Harper "Jack" Johnston Elam III

Jack Elam, who died on July 18, 2018, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on 30 September, 1926. His parents were Harper Johnston Elam, Jr. and Elizabeth Mavity Martin Elam. His grandparents were Harper Johnston Elam and Lizzie Moyer Elam; and William Woodrow Martin and Katherine Mavity Martin.

Jack was educated at Greensboro Elementary School, the Curry School and Greensboro Senior High School. He graduated from the University of North Carolina and the U.N.C. School of Law, as well as the University of Virginia Graduate School of Business Administration. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School and passed the entrance examinations to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Jack served as an enlisted Quartermaster in the Pacific theatre in World War II and retired as a Commander in the Navy Reserve with 34 years of service.

Upon graduation from law school, he remained on the University of North Carolina faculty as an Assistant Professor of Public Law and Government and Assistant Director of the Institute of Government.

He then moved back to Greensboro as Assistant City Attorney, later promoted to City Attorney. In 1961 he joined Cone Mills Corporation as its first House Counsel, retiring in 1988 as Vice President and General Counsel.

Following retirement from Cone Mills, he practiced law in Greensboro and Washington, D.C., finally retiring in 1991.

Jack was admitted to practice in the courts of North Carolina, the D.C. Bar, the U.S. Federal Courts and the United States Supreme Court. He served as president of the North Carolina League of Municipalities, president of the U.N.C. Law Alumni Association, president of the Lawyer’s Association of the Textile Industry, President of the Sponsor Trustees of the University of Virginia Graduate School of Business Administration.

He also served as Vice President and United States Director of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Users, Director and chairman of the First American Savings Bank Audit Committee, National Director of the Electric Consumer council, National Treasurer and North Carolina Chairman of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers.

Jack served on the City Council of Greensboro, N.C. and as Mayor Pro Tem, and Mayor of the City of Greensboro.

Jack was a member and former Deacon of First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, N.C. He held memberships in the Greensboro Country Club, the Farmington Country Club of Charlottesville, Va., The Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C., the Peninsula Club and Peninsula Yacht Club of Lake Norman, N.C., the Army and Navy Club of Washington, D.C., the Greensboro City Club, the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the North Carolina Wildlife Habitat Foundation, the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and held an honorary membership in the Brookstown Connection.

Jack is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary Carolyn Glendinning Elam; his children, George Martin Elam (Deb) of Wilmington, N.C., Reverend John Claibourne Elam (Eve) of Salisbury, N.C., Erin Patricia Elam of Aiken, S.C.; his grandchildren, Stuart Wells (Marisa), Matthew Elam (Maryalice), Tyler Johnston (Laura), Anne Martin Scanlin (Kyle), Ashley Elam, Stephen Lancaster (Christy) and Brian Lancaster; great-grandchildren, Olivia and Grace Elam, and Graham Scanlin.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, July 27th, at one o’clock, in the First Presbyterian Church sanctuary, with Rev. John C. Elam and Rev. Neil Dunnavant presiding. The family will receive friends immediately following the service in the Virginia Gilmer Room.

The family would like to thank the staffs at Brookstone Commons, Clemmons, N.C., and Winston-Salem Hospice for their loving care of Jack in his final years.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Franklin Presbyterian Church, 280 Franklin Church Drive, Salisbury, N.C. 28147

Hanes-Lineberry N. Elm St. Chapel has the honor of assisting the Elam family.

Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.