William Joslin

Bill’s life was marked by a wide-ranging intellect, a deep reverence for the natural world, and an energetic involvement in public service. He was born in Raleigh’s Cameron Park neighborhood in 1920, and attended Wiley Elementary School and Broughton High School. Bill’s childhood was influenced by the early death of his father, H.V. Joslin and by the subsequent resilience and determination of his widowed mother, Annie Hinsdale Joslin. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bill benefitted from the mentoring of University President Frank Porter Graham, a leader known for progressive ideas on education and civil rights. During World War II, Bill served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater, and in 1946, married Mary Coker of Hartsville, S.C. After graduating from Columbia Law School in 1947, Bill served as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, another progressive thinker who became his second important role model.

In 1948 he and Mary moved back to Raleigh, where he started his law practice, and 1951 they bought a four-acre tract of forested land on what was then the northern outskirts of town. Turning this property into a richly varied garden of rare and native plants and trees, flowers and vegetables became Bill and Mary’s delight during the next six decades, and in this home they raised their six children.

While maintaining an active law practice, Bill devoted himself as well to the causes that he loved: fair elections, progressive politics, education, and preservation of natural areas. He served as Assistant City Attorney, Chairman of the both the Wake County and the State Board of Elections, Founding President of the NCSU Friends of the College concert series, Chairman of the Board of UNC Public Television, Chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party, President of the Wake County Bar Association, Board Chairman of both the North Carolina Nature Conservancy and the North Carolina Botanical Garden, and on the board of the Southern Environmental Law Center. Bill was also active in helping to establish the Raleigh Greenway system.

Working closely with the N.C. General Assembly, Bill spearheaded the Nature Conservancy campaign to establish the Recreation and Natural Heritage Trust, a state dedicated fund for land acquisition and management of ecologically significant areas in North Carolina. He also helped develop the strategy of obtaining annual capital for the state trust through fees for personalized license plates, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1989. On the federal level, he led the Nature Conservancy in winning appropriations for acquisition of Panthertown Valley and additional land in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. He was also long active in the work of the Triangle Land Conservancy.

In 1990, Bill received the national Nature Conservancy’s highest honor for volunteer service, the Oak Leaf Award. In addition, he received the Joseph Branch Professionalism Award from the Wake County Bar Association in 1992, the Liberty Bell Award from the Young Lawyers Division of the N.C. Bar Association in 2005, and was inducted into the N.C. State Bar Association General Practice Hall of Fame in 2007.

Bill was a lifelong member of Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Raleigh, and served there faithfully in many different capacities. In 2007 he received the Christ Church Cross in recognition for outstanding service to the church.

Bill’s work made Raleigh and North Carolina a better place to live. In our city, he was responsible for helping to save several areas which are now public parkland, and his and Mary’s homeplace will one day be public parkland as well, a perpetual green spot in the heart of Raleigh.

Bill is survived by his wife and partner of nearly 65 years, Mary Coker Joslin: by two brothers, Devereux Joslin and Hinky Joslin, both of Raleigh; by six children: Ann Joslin Killough (husband Joseph) of Brookline, Mass., Carolyn Joslin Watson (husband Randal) of Greenville, S.C., Nell Joslin (former husband Gray Medlin) of Raleigh, Will Joslin (wife Rebecca) of Raleigh, David Joslin (wife Laurie) of Greensboro, and James Joslin (wife Beth Hahn) of Raleigh; fifteen grandchildren: Katherine Killough (husband Dmitri Venediktov), Cynthia Killough (husband Tim Ellsworth), Margaret Killough Sherman (husband Mike Sherman), Stella Watson, Randal Watson, II, Daniel Watson, Ellen Medlin, Mary Medlin, Annie Medlin, Joel Joslin, Lydia Joslin, Andy Joslin, Nick Joslin, Sam Joslin, and Madeline Joslin); three great-grandchildren: Emily and Julia Ellsworth, Alex Sherman. He is also survived by faithful family friends and helpers, Owen Kapanga, Grace Song, and Helen Minter. Bill’s sister, Nell Joslin Styron, predeceased him.

Bill exhibited an extraordinary warmth and bonhomie in all his interactions. He believed that fair elections were the foundation of democracy, and that in order for people to have faith in their government, they must know that their votes were counted and mattered. He loved his wife and family. He loved birds. He loved dogs. He loved his garden, and he loved to be out in the natural world.

We must not only admire his fine example. We must follow it. Go forth, and do likewise.

A celebration for the life of Bill Joslin will be held at Christ Episcopal Church, 120 East Edenton Street, Raleigh, NC at 1:00 P.M., on Saturday, February 5, with a reception to follow in the parish hall. Memorials may be made to the North Carolina Botanical Garden (www.ncbg.unc.edu), the Triangle Land Conservancy (www.triangleland.org), the North Carolina Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org.northcarolina), the Southern Environmental Law Center (www.southernenvironment.org), Kalmia Gardens of Coker College (www.coker.edu), or to Christ Episcopal Church (www.christ-church-raleigh.org).

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary’s St. Raleigh.