Robert Ray Mauldin
January 15, 1935 ~ April 18, 2013
After a four year battle with the autoimmune disease, inclusion body myositis, and a series of successive strokes, Bob died April 18, 2013 at his home in Rocky Mount surrounded by his family. He was born on January 15, 1935 in China Grove, NC, the son of Raymond Ray and Hazel Luther Mauldin. He grew up on the China Grove Cotton Mill Village and worked summers in the mill throughout high school and college. He was forever grateful to his teachers in the China Grove schools who encouraged him to aspire to college.
In 1953, Bob entered his freshman year at NC State, but at the end of the year he knew that he not only was out of money, but also would never be a success in an engineering profession. He then joined the US Army and after two years of service, enrolled in UNC-Chapel Hill on the GI Bill. Bob loved every minute of his three years in Chapel Hill. He graduated in 1959 with a BS in business. At Carolina, he joined Chi Phi Fraternity and was elected President his senior year. He treasured his friendships with his Chi Phi brothers throughout his life. His passion for everything Tar Heel was legendary. He has served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Advisory Board and the Kenan Flagler Board.
Upon graduation he married Pat Jarman, beginning a fifty-four year North Carolina mixed marriage with a Dukie he had met on a blind date his junior year. They have five surviving children: Clay Mauldin (Lisa Shelton), Rocky Mount; Tricia Pannill (David) Kristy, Tom and Jane, Cary; Beth Turnage (John) Olivia, Rob and Graham, Rocky Mount; Dr. Anne Mauldin (Jim Blount) Ginny and Jay, Greenville; and Kate Mauldin (Matthew Barton) Waite, Durham. His children and grandchildren gave him the greatest joy. He never missed a school or sporting event or an opportunity to spend time with them. The highlight of each year was driving his red Jeep loaded with grandchildren in the Blowing Rock Fourth of July parade.
Bob began singing in his church choir at the age of fifteen. He joined the choir in every church he attended. The choirs at both First Presbyterian in Rocky Mount and Rumple Memorial Presbyterian in Blowing Rock became a second family. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church.
In June 1959, Bob started in the training program of American Commercial Bank in Charlotte. His banking career took his growing family to the Bank of York, York, SC, Colonial American Bank, Roanoke, VA and, in 1969, Peoples Bank, Rocky Mount, NC where he became President and CEO. In 1990, he was one of the cofounding CEOs of Centura Bank. He loved the banking profession and the wonderful colleagues and friends he met through the years. He always thought he had the best team possible. In 2013, he became a founding director of First Carolina Bank. He was recently named to the North Carolina Banking Hall of Fame.
Bob put his heart into his hometown. Throughout his forty-four years in Rocky Mount, he devoted himself to the betterment and growth of the region. Along the way, he served as Chairman or President of the Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Wesleyan College, The United Way, Rocky Mount-Gateway Partnership for Economic Development, Rocky Mount Preparatory School, and the Futrell Mauldin Fund of the NC Community Foundation. He received numerous awards for his professional and philanthropic leadership.
Memorials may be made to The Music Program, First Presbyterian Church, 153 N. Church Street, Rocky Mount, NC 27804; The Mauldin Scholarship Fund, NC Wesleyan College, 3400 Wesleyan Boulevard, Rocky Mount, NC 27804; The Futrell Mauldin Fund, NC Community Foundation, PO Box 7394; Rocky Mount, NC 27804
The service of thanks and celebration of Bob's life will be held at First Presbyterian Church at 11:00am on Monday, April 22, 2013.
Arrangements entrusted to Wheeler and Woodlief Funeral Home, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. You may share memories and condolences with family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.
Service
Location Not Available
Monday 4/22, 11:00 am
Please accept our deepest condolences for your family’s loss.
Lit a candle in memory of Robert Ray Mauldin
We had the honor and benefit of knowing Bob especially through his familty whom he love so much. He will be missed by us and by the community. Our prayers and love go to the family. Tom, Pat, and Elizabeth Stevens
So sorry for your loss, Bob was a good man.
When I was in high school in York, SC in the early 1960s, I worked parttime (Saturdays, school hoidays, and summer) at the Bank of York. Bob was then emeployed at the bank. My mother, Elizabeth Hall, and my late father, Willie Hall, used to care for the Mauldin children while Bob and Pat instructed the youth group of the First Presbyterian Church of York. Even though we have lost touch over time, some years ago I was conducting a school teacher workshop in Rocky Mount, and I had an opportunity to visit with Bob. Some time later Bob visited the UNC Wilmington campus where I am on the faculty to announce that Peoples Bank was endowing the university. More recently, Dick Varone, Bob, and I had breakfast together. My mother and I send our condolences to Pat and the rest of the family.
Lit a candle in memory of Robert Ray Mauldin
Bob was always warm and helpful when he felt he could add something. We still remember his efforts to be helpful to us with a book of healthy eating and lifestyle after a heart attack in 1996. The time we spent with he and Pat while Kate and Nicole were in School was alway a pleasant memory of happy times for all involved. He will be missed by many people for many reasons. Our love and thoughts are with Pat and the rest of the family during this time of great loss of a loved husband and father. Stan and Linda Ford
With our deepest and most sincere condolences. Clyde Luther, Jr. and family
So sorry for your loss. Sending love to you all.
Pat and family, Your Bob will always have a very special place in my heart. Sure, because of his leadership abilities and his incredible commitment to the City, to the College, and to UNC, but more so for his huge heart, his commitment to learning as an avenue to a more successful future for all, and his deep kindness and support of me during my time at NC Wesleyan. Bob understood the future and its needs. I respected him, and I loved him dearly. Jennifer and I are with you in your sorrow. Yet, we celebrate this man who looked to what could be, not just what was. Thanks be to God for him. Blessings to you. John
I am very sorry to read of Mr. Mauldin’s passing. I had the pleasure to get to know him shortly after Centura Bank was formed, and he came out to Statesville to spend time with us at our new office there. He was a pure gentleman, was very approachable and easy to talk to, and was among the last of a breed of bankers who were compassionate about people as well as being very good at their profession. I recall having dinner with him and hearing about his youth in China Grove, which is near Statesville. I commented later that the experience was like spending time with your favorite uncle. Mr. Mauldin obviously lived a well-balanced life, and I seem to recall that when he retired as CEO of Centura Bank he was presented with a motorcycle as a retirement present, and pledged to tour the country on it. We are all better for having had him in our experience, and to have his example. My sincerest and deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
Lit a candle in memory of Robert Ray Mauldin
Lit a candle in memory of Robert Ray Mauldin
Lit a candle in memory of Robert Ray Mauldin
Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality. ~Emily Dickinson My deepest condolences to the Mauldin Family, keeping you all in my prayers and sending you much love and support. Mr. Bob had a remarkable impact not only on my life but that of his family and community, his memory will forever be cherished in my heart.
Pat We were so sorry to hear the sad news. I have been very involved with the Loch Norman Highland Games for the past three days and learned only last night about Bob. We would be there today with you had we known earlier, but please know that you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers. Barbara joins me in expressing our love and sympathy for your loss of such a very special person. Heaven will be a better place with his presence there. Hopefully we will all be together there some day.
Bob was a good friend to us and to Wesleyan when we lived in Rocky Mount. We remember him fondly and extend our sympathy to his family. Les and Katrina Garner
Dearest Pat and Family, Allan and I send our heartfelt sympathies to you at this sad time. Bob was and amazing man and will be missed by all of us who were blessed to have known him. Our love and prayers for you all, Susan and Allan Barker
My sincere condolences and sympathy to the family of my dear high school classmate Bob Mauldin……Don Patterson, China Grove High School….Class of 1953..
One way that God provides comfort is through his word the Bible. (Rom. 154) Why not keep a list of scriptures that are comforting to you Grieving is not an overnight process. But the Bible can provide comfort, for it assures us that in the new world that God promises to bring about. You too many find that meditating on such promises will help you to cope with the loss of your loved one. Some have been offered.comforted As we face the pain of losing someone we love. The Bible gives us comfort in our time of grief. One day the last enemy death will be brought to nothing. (1 Cor. 1526) Jesus gave his human life for us by letting his blood be shed as a sacrifice. Then He ascended to heaven & once for all time our the value of his shed blood to God. (Heb. 911,12) That laid the basis for the forgiveness of, all mankind
I just learned the news of Bob’s passing today and am deeply saddened. We met on the Chi Phi house front lawn in the fall of 2009 and I felt like I had known him for decades; he had that kind of effect on me. His legacy will endure at Chi Phi A-A and beyond, and I will miss him. With respect and sympathy, T. Harrison Smith, Jr., Chi Phi A-A, ’84.