, including the project that eventually overhauled and widened the main thoroughfare in Sampson.

Strickland's family submitted the request last year to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, specifically his sons Neal Strickland, Mark Strickland and Stephen Strickland. Locally, the request required a unanimously adopted resolution of support from the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, which it received in December. The supported request then went to the state.

The resolution supported the naming in honor of Strickland the portion of N.C. 24, beginning at the Clinton city limits and extending westward all the way up to the intersection where a stretch previously named in honor of R. Geddie Herring starts. Strickland, as with many N.C. 24 issues for years, was very much involved in the naming for Herring, a war hero, active citizen and successful businessman born and raised in Roseboro.

The board felt it was fitting to honor another active citizen and successful businessman from the Lakewood area.

In the board's resolution, it mentioned the "notable contributions made by Mr. Strickland to betterment of Sampson County," including his role on the various state and local government boards.

"In each of those roles, Jefferson B. Strickland worked tirelessly — despite many challenges in funding and numerous delays — to see NC Highway 24 developed and widened to better serve the community's transportation needs, to provide an important military corridor, and to foster the economic growth of the county and the region," the Sampson County resolution read.

Strickland was a Roseboro commissioner in the early 1970s, serving two terms as mayor pro tem. Starting in the 1980s, he worked with county and state officials, along with municipality leaders, on the endeavor to get N.C. 24 widened. That work led him to Raleigh to meet with legislators and the state transportation officials to get the project realized.

"He was getting the reputation, some good and some bad, of being the face of Hwy 24 in Sampson County," his sons said in their request for the honor in their father's name.

In the early 1990s, the opportunity was presented to him to become a member on the North Carolina Board of Transportation, another platform to remind leaders how vital the highway was to the county and the military, as the corridor from Fort Bragg to Camp Lejeune.

As time moved on, and funding kept getting delayed, Strickland's efforts only increased. In the 2000s, that included serving as a county commissioner, acting as a county board member from 2006 until his retirement at the end of 2014, including stints as vice-chairman and chairman.

"It was a happy day for Jefferson Strickland" when he received a call that parts on the N.C. 24 project had been funded, his sons said. "Jefferson has spent his entire adult life trying to help the lives of Sampson County residents, from his beginning at Clinton Toyota (in the 1970s) to his role as a county commissioner."

Strickland was also a sales and shipping associate at Plastic Tubing Inc. in Roseboro. After doing that for a while and leaving, he returned as vice president of the organization in 1990.

He was previously bestowed The Order of The Long Leaf Pine and inducted into the Sampson County Hall of Fame.

"As I travel the state and see roads that have been named for people, I realize that many of them have passed away and never get to see the fruits of their labor," the naming request from Strickland's sons stated. "He is very proud of the work he did getting Hwy 24 widen(ed). This will be a huge honor to him to be able to share this with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

Strickland graduated from Salemburg High School in 1956 and then from East Carolina University in 1960. There, he met his future wife, Sue. The two married in 1961 and have been together for more than six decades.

He began teaching at Roseboro-Salemburg School in 1961, and taught there for six years. He then left teaching and became a community service consultant in Hillsborough for just one year. After his stint in Hillsborough, Strickland was contacted to become the new dean of students at Sampson Technical Institute, now known as Sampson Community College.

"It's not necessarily that I was looking for a way to come back here, but it seemed like every time I would leave, Sampson County would keep calling me home," Jefferson has told The Independent. "The opportunities for me have always been here in Sampson County. People will tell me how much I have done for this county and the surrounding communities, but this county has done a lot for me, and I am so blessed and fortunate to call it home."

Bell set for road naming

Local leaders have thrown their support behind similar road naming resolutions recently.

The Sampson County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution of support Monday to name a stretch of Interstate 40 in honor of a man who worked toward the betterment of his community, county and state.

Similar to Jefferson Strickland's family, the family of former Representative Larry M. Bell submitted an application requesting that the North Carolina Board of Transportation name a portion of I-40, from mile marker 352 to 357, in honor of Bell. The application requires a resolution of support from the county, whose Board of Commissioners approved on Monday.

Bell worked for the betterment of Sampson County as an educator, superintendent, county commissioner, and member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Among his many notable accomplishments, Bell was the first African American superintendent in Sampson County, served as county commissioner for 10 years and was in the North Carolina House of Representatives for 18 years.

"In each of these roles, Bell worked tirelessly for the betterment of Sampson County and its citizens," the resolution supporting the naming reads.

County commissioners unanimously approved the resolution at its Monday meeting after Commissioner Lethia Lee read the resolution into the record. She asked those in attendance to stand in honor of Bell, as she read it.

Editor Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 2587.