Residents
saddened
by death

By CLARA CARTRETTE

Residents in the Town of Tabor City are shocked and saddened by the death of Mayor Marion Baxter.

According to reports, Baxter, 73, had been taken off medication for severe arthritis, which caused internal bleeding and had been practically bedridden for several days. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday.

Baxter served as mayor from 1981 to 1990 when he resigned before his term ended. He ran again in 2003, ousting incumbent Nelson Lee by only three votes. He was a retired building contractor.

“I have known and been a friend of Marion for as long as I can remember,” said Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. “He was a class ahead of me, a good student and great athlete. After I started practicing law I got to see him more often. He was extremely positive and dedicated to his community and family. The first time he served as mayor I was in the Legislature. He did many positive things. The town was on the verge of bankruptcy and he put a businessman’s head to the problem. He was a good businessman, and a quality builder that you could depend on. He not only had Tabor City’s interest at heart, he was interested in the betterment of the entire county.”

He said Baxter had the foresight and good judgment to insist on the town manager form of government during the 1980s, although some people were against the change.

Soles said during his last campaign Baxter went with him to Surf City, where they met with the mayor and council, and they enjoyed riding and talking.

“When he ran for mayor in 2003 I told him I thought the town manager form of government should remain, and that Al Leonard had done a good job as town manager,” Soles said. “He assured me there would be no problem there, that he wanted to continue the progress that had been started.”

Soles said they were able to work together for grants that were beneficial to the town.

“I’ll miss him,” he concluded.

Richard Wright said he decided to file for the N.C. House of Representatives in 1974 as a result of a trip he made to Raleigh with Marion Baxter and Leroy Chestnut the previous year.

“Marion was chairman of the town’s elections board and Leroy was a member of the board,” Wright recalled. “I was the young town attorney and we went to an election laws seminar in 1973 and all shared a room. On the way home they told me I should file for the House, so I came back and talked it over with Sonny Sanders, Frank McGougan and others. That trip was where the idea was hatched and I filed in February 1974 at the urging of Marion Baxter.”

After Baxter became mayor in 2003 he invited Wright several times to attend the intergovernmental meetings attended by mayors and council members throughout the county, he said.

Wright noted that he and Baxter were members of the Methodist Church, where Baxter was active on various committees, and had been sent a notice of the Parish Committee meeting this week. He said his daughter Amy B. Wright, whom he replaced on the committee, had called Monday to say her father was confined to bed and couldn’t attend.

He noted that when he was a child he admired Jimmy Winstead, Jimmy Rogers and Marion Baxter, and Baxter’s mother “was such a sweet lady.” He recalled that Baxter and his brother Wayne had an old military convoy truck from World War II that they used in their construction business “and I thought that was something.”

Wright said Baxter was a great aid with the Tabor City High School Alumni Reunion, which he heads up annually during N.C. Yam Festival weekend.

“Two of our alumni speakers requested that they be introduced by Marion,” Wright said. “Bill Rogers was one; they were best friends in high school and Bill said, ‘Marion knows more dirt on me than anybody.’ Marion loved people and loved his days in Tabor City High School. He told wonderful humorous stories about alumni speakers he introduced. He had great recall of things that happened at a football game, at school or when he and his friends were just messing around.

“Marion had a positive influence on a lot of people.”

Town Manager Al Leonard said Baxter served as mayor from 1981-90, “and records show that councils during that time were basically reformers,” Leonard said. “They wanted to see a change, and they brought in Bob Cox (as the first town manager). They made improvements in the town’s finances and they got the first grants. He (Baxter) was instrumental in laying the foundation in the way the town is now operated.

“When he became mayor again in 2003 he said anything that had been approved by previous boards he would accept, that all he wanted was an opportunity to progress. Some of the projects he was involved in are a new public works garage, the lake lodge, and the town’s centennial. He took it on himself to oversee the installation of the centennial clock and brickwork donated by Jimmy and Joe Garrell, and when the Visitors Center was in the works, he jumped in to convert a gas station. His attitude was ‘I want to roll up my sleeves and work with you,’ and the record shows that he did that.”

Leonard said Baxter played a role in Tabor City that will be missed. “He was of the mindset that he would sit down and talk with people, and explain the way things had to work in town government. That’s a throwback to the way town government used to be, and the way it should be. He viewed himself as a peacemaker, a conciliatory person.”

Leonard visited with Baxter Monday afternoon and the mayor signed papers for the town.

“We had a real good visit,” he said.

Miona Fonvielle, a former town council member who worked closely with Baxter to put the town back on sound financial footing in the 1980s, said he was wonderful to work with.

“Marion was a kind person and I taught all three of his children,” the retired high school business teacher said. “Marion helped people who couldn’t help themselves. ”

When the town’s fund balance dropped below the level required by law, it was under threat of being taken over by the state. However, with Baxter’s leadership as mayor, the financial problems were straightened out. Fonvielle also gave former Councilman George Bryant a lot of credit.

“We did what we had to do to get the fund balance back to what was required by law, including cutting off some people’s water and garnisheeing wages,” she said. “The best things Marion did were getting the town back on its feet and hiring a town manager.”

The funeral will be Friday at 11 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church. Inman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.