John Walthall Creagh Jr.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 68 years Alberta Hudson Creagh, his son John Walthall Creagh, III, his mother Lillie Belle Barrus Creagh, his father, Sheriff John Walthall Creagh, his sister Anne Creagh O’Bryan, his brother Allen Hughes Creagh, his sister Clara Elizabeth Creagh Wall, and his nephew Jim K. Sabiston, Jr., who was like a son to “Uncle Johnnie and Aunt Boogie.”

He is survived by his daughters Lydia Anne Creagh of Chapel Hill and Teresa Hudson Creagh of Durham, his grandchildren Lillie Creagh Herman of Chapel Hill, N.C., Anna Brooks Creagh of Los Angeles, CA, and Rachel Campbell of Apex, N.C., two great-grandchildren Adam and Cate, his sister-in-law Ramona Hughes Creagh, and many nieces and nephews.

John was born on January 3, 1924 in Pollocksville, N.C., and he was raised and lived most of his life in Pollocksville. He attended North Carolina State University, majoring in aeronautical engineering, but when the war escalated, he chose to enlist in the Army Air Corps (which later became the U.S. Air Force) in 1943. He was married to his sweetheart Alberta on May 17, 1944, before he deployed overseas. He was stationed primarily on the island of Guam during the war, and piloted a B-29 Super Fortress, from which he ran low-altitude bombing runs. On Guam, he also oversaw the building of what was for many years the longest airplane landing strip in the world.

After the war, he retired from the military as a Captain, and began raising his family in Pollocksville. He owned and operated an insurance brokerage for 42 years, and he also owned and operated the Pollocksville Drug Store for 35 years. He served as a deacon and elder in the Pollocksville Presbyterian Church and taught Sunday School there for more than 50 years.

He was the Charter President of the Pollocksville Rotary Club when it formed in 1948, and became a lifetime honorary member with over 50 years of perfect attendance.

He served as a magistrate in Jones County for many years during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. He was elected to the Jones County Board of Commissioners and was named Chairman in 1951. At the time, he was thought to be the youngest Chairman of a Board of County Commissioners in the United States.

In his younger years, he hunted and fished, but when he began playing golf in 1980, he joined Quaker Neck Country Club in Jones County, and hunting and fishing became things of the past. When he played golf with his brother Allen, each of them inevitably would declare himself the winner, so no one in the family ever knew who actually won when they played each other.

He loved all things British and could recite from memory long passages from Shakespeare. He could also quote long poems written by Robert Service and Edgar Allan Poe, and he often entertained his family with these.

He was very proud of his Irish heritage, and he instilled this love of Ireland in his children.

John was a strong and independent man, a loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, and friend. He and Alberta told their children that their fondest wish was that they remain in their home in Pollocksville until they passed from this life. Their children made them a promise that they were able to keep, with the help of several very devoted caregivers.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to either the Dr. John W. Creagh Memorial Scholarship Fund c/o Meredith College, Development Office, 3800 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27607, or the Pollocksville Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 205, Pollocksville, N.C. 28573.

The family will receive friends on Friday, January 9, 2015, at the Pollocksville Presbyterian Church from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 10, 2015, at the Pollocksville Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow the service.

Internment will be at Pollocksville Cemetery. Arrangements are entrusted to Cotten Funeral Home & Crematory in New Bern, N.C. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.cottenfuneralhome.com.