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By Ena Sellers
Duplin Journal
KENANSVILLE — Nearly 100 people gathered at the Ed Emory Auditorium on April 9 for the 29th iteration of the Duplin County Hall of Fame, a salute to Duplin County citizens past and present.
Leon Horace “Sonny” Sikes, Gilbert Estus Alphin, Richard Earl Harrell and Angus Wilton Mercer are among the 59 people who have been inducted to the elite group for their leadership, service, achievement, dedication and significant contributions to the community.
Joyful chatter permeated the large room as guests trickled in and mingled. Marilynn K. Hroza, DC HOF president, welcomed everyone and shared a bit of history about the origins of the DC HOF, thanking Anne Houston, and Anne Taylor, two of the original founders who were in attendance, along with Sikes who was on the organization’s first board of directors.
“They had a vision, and because of these Hall of Fame founders, each year we continue to honor our Duplin County citizens and preserve important pieces of our history,” said Hroza.
Each recipient was introduced by a DC HOF board member who spoke about the inductee’s life and legacy.
ANGUS WILTON MERCER
“He rose to become one of the most prominent men in North Carolina and was known throughout the United States,” said Charles Ingram about the 2023 deceased recipient, who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War.
In 1959, Mercer became a business owner, his company was one of the first to offer customers the option to rent equipment.
Over the next two decades the company expanded to nine locations with 400 employees. The company was later sold to W.R. Grace Company with Mercer remaining president of the southeast division. Under his leadership, the company grew to 18 locations with annual sales exceeding $60 million. He retired at age 61. In 1990, Mercer and his two sons-in-law purchased a small parts and equipment rental business with annual sales of $500,000. The company expanded rapidly and by 1997, annual sales had grown to $14.5 million.
“Once again, the great success of the company attracted buyers, and in 1997, at age 70, the company was sold to United Rentals – the largest equipment rental business in North Carolina, where he served as a consultant for the next three years.
According to Ingram, Mercer was acknowledged as a trail blazer and recognized as a great entrepreneur and innovator. He was also featured in several articles and business publications and recognized for his contributions.
“His business success allowed him to help many others. He helped many young people go to college who, without his help, would not have been able to do so. He has been very active in the life of his community,” said Ingram.
“He rose from the tobacco fields of rural eastern Duplin County to become a leader in his industry nationwide and in his community and state. Along the way, he preserved his character and integrity and contributed unselfishly and greatly to helping others. Duplin County is honored to have produced such a gifted and caring person.”
RICHARD EARL HARRELL
The 2023 living recipient was introduced by Curt Simpson.
“[Harrell] left home for a while only to return and do good work and make a difference in our county,” said Simpson about the Rose Hill native, who in 1975 returned to Kenansville as Duplin General Hospital administrator.
“As a result of a nationwide search, he was called back home to take on the task. His title was eventually changed to president and chief executive officer of the hospital which we now know as ECU Health Duplin Hospital,” said Simpson. “While his accomplishments are impressive, that’s not what merits his induction into the Duplin County Hall of Fame. It is his expert management and leadership of Duplin General Hospital that commands this selection. …In the 1940s, 40% of counties in the U.S. did not have a hospital. Duplin County was one of them… It took an act of Congress to lead to the creation of many hospitals in the U.S. and through the leadership of our county commissioners and some determined community members, Duplin County moved forward with the construction of our hospital in 1951.”
Simpson explained that market forces, and factors such as a population that can’t afford medical care, among other factors, make operating a hospital an enormous financial challenge.
“…for 28 years, he not only managed the day-to-day, but also a tremendous amount of growth in our hospital that became the basis of the fine institution that we have here in Kenansville today,” Simpson said, adding that in 1976, the hospital’s total operating revenue was over $3 million and by the time Harrell retired, that revenue had grown to just under $60 million.
“Under his leadership, the hospital grew exponentially, and he was able to maintain financial viability despite some very challenging headwinds. …No longer do our citizens have to go out of the county to receive primary medical care. …With his education, experience, skill, and expertise, he could have left Duplin County many times for higher salaries, but it was important to him that he use his skills to serve the people of his home county.
GILBERT Estus ALPHIN
“The nominee was born in the family home in Wolfscrape Township on April 6, 1910,” said Jim Sills as he presented the 2024 deceased recipient.
Alphin was the youngest of seven children and grew up on his family farm in Duplin County. He attended a boarding high school near Rocky Mount.
“The school offered the standard high school education but also vocational agricultural instruction. The choice of this high school was fortuitous in that agriculture would be the major influence and interest in the life of our nominee,” said Sills.
In 1948, Alphin was elected to serve as president and chairman of the Duplin County Historical Association committee to organize a celebration for Duplin County’s bicentennial anniversary which featured the famous Duplin Story production. According to Sills this also served as a source of funding for the construction of a natural outdoor amphitheater.
“Having returned to his Wolfscrape Township Farm in 1950, the nominee was recognized for his outstanding diplomacy, leadership and success in bringing the Duplin Story about,” said Sills.
“The nominee inherited his father’s knack for invention. It was written in later years that the nominee was driven by this inborn desire to make something better, to improve on a method of doing something,” which led to “the creation of a mechanical marvel of its time, the mechanized tobacco harvester.”
“The harvester also simplified other jobs connected with raising tobacco, such as suckering the weed and poisoning tobacco worms. The nominee established a manufacturing operation to produce his tobacco harvesters,” said Sills, adding that numerous news outlets wrote about Alphin’s invention and how it improved not only the physical demands of harvesting tobacco, but the financial conditions of tobacco farmers.
“The problem-solving creative genius of the man from Wolfscrape Township, Duplin County, changed farming methods for decades. It was a revolutionary idea. … It is obvious that the nominee’s life of unselfish service and leadership constitute a record of noteworthy achievements and that he has a confirmed reputation as a person of outstanding qualities of character and leadership that have indeed made Duplin County proud.”
LEON HORACE “SONNY” SIKES
“After the death of his father, he and his younger sister and mother moved to Rose Hill to live with grandparents. Today, he and his wife reside in that same family home in Rose Hill as they have throughout most of their 48 years of marriage,” said Hroza as she presented the 2024 Living Recipient.
The United States Air Force veteran became Duplin County’s first director of tourism in 1991 and was awarded the Special Ambassador Award for outstanding support and devotion to the growth, development, and promotion of Duplin County by the Duplin County Economic Development Commission in 2004. Among several other accolades, he was honored by the Rockfish Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for outstanding achievements in historical, educational, cultural, medical, humanitarian, patriotic, and citizenship work in the community, according to Hroza.
“His deep personal interest in local history led him to become a member and service president of the Duplin County Historical Society… This nominee was also instrumental in the effort to preserve the vast genealogical information and records of his neighbor and friends,” said Hroza, adding that Sikes’ interest in history, genealogy, and photography led him to record many of the old homes and buildings in the county, and authoring books.
“This historian now has a vast collection of historical photographs, originals and reproductions of early Duplin County,” said Hroza, highlighting that Sikes’ first book, Duplin County Places, Past and Present, is the recipient of the 1985 Willie Parker Peace Award.
“Tonight, we publicly recognize and thank Sonny Sikes, our leading Duplin County historian for his dedicated and hard work in preserving the history of our county and region in the most thorough and interesting ways,” said Hroza.
Sikes is the first historian to be inducted to the Duplin County Hall of Fame.
To view photos of the event visit our Facebook page album.
