Thomas S. Harrington

Thomas Sidney Harrington, 89, of 650 Washington St., Eden, died peacefully on Saturday in the presence of his son John and granddaughter Giselle, at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, after a protracted illness.

Mr. Harrington was born in Warren County. He was the son of Thomas Jennings Harrington and Sallie Tannahill, nee Pritchard on June 6, 1926. He graduated from John Graham High School in Warrenton, and received his B.S. degree from Duke University in 1948. At Duke he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He met his future wife, Jean Elliott, nee Dunn, of Leaksville, in a philosophy class, where they were fellow students, and they were married on December 29, 1951.

During the Korean War, Mr. Harrington served as a first lieutenant with the U.S. Air Force ?��Ǩ��� as a training officer at Lackland Air Force Base,San Antonio,Texas, and later as base adjutant at the Long Beach, Calif., Air Force Base. He then attended the University of North Carolina Law School, and received his LLB degree in 1956. After working for a short period for the National Bank of Commerce in Norfolk, Va., he joined the staff of the North Carolina Attorney General's office, where he served as an Assistant Attorney General.

In 1958, Mr. Harrington moved to Leaksville (later part of the City of Eden) to open a private law practice, and lived there for the rest of his life. He was immersed in local and state political and civic activities. He served as City Attorney, Rockingham County Attorney, president of the Eden Rotary Club, member of the Morehead Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, and chairman of the Eden United Way and the Rockingham County Cancer Fund. He served as president of the Rockingham County and the 17th Judicial District Bar Associations. He also served two terms as chairman of the Rockingham County Republican Party.

Mr. Harrington was appointed in 1965 by Gov. Dan K. Moore to a four-year term on the North Carolina Highway Commission. His district included Rockingham, Guilford, Orange, Alamance, Person and Caswell Counties. He was the first resident of Rockingham County to be appointed to a full term on the Commission, and was responsible for much important road construction and improvement in the County.

At the time of his appointment to the Highway Commission, and NC-14 did not extend farther north than the Meadow Road overpass. Through his efforts, NC-14 was completed to the Virginia line, and was expanded from two to four lanes from the Harry Davis Bridge over the Dan River to Meadow Road. This is now the most heavily traveled road in Eden, utilized by ordinary traffic and trailer trucks connecting NC-14 to US-220, soon to be Interstate 73 and 74. Harrington's developments of this road anticipated and made possible the future commercial development of the central area of Eden, which is now the commercial hub of the City of Eden.

Pursuant to his overall plan for uniting the Rockingham County highway system, Mr. Harrington brought about the construction of a new NC-770 from Eden to Stoneville and a new NC-704 from just west of Wentworth to Madison, and the widening and improvement of NC 87/NC 65 from Reidsville to Wentworth. He obtained the redesignation of the former secondary road from Eden to Madison as a state primary road (NC-135/now US-311), which qualified it for state fund for widening and upgrading.

Also as Commissioner, Mr. Harrington was responsible for laying out and building the Eden bypass road, now known as the Thomas S. Harrington Highway (US-311), running from NC-14 south of Eden to NC-770 to the west, and connecting with NC-87 and NC-135.

During his term as Commissioner, many miles of secondary roads in Rockingham County were improved and paved. A contemporary cartoon shows Harrington in a frenzy, surrounded by maps and surveys, exclaiming, ?��Ǩ?�President Johnson has released the money! Now I'm going to pave every pig path in Rockingham County!?��Ǩ�� He did not, however, neglect his duty to the rest of his District, and the other counties also benefited from the enthusiasm and expertise of road modernization shared by himself and his engineering staff.

As a business man, Mr. Harrington was an organizer and chairman of the Board of People's Bank of Madison (later People's Bank of North Carolina, and now part of First Citizens Bank). He was a director and member of the Executive Committee of Carolina Bank of Commerce (formerly Leaksville Bank and Trust Co.), and served as chairman of it Board at the time of its merger into what is now Bank of America.

In later years, Mr. Harrington was founder of Will of the People, a non-partisan political organizing committee, which has had a substantial impact on the governance of Rockingham County, insisting on the accountability of elected officials to the public. He remained chairman of Will of the People at the time of his death.

Mr. Harrington is survived by his wife Jean, two sons, John Ray Harrington of Warner, New Hampshire, and Thomas Pritchard Harrington, of Leland North Carolina, a brother, Alfred Merle Harrington of Salisbury, NC, and five grandchildren, Sallie Gray Harrington of Boston, Massachusetts, Mary Ravenel Parmentier and Giselle Eliza Harrington, both of Charleston, South Carolina, Joseph Thomas Harrington and Benjamin Torras Harrington, both of Warner, New Hampshire.

The funeral will take place at the First Baptist Church, Greenwood St., Eden, at 1:00 on Tuesday, December 1 with burial to follow at Lawson Cemetery with full Military Honors. The family will receive visitors at Fair Funeral Home in Eden on Monday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.