Category: 1979

Following a long and courageous battle with cancer, Julius Jennings “Jay” Wade III died peacefully, surrounded by family September 11, 2026. Jay was born January 29, 1957 in Charlotte to the late Sara Caldwell Hunter Wade and the late Julius Jennings “Jake” Wade, Jr.

Growing up in “old” Charlotte, most of Jay’s early years were consumed by his athletic desires. Like most Wades, he tried every sport with a ball and found his high school talents at Myers Park High lay in football, where he led the team as a stand-out middle linebacker, co-captain, most valuable defensive player, and all-county selectee. His love of sports called him to coach youth soccer, baseball, and basketball.

Jay graduated Davidson College in 1979, but his college buddies joked he never spent much time at Davidson while in school (especially weekends) because he was off dating Cary at East Carolina University. After they married, Jay and Cary settled down in Davidson, where Jay became a long-time fixture in the Davidson community and a dedicated alumni and supporter of Davidson College. Jay and Cary also owned and ran the local Davidson Soda Shop for many years.Jay began his career in Charlotte in 1979 with one of Charlotte’s leading property and casualty insurance agencies. In 1992, Jay founded JJ Wade & Associates Insurance Agency in downtown Davidson which he built into a thriving business with offices in Davidson, Wilmington, New Bern, and Raleigh. Jay sold his company to HUB International in 2024.Jay made friends easily and kept in touch with old friends like clockwork.

He was a man of few words, but more often than not, they were kind words. Jay often performed kindnesses for others without taking credit, and while he could sometimes be stubborn, that trait served him well as he stubbornly built a successful business in a competitive environment, stubbornly supported Davidson athletics no matter the score, and stubbornly fought cancer for five years without complaint. If you asked Jay how he was holding up during his treatments, he would say he was fine and ask about you or your family, not wanting to draw attention to himself. Jay felt most at home with Cary, wherever they were, but if home were an island, nothing could compete with Wrightsville Beach. He never missed a chance to be near that clear blue-green water. Jay will be remembered by those who knew him best by his smile, his laugh, and his kind nature.

Jay is survived by the love of his life, his wife, Cary Page Wade; his son, Julius Jennings “Jake” Wade, IV; his precious grandchildren Henry and Lennon; his sister, Amelia Ann Wade; his daughter, Abbey Wade; and his many cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Jimmy.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00pm on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at Storyhill Church-490 S Main St, Davidson, NC 28036.

The family is grateful for the kind and loving care of The Levine & Dickson Hospice House-Huntersville and the medical professionals at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute in Concord, and in particular, Jay’s dedicated oncologist, Dr. Raghava Induru.

Margaret Carolyn Scherer Miles was born in Richmond, VA on November 10, 1956, the third child of Dr. Robert Irving Miles and Katherine Elizabeth Scherer Miles. She attended Henrico High School where she was an excellent student and an accomplished athlete, lettering in both tennis and basketball. She continued to play basketball at Davidson College where she was a member of the third class to include women. She graduated from Davidson in 1979 with a BA in English.

At Davidson, Maggie fell in love with poetry and travel. She spent a summer in Ireland studying the poetry of WB Yeats. After graduation she moved to Spain and taught English. Though she knew only minimal Spanish when she first moved there, by the time she left, five years later, Maggie was fluent in Spanish and experienced as a teacher.

Soon after her return from Spain, Maggie met Ned Breschel. They grew up a mile from each other but had never met until July of 1989 at a party given by friends in New York. Maggie and Ned became inseparable, eventually moving to Durham, NC together and later to Morehead, KY. During this time, Maggie was writing poetry and Ned was apparently her muse. She won the Virginia Prize in poetry for her poem “Midnight Waltz at Bill’s Barbecue.”

Maggie’s health challenges led her to study the Feldenkrais Method and after years of rigorous study she became a certified Feldenkrais practitioner. Throughout her time in Morehead, Maggie offered healing workshops to the community.

Maggie responded to her health challenges by literally ‘digging in.’ After getting a grant to collect stories about heirloom seeds, she decided to start planting the seeds and see what happened. She became a farmer, supporting the community through growing healthy food.

When that was no longer possible, Maggie began crafting unique and beautiful wire wrapped jewelry, which she sold at the Rowan County Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair and at private showings. Her desire to keep learning and growing never ceased despite physical limitations. She was in the process of writing a book and planning a podcast when she entered the hospital in late May. She died on June 10, 2026.

No matter the hurdles she faced over so many years, she continued to exude boundless optimism and resilience. During all these challenges, Ned was beside Maggie, supporting her, caring for her, and creating a meaningful life together.

Even in her final days, Maggie was always smiling, laughing, asking how others were doing.

Maggie is survived by her husband, Ned Breschel; brothers, Robert and William Miles; sister, Elizabeth Miles; many nephews, nieces, grand nephews and nieces; and a host of dear friends.

A memorial service for Maggie will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at Northcutt & Son Home for Funerals Memorial Chapel (400 Fraley Drive, Morehead, KY 40351) with Pastor Nancy Gowler officiating. The service will be live-streamed at Northcutt & Son Home for Funerals Facebook page beginning at 6 p.m. Visitation is immediately before the memorial service from 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Maggie cared about many issues. So in lieu of flowers those who would like to honor Maggie may contribute to a worthy cause of their choice.

Family, going into the real estate business with his brother, playing football in his younger days and then cheering on his beloved teams from Miami – all of it brought joy to Bob Clarkson’s life. Not even the cleaning person throwing his collection of 400 ball caps into the wash and nearly ruining them could dampen the optimistic spirit that graced his life’s journey.

Then, at age 60, a brain disorder began taking its toll, eventually putting him in a wheelchair and requiring a move from Florida to Charlotte, N.C., in 2024 to be closer to family.

It’s easy to smile through the good times. What made Robert Clarkson special is that he was able to smile through the bad.

He was 68 when he died on January 4, 2026, 3 years after an extended period of declining health required living in senior living facilities  

Bob – Bobby to his family – was born on January 16, 1957, the youngest of Harold and Jean Clarkson’s six children. He grew up in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he played football for Forest Hill Community High School. Though he was a ferocious lineman, he topped out at 6 feet, not quite gargantuan enough to play college football at a higher level. That turned out to be a blessing. He found his place at Davidson College, helping anchor the offensive line and graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.

Forty-five years after receiving his diploma, his teammates arranged for Bobby to join them at the first football game played in Davidson’s new football stadium. That Saturday afternoon in September 2024 meant everything to Bobby. So did the guys he played with, the ones who made this day possible. So did the limo ride they arranged to take him home at halftime. So did the No. 66 jersey they autographed, framed and inscribed “Teammate. Brother. Squatty Body.” It held a prominent place on the wall of Bobby’s room in assisted living. So did paraphernalia from his beloved Miami Dolphins and University of Miami Hurricanes.

After college, Bobby worked in real estate for the Safeway grocery chain in Oakland, CA,  and Baltimore before returning to Florida and going into commercial real estate with his brother, Charles. At various points he lived and worked in Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami. At one point, the family company owned or managed more than 2,000 apartment units. Bobby was a natural in the real estate business, an industry where success is built on establishing positive relationships.

Years later, when his father passed away, his mother moved in with Bob in Miami. How these two roomies brightened each other’s lives. Jean Clarkson was 97 when she passed away in 2013.

Bobby served his country in the U.S. Army from 1979-88, rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

He is survived by four siblings – Ann Clarkson Turpin of Silver Spring, Md., Dr. John G. Clarkson (Diana) of Charlotte, N.C., Charles A. Clarkson of Arlington, Va., and Julia Clarkson Wittman of Minneapolis. He is also survived by five nephews and five nieces.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Lawrence W. Clarkson (Barbara), of Marietta, Ga.

A service to celebrate Bobby’s life will be at Christ Church in Ponte Vedra, FL.

A gift in his memory can be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Florida,

820 Seagate Ave, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.

The family is deeply grateful for the care and kindness shown by the staff of Monroe Rehabilitation Center and Atrium Health Hospice who provided compassionate, personalized care.

Bobby’s body may have ultimately failed him, but illness couldn’t touch his heart. He didn’t get depressed. He never complained. Tears came. But his smile dried them. That was the story of his life.

 Margaret Darby died peacefully at home in the early morning of April 15 after living with lung cancer for about a year. She was 69 years old.

Margaret was born in South Boston, Virginia to newspaper writer/editor/owner Harwell M. Darby and homemaker Caroline Boxley Darby. Both parents had died by the time Margaret was 15 and she enrolled at Chatham Hall, a boarding school for young women where she acquired life-long friendships.

After graduation she spent time in Europe, studying languages accompanied by adventures which included hanging out with Greek sailors in Italy and working in a Normandy coastal restaurant that catered to fishermen coming in from the early morning catch. Eventually she returned to earn her bachelors at Davidson College as a music major with a piano specialty. She was always involved in college theater in various roles, including playing Rosalind, the heroine of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

After college she considered and then abandoned a career path in music, instead spending a year in Birmingham, Alabama as a bilingual secretary for a French company. She then set her sights on learning simultaneous interpretation, enrolling at Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in California (now part of Middlebury College.) After earning her masters there she again embarked for Europe. She added German and Italian, spending time in Saarbrücken and Florence, and interpreted from her three foreign languages into English. (She had passable Spanish, too, and had an interest in Mandarin.)

A resident of Brussels, Belgium for 10 years, she was was employed as a free-lancer, primarily working for the EC, the forerunner of the European Union. Returning to the U.S., she enrolled at Drexel University where she earned a masters in library science. A resident of Newark, Delaware she worked for the New Castle County Libraries, especially the Newark Free Library, and later the Cecil County, Maryland public schools, first Elk Neck Elementary and then Northeast High School. There she she revived the school newspaper and encouraged young writers, both the talented and those who hardly imagined they could write for the public.

In terms of Margaret’s own writing, she became a founding writer of Delaware Arts Info blog, publishing pieces on both music and theater. Margaret retired from school librarian work in 2015 and moved to Philadelphia with her partner, musician Chuck Holdeman. She continued writing for various arts blogs, especially the Broad Street Review. A member of the German Society of Pennsylvania, she was in the Buchclub which read and discussed German literature; Margaret also wrote articles about the society’s chamber music series for its quarterly newsletter. Remaining an avid pianist Margaret practiced everyday and played chamber music for fun. She and Chuck sustained each other with Bach sonatas during the pandemic. In her last year Margaret kept going despite the onset of an aggressive lung cancer.

She is survived by her partner Chuck Holdeman, her brother Sam Darby and his wife Jeanie, her sister Caroline Darby Wehner and her husband Bill, and by various cousins, especially on the Darby side, and also on the Boxley side. She also became close with Chuck’s five children and one grandson. Margaret was a lively, fun, and determined, independent person. She and Chuck were often seen walking hand in hand when she would regale him with a seemingly limitless repertoire of songs in all her languages. She was charitable and became interested in philanthropy. While she had no one favorite charity, any donations friends might make to charities and non-profits in her memory are encouraged. Margaret will be remembered by many gatherings of friends and her ashes will be interred at the family plot in Evergreen Burial Park, Roanoke, Virginia

Walker “Percy ” Badham, III (66) of Mountain Brook, AL passed away on February 26, 2024, after a long fight with Parkinson’s Disease. He was born on June 9, 1957, in Mountain Brook to Mitzi McDavid Badham and Walker Percy Badham, Jr.

He was very active at Canterbury Methodist Church and MYF (Methodist Youth group) and served for many years as a Youth Group counselor. He graduated from Mountain Brook High School and went on to attend and graduate from Davidson College magna cum laude. He went to The University of Alabama School of Law where he served on The Alabama Law Review and graduated summa cum laude in 1982. He began the practice of law in Birmingham with the Cabaniss, Johnston law firm and soon after joined the first associate class at Maynard Cooper & Gale, where he worked for 24 years. He was one of the founding partners of Badham & Buck, LLC in 2008.

Percy was a leader in various professional organizations and bar activities at the national, state, and local levels. He served as President of the Alabama Young Lawyers, Director of the Trial Academy for the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association and was voted one of the Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers during his years practicing law. He was honored as a recipient of the J. Anthony “Tony” McLain Professionalism Award by the Alabama State Bar, which recognizes members of the Alabama State Bar for distinguished service in the advancement of professionalism. He was a member of IADC (International Association Defense Council) for many years. He was rated in the Top 50 Attorneys in Alabama, in the Top 50 Mid-South and in the Top 10 several years during his career. He was also honored by being selected to be a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation and the Birmingham Bar Foundation. He was a member of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club, The Country Club of Birmingham, The Beaux Arts Krewe, and The Downtown Kiwanis Club.

Percy was truly one in a million and adored by all. To know him was to love him. He exuded compassion and kindness throughout his personal and professional life. Most of all, he adored his family. All who know Percy and Patti have witnessed the love they share for one another. His three children and grandchildren were his pride and joy, and his legacy will live on through them.

Percy was preceded in death by his parents and his granddaughter, Annie Louise Mills. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Patti Poundstone Badham of Montgomery. He is also survived by his two sons Walker Percy Badham IV (Tere), Phillip Paterson Badham (Abby), and a daughter, Lindsey Badham Mills (Andrew). He leaves behind his granddaughters and grandsons: Millie and Fairlie Badham; Wesley Badham; Mallie and Harris Mills, respectively. He is also survived by his sister Mitylene Badham Lockridge (Frank) of Atlanta, and half-sister, Ginger Smith (Jake), of Virginia. He also leaves behind special cousins Connie Haynsworth Grund (Mrs. Ed Grund) and Francey Grund, among many other special nieces, nephews, and cousins.

The family wishes to give a special thank you to Longleaf Liberty Park for the loving care given to Percy over the past two years, especially Crystal and Lou.

A service in celebration of Percy’s life will be held at Canterbury United Methodist Church on Thursday, February 29, 2024, at 12:00 noon, with visitation to follow in Canterbury Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials may be made to The University of Alabama School of Law Foundation for The Walker Percy Badham, III Scholarship Fund – Box 870382, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487), or to a charity of your choice.