Thomas Wayne Mitchell

T. Wayne Mitchell, 97, of 1002 Vickie Drive, Cary, NC, passed away Thursday, April 7, 2022 in his home where he was being cared for by family. Wayne was born March 7, 1925 in the Pine Ridge community of Franklin County near Bunn, NC. He was the son of William Jamie Mitchell and Bernice Beddingfield Mitchell, both from Bunn, NC.

Wayne graduated from high school in Roseboro, NC in 1942 and from there went on to serve in the US Air Force in World War II as a Radio Operator-Gunman on a B-26 bomber flying 21 combat missions in Europe over France and Germany. Upon his return, he attended the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy in Chapel Hill, NC, graduating in 1949.

Wayne would go on to meet his future wife shortly after graduating, Jean Guyer Crouser of Waynesville, NC, who also graduated from UNC. They married on August 9, 1952 in Waynesville and moved to Kinston, NC, where he was a pharmacist at College Street Pharmacy and she was a schoolteacher at Grainger High School. Later they moved to La Grange, NC and opened La Grange Pharmacy, before moving and settling in Cary, NC where they owned and operated Mitchell's Pharmacy for 38 years from 1956-1994. They were members of the First United Methodist Church of Cary since moving to Cary in 1956, and active in many community and church projects.

Wayne's favorite pastime was playing golf, and after retirement he would often be playing as many as four days a week as a founding member of Lochmere Golf Club in Cary, where he was well liked and had numerous friends. One of his claims to fame was making a hole-in-one on all four par 3's at Lochmere.

Wayne is survived by his wife of 69 years, Jean Crouser Mitchell; son Thomas Wayne Mitchell, Jr, his partner, Jerry and grandsons Cy and Michael; son Sidney Beddingfield Mitchell, his wife, Renee and granddaughters, Victoria and Caroline; and many nephews, nieces and cousins. He is also survived by his younger brother Russell Gray Mitchell and his wife, Anne. He was preceded in death by his twin sons, James Taylor Mitchell and Jess Crouser Mitchell; son Samuel Joseph Guyer Mitchell; twin brother Waylon Mitchell, brothers David and Bobby Mitchell, and sister Jean Bilderback.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, April 12 at 2:00pm at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home on 200 SE Maynard Rd, Cary, NC 27511. Visitation with the family will immediately follow at Brown-Wynne. In lieu of flowers, those who wish to make a contribution in Wayne's honor may do so to the First United Methodist Church of Cary, 117 South Academy St, Cary, NC 27511.