BY MILES LAYTON

As most folks know, James Cahoon, 72, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 28 at ECU Health Chowan Hospital in Edenton.  

Cahoon was a former principal and assistant superintendent of Tyrrell County Schools, a Sunday School teacher and the beloved mayor of Columbia.

Unlike the drive-by mainstream media, the Albemarle Observer decided not to post a story right away because the news of Cahoon’s sudden passing was a bit of a surprise, and so as to give folks who knew him a chance to reflect on this man’s life.  

Cahoon’s funeral will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, at Sound Side Freewill Baptist Church with Rev. Royce Reynolds officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.  Family will receive friends between 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the church before the service and other times at the residence. Arrangements are by Maitland Funeral Home, Creswell.

Former State Senator Bob Steinburg paid tribute to this native son of Tyrrell County.   

“Mayor Cahoon was a gentleman in every sense of the word,” he said. “His passion and love for the town of Columbia and Tyrrell County were obvious to all who met him or who heard him speak. They say that no one is irreplaceable but Mayor Cahoon may have been the exception to the rule; an authentic role model for who every public servant should strive to be.” 

Tyrrell County Manager/Attorney David Clegg worked alongside Cahoon for at least 15 years and had some kind words to say about him.  

“He is really a Tyrrell County success story,” Clegg said. “Born in Tyrrell County, raised here, went through the school system, went to college, came back and earned a master’s degree, served as principal and retired as Assistant Superintendent – just this whole community is flush with people who have James Cahoon stories about how he helped them and counseled them.”

Clegg continued,  “After his time in education, he served on Town council – a calm, good, steady hand. He really deeply cared about Tyrrell County and Columbia and worked very quietly to try to move the needle. And in my 15 years of knowing him, I really enjoyed working with him. It is a great loss for this community.”

There’s no denying that Cahoon’s roots ran deep in Tyrrell County, so his experience and perspective as a leader will be missed.  

“There’s not a lot of people left who can bring to local government 60 years worth of experiences from childhood to today — you are losing that generation of public leaders, especially in Eastern North Carolina,” Clegg said. “His loss is simply another one of those folks who have a unique perspective who is now taken out of the conversation.”   

Tyrrell Schools posted these kind words to social media.   

“Mr. Cahoon dedicated his life to the service of our community, both in education and leadership. As a principal and assistant superintendent, he was a steadfast advocate for students, teachers, and staff, leaving a lasting legacy of excellence and care in our schools. His dedication to our community extended beyond education, as he worked tirelessly to lead and improve the Town of Columbia as mayor. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Cahoon’s family, friends, and all who were touched by his leadership, kindness, and commitment to making a difference. Tyrrell County has lost a remarkable leader, mentor, and friend. His impact on our schools, our town, and our community will not be forgotten.”

If you want to subscribe — FREE — check out our website at https://albemarleobserver.news/

If you want to subscribe – you can enter your email address at the website or send it to us at albemarle.observer@gmail.com and we will gladly add you to our growing subscriber list. 

Back in the day when Chowan’s local newspaper circulated in Tyrrell County – those days are long gone – this editor touched base with Cahoon who was always welcoming and informative about his hometown, Columbia. Rest in peace.

From what I can recall — Cahoon was very knowledgeable about all places between the Alligator River and Soundside.  After graduating from Columbia High School in 1970, Cahoon enlisted and served in the US Army during the Vietnam era, later attending Mt. Olive and Atlantic Christian colleges. 

Before Cahoon retired in 2009 after a long career for the school system, he served tours of duty as a school counselor, assistant principal, personnel director, and assistant superintendent.    

Cahoon was active in Columbia Town Hall affairs, where he served many years as a member of the town’s planning board and later as an alderman before folks asked him to run for mayor – a job he was still doing until he died.  

On that note, Mayor Pro Tem of Columbia Sandra Owens will serve as mayor until an election takes place and a new mayor is chosen.  

“I’ve known Mr. Cahoon since first grade. We went to school together, all the way through school, we graduated together, and now, we’re in the same church together and we do a lot of stuff through the church, and just a dear friend. I will miss him every day of life,” Owens said to WNCT Greenville.  

During Cahoon’s tour of duty as mayor, he spearheaded the development of the downtown waterfront – a great place to walk, maybe sit a spell with a snack and a Pepsi after kayaking the Scuppernong River. Speaking of water, Cahoon was a strong advocate for the Harbor Town project, a high-speed ferry system that would connect Plymouth, Edenton, Columbia, Hertford, Elizabeth City and Manteo. On that note, when the project was under consideration by the powers-that-be before a dream was transformed into a reality, Cahoon was a member of a crew of local notables who toured the Scuppernong River via boat to show folks what is possible when people work together.  

Cahoon was committed to building the county’s infrastructure – maybe say a prayer of thanks for his support of the county’s 911 system so folks could call for help, maybe ask for an ambulance to a local hospital.  

A few years back in 2019 when the state threatened to close the Tyrrell Prison Work Farm, that would’ve been a devastating blow to the county had it not been for the intense lobbying efforts of Cahoon, Clegg and others like Steinburg who was a big part of reforming the state’s prison system.   

The state sought to close the facility because of a statewide shortage of correctional officers so as to provide staff relief to other prisons.  

Had it not been for Cahoon and others, the county would’ve lost more than 100 prison employees and 30 percent of Columbia’s water/sewer department budget if the Tyrrell Prison Work Farm had closed.   

Cahoon wrote a letter – published below – to Timothy Moose, chief deputy secretary of Public Safety, and others regarding the proposed closure of Tyrrell Prison Work Farm. 

Yesterday I was informed of the proposed temporary closing of three prisons in our state. One of those prisons is Tyrrell Prison Work Farm in Tyrrell County. The Town of Columbia is the only town in this county of approximately 4,000 people. The closing of this prison has major economic impact implications for us in many different ways. 

One, in particular, is that the Town of Columbia furnishes sewer services to the prison. The revenue from your facility constitutes approximately 30% of our current water/sewer department budget. A closure of the prison here (temporary or permanent) will be a devastating economic blow to our town water/sewer department and the town’s budget. 

We are already economically depressed as a Tier 1 County and recently lost one of our major businesses that affected our revenues for water/sewer services, representing a loss of 20% of the water/sewer budget. My hope is that these concerns will be taken into consideration as decisions are made regarding closures of any length of time. 

For small towns and counties, a facility closure of this size is economically devastating. My hope is also that the state and/or your department will work together to avoid this closure or at least provide us with some form of economic relief to address the water/sewer budget concerns during the closure period.  Thank you for any thoughts and actions you may take regarding these concerns.  

The farm may have shut down for a tiny bit, but that didn’t deter Cahoon’s lobbying efforts because the facility reopened in 2020.  

“I appreciate the administration reopening the prison in Tyrrell County,” said Treasurer Dale Folwell at the time. “Not only will it help the economy of the area, but it will help alleviate the overcrowding in other prisons that could help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to inmates and employees of the prisons. Since the Tyrrell County work farm is one of the more modern facilities, I hope its opening will quickly be defined as ‘fully staffed and operational.’”

Not only that, but the Treasurer’s Office paid the county’s $304,735.73 water and sewer charges to keep the county and the Town of Columbia from defaulting on bonds taken out in 1998 to build the water treatment facility and sewer lines to support the prison. Default could have led to the Local Government Commission taking over the management of the county and town. 

We’re going to end the story about Cahoon’s life and legacy on a positive note.  

“Columbia Mayor James Cahoon was a dedicated public servant and a strong advocate for his community. Thanks to his passionate leadership, Columbia has benefited greatly. On behalf of North Carolina’s First Congressional District, I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family and the residents of Columbia,” Congressman Don Davis posted to social media.