Facebook-f Instagram
Find a Local Chapter

North Carolina Jaycees History

  • January 5, 1929 – Charter Member # 266, Charlotte Junior Chamber of Commerce. Followed by Winston- Salem, Raleigh, and Fayetteville in the early 1930’s.
  • April 17, 1937 – North Carolina Jaycees was founded with T. Spruill Thornton of Winston-Salem as the first state president. State organization begins adopting priority projects to focus on statewide needs.
  • December 6, 1938 – Charter Member # 547, North Carolina Jaycees. State Headquarters was located in the basement of the Security National Bank Building in High Point.
  • 1943 – NC Jaycees adopted the Miss America franchise. In 1950 it was adopted as a permanent project. North Carolina was the first state organization to be affiliated with the Miss America Pageant.
  • 1947 – North Carolina’s FUTURE monthly publication was born. Over time the name changed to the LEADER. In 2008, the publication went electronic as the E-Brief, which is emailed to members twice a month. Information is also kept on the website ncjaycees.org
  • 1952 – In August the State Headquarters moved to a building known as “The World’s Largest Bureau” in High Point.
  • 1962 – The Jaycee Cottage was dedicated at the Boys & Girls Homes of North Carolina at Lake Waccamaw.
  • 1965 – First Executive Vice President began serving. In 1995, this position was changed to a full time Executive Director. Starting in 2010, there is no state headquarters staff.
  • 1967 – North Carolina Jaycees were the first state in the US to recognize the need to extend chapters into the correctional system. The first institutional chapter was chartered at Sandy Ridge by the Greensboro Jaycees.
  • November 12, 1967 – North Carolina Jaycees Memorial Foundation, Inc. was founded to oversee the activities of building a new headquarters in Asheboro.
  • 1968 – First known gathering of the Senators in North Carolina. North Carolina Jaycees International Senate was chartered in 1975. On June 4, 1999, the NC JCI Senate was incorporated.
  • April 26, 1969 – State Headquarters Building was dedicated as an honorarium to the 12,800 members at that time.
  • February 23, 1981 – The North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center was established at UNC and continues to save hundreds of lives, advance the scientific knowledge of burn care and rehabilitation and has since become recognized as one of the best comprehensive burn centers in the world.
  • June 1984 – North Carolina Jaycees vote to admit females as members of the organization.
  • 1987 – The NC Jaycee Outpatient Treatment Facility at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center was created and cancer patients make more than 85,000 visits per year to our outpatient clinics for treatment or follow-up care. At The US Jaycees Annual Meeting, the age for membership defined as 21 to 40.
  • 1988– NC Jaycee Cardinal Corps formed.
  • 2011– At its January 29th meeting, the NC Jaycees Board of Directors voted to name the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program at the Duke Cancer Institute as a State Priority Project. We had previously partnered with Duke as part of its NC Jaycee Outpatient Treatment Center.  Since then we have contributed over $1 million to aid the organization in making life easier and more comfortable for patients and their families.
  • 2016– At its January 30th meeting, the North Carolina Jaycees voted to adjust the age limit to 18-40.  This change is in line with the US Junior Chamber and JCI.

 

 

North Carolina Jaycees Presidents

President

NameTerm
1stSpruill Thornton*1937-38
2ndDallas Alford, Jr.*1938-39
3rdWisner Chamblee*1939-40
4thGeorge Lentz*1940-41
5thBasil Whitner*1941-42
6thHoward Halberstadt*1942-43
7thRay Bandy*1943-44
8thRobert Albernathy*1944-45
9thClayton Frost*1945-46
10thOdell Lambeth*1946-47
11thEd Ellis*1947-48
12thWilliam Harrison1948-49
13thMicou Browne*1949-50
14thEdgar Snider*1950-51
15thHarry Stewart*1951-52
16thJ.B Brame*1952-53
17thGene Ochsenreiter1953-54
18thWilliam Henderson*1954-55
19thEdgar Gurganus*1955-56
20thRobert Cox*1956-57
21stJack Sharpe*1957-58
22ndMarvin Koonce, Jr.1958-59
23rdAl Harrison*1959-60
24thAl Sharpe1960-61
25thFred Swartzberg1961-62
26thJohn Kennedy1962-63
27thBill Suttle*1963-64
28thBill McDonald *1964-65
29thCabel Ramsey*1965-66
30thIrvin Aldridge1966-67
31stLuther Britt, Jr. *1967-68
32ndJim Church1968-69
33rdJim Ollis *1969-70
34thBill Hobbs1970-71
35thAvery Nye, Jr.1971-72
36thFred G. Morrison, Jr.1972-73
37thJames C. Hastings1973-74
38thGus Tulloss1974-75
39thJim Morgan1975-76
40thJoe Hollowell1976-77
41stJohn Fletcher1977-78
42ndHarold Herring1978-79
43rdMaurice Wilson1979-80
44thJohn S. Lowery1980-81
45thReich Welborn1981-82
46thJim Cole1982-83
47thJim Godfrey1983-84
48thRandall Essick1984-85
49thJerry Wall1985-86
50thGlen Daly *1986-87
51stRick Byrd1987-88
52ndJoe Walker1988-89
53rdDonnie Solomon1989-90
54thMossy White1990-91
55thBill Sharek1991-92
56thWesley Googe1992-93
57thMary Shott Speaker1993-94
58thT.W. King1994-95
59thTerry Bennett1995-96
60thDavid Strickland1996-97
61stRandy Bunn1997-98
62ndAlan Hemphill1998
63rdMichael Woodard1999
64thMilton Kern2000
65thKristy Whisnant2001
66thTom Cramer2002
67thMichele Denton2003
68thShannon Foster2004
69thKenn Kubacki2005
70thJoanie Cramer2006
71stSharon Worthington2007
72ndChris Hardee2008
73rdValerie Huffman2009
74thMaria Hicks-Few2010
75thTroy D. Powell2011
76thJennifer E. Salmon2012
77thScott Alexander2013
78thJocelyn Hardee*2014
79thCharles Krupinski2015
80thStacy Hanna2016
81stAshton Thomason2017
82ndStacy Hanna2017
83rdAnna Price2018
84thCarmen Miller2019
85thDerek Mobley2020

86th

Andrea Grenier

2021

87th

Robert Cook

2022

88th

Aaron Gauldin

2023

89th

Morgan Tedder

2024

90th

Autumn Gentry

2025

Subcribe Our Newsletter

About Us

JCI North Carolina (the North Carolina Jaycees) is a not-for-profit organization of young active citizens. Our members, ages 18-40, develop themselves personally and professionally by bringing energy and insight to solving problems locally and around the world. Membership has been inclusive of all genders in the United States since 1984. 

Facebook-f Instagram

Quick Links

Resources

Mailing Address

Created by JV Design Co.

Copyright 2025 North Carolina Junior Chamber of Commerce

Stay Updated

Join The Buzz

Fill out the simple form and get added to our email list! We regularly send out chapter events across the state and important information to keep you up to date!.

Thank you for subscribing to the North Carolina Jaycees email list! As a member, you’ll be the first to know about our upcoming events and programs, as well as receive updates on the organization’s initiatives and news. We’re thrilled to have you as part of our community and can’t wait to connect with you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Close

Stay Updated

Join The Buzz

Fill out the simple form and get added to our email list! We regularly send out chapter events across the state and important information to keep you up to date!.

Newsletter

Please include First Name, Last Name and Email!

No Thanks