By BOB HIGH
& LEE HINNANT

Robert “Bobby” Eugene Sessions, chairman of the county’s Board of Elections for many years, and one of the chief supporters of American Legion baseball for decades, died Sunday at his Red Hill Road home following an illness of abour four months.

Sessions was hailed by many as fair, honest and untiring in his efforts to oversee uneventful elections and have fair baseball games and playoffs. His funeral arrangements are on todays obituary page.

“He led by example and he loved his work with the elections board,” fellow member Frank Stanley Jr. of Tabor City said of Sessions. “When he was in good health it was always the integrity of the system that was important. He didn’t play politics.

“He knew everyone and their parents, or their brothers and sisters. He knew who the best poll workers were, and he was an engaging person. He enjoyed life, loved to laugh and those around him enjoyed him being there,” Stanley added.

“It’ll be impossible to replace Bobby Sessions,” said a sad Annie Ruth Buffkin, who worked with Sessions for 20 years in county elections. Buffkin, who retired in 2003 after 32 years with the department, said that Sessions was “fair, honest and did things in a Christian way.”

County Democrat Party Chairman Sherry Prince Dew noted Sunday evening that Sessions was a loyal, hard-working person who “was there in the tough times, and performed like the champ he was. He made sure things were done properly, and it’ll be difficult to find another person like Bobby Sessions.”

“He was committed to making an election fair to everyone, regardless of party or race. He led by example, and I’m very glad he didn’t resign during the past months and died while still a member and chairman of the board. He was at the elections’ offices every day when he was in good health,” the Republican Stanley observed.

‘Friend to both sides’

“Bobby was a Christian first, a good man second, and a friend to both sides and all candidates, regardless of race, when it came to elections,” Buffkin added.

“Bobby was really into the Board of Elections. He took that real serious, and his family is proud of what he did for the county,” Bobby’s brother Jim “Speed” Sessions said.

“He loved that position and he took it very seriously,” said Jessie Graham, the other Democrat on the Board of Elections. Graham said Sessions worked tirelessly and was at the offices nearly every day. Graham said Sessions never decided issues in a partisan way.

“If there was a problem that needed to be solved, he wanted the public to know that it would be handled above board,” Graham said.

Retired Waccamaw Academy headmaster Frank Walters worked with Sessions and his brother as a volunteer for the American Legion baseball team, an off-season squad that includes some of the area’s best high school players.

“He was certainly an icon in American Legion baseball, not just in our area but in the state and nation,” Walters said. “With his efforts, the Post 137 program stands equal to any in the state of North Carolina … He’ll not only be missed, he can never be replaced.”

N.C. State graduate

The Sessions brothers operated a tractor and farm-equipment dealership from 1962 to 1997 near Whiteville, selling Ford, Kubota and Long tractors, plus allied equipment.

Sessions was a 1949 graduate of North Carolina State University with a degree in soil science and taught World War II veterans before entering the U.S. Army in 1951. Bobby was a member of the 3rd Infantry Division and served in Korea during the 1951-53 war.

“He couldn’t see good enough to go to Officers Candidate School, but he could see good enough to tote a rifle. Both of us always thought that was funny,” Bobby’s brother pointed out.

Sessions was a former president of the Columbus County Farm Bureau and also served on the insurance firm’s state board.

Bobby served on the county board of education in the early 1960s, plus was a county commissioner.

Carla Strickland, the current director of elections for the county, has been in the post for less than two years and she was upset Sunday evening when she talked about Sessions. “He was the man who guided me, trained me.

“He always said if we don’t know the answer, we would always call somebody and find out. Mr. Sessions didn’t guess at anything.”

Strong Christian

Stanley observed that Sessions was “a strong Christian Methodist, and he always loved to visit precincts on Election Day. If there was a problem, he knew exactly what to do.

“We’ve had some close races recently. When Jackie Hooks lost the judge’s race by two votes in 2002, Jackie and all the others watched as the votes were recounted. Bobby always made sure everything, particularly any recount, was done in the open where everyone could see.

“I remember when Jackie realized he had lost, he nodded, thanked everyone and said, ‘That’s it. It was honest.’ There wasn’t any question from Jackie about how the process was handled. That’s the way Bobby did things, and all of us are so much better off because of his honest, open way of dealing with elections,” Stanley added with pride.

“Bobby, Jessie (Graham) and I had almost no disagreements. When there was a question, we’d go look up the law, and that would settle it. I think we had just one 2-1 vote in all the years I worked with Bobby. The votes were always 3-0. That tells you the kind of chairman Bobby was,” Stanley continued.

Sessions was a son of the late A.H. “Red” and Fannie High Sessions of the Red Hill Road community in Welches Creek Township northeast of Whiteville. He lived his entire life on the family farm property.