EDENTON — When roughly 60 people gathered at Anthony Evans’ Butler Ridge farm, they came to honor a man who spent nearly five decades proving that business success and community devotion are not mutually exclusive.
The Charlie Creighton Memorial Event, organized by Jason Krahenbill and Marty Stallings and held March 14, raised $10,000 for the ECU Health Chowan Hospital Development Council — a cause chosen by the Creighton family itself, a fitting final gesture from a man whose instinct, even in death, was to give something back.
“Charlie Creighton believed deeply in supporting his community, and this event was a wonderful reflection of that spirit,” said Jennifer Harriss, Development Manager for the ECU Health Chowan Hospital Development Council. “We are incredibly grateful to the organizers, attendees, and the Creighton family for honoring his legacy while making a meaningful impact on our hospital.”
Funds raised through the development council support programs, equipment and services that benefit residents across Chowan, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties.
Charles Alfred Creighton died peacefully on May 15, 2025, following a brief illness. He was Edenton’s most tireless booster — a businessman, civic leader, devoted family man and faithful Christian who seemed constitutionally incapable of sitting on the sidelines.
An Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur
Before tires, there was heavy machinery. Creighton had built a reputation as a top salesman for Caterpillar, a man with a rare gift for closing big deals. But in 1976, at the age of 32, he changed course and founded Colony Tire — and never looked back.
“I’ve never had any illusions about the tire business being a glamorous business,” Creighton said in a 2007 profile after being named Tire Dealer of the Year by Modern Tire Dealer magazine. “When I was selling Caterpillar machines I never spent much time thinking that I wanted to be a tire dealer.”
So what changed? The work itself.
“Once I got in it, I found that I loved it. It meets all of my needs. I don’t want to be in the jewelry business. I don’t want to be a lawyer. I’m not smart enough to be a doctor. The tire business has served me well and I’m delighted to be in it. I don’t want to be anything else.”
Colony Tire grew into one of the country’s leading tire distributors, supplying millions of tires annually to truck fleets, construction companies, heavy equipment operators, mines, farms, tire dealers and car dealerships throughout the region. By January 2020, the company was still expanding — Creighton stood in an open field watching workers lay concrete for a new 100,000-square-foot warehouse, the second Colony had built in less than a year.
The Community’s Champion
Colony Tire was the platform. Community was the cause.
Creighton served on the boards of the Edenton-Chowan Economic Partnership and the Edenton Rotary Club, among many others. Gov. Pat McCrory appointed him to the North Carolina Economic Development Board. In 2023, the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce named him its Businessperson of the Year.
Perhaps no chapter of his civic life illustrates his character more vividly than his role in saving the Taylor Theater. When the beloved venue faced closure without a costly renovation, it was Creighton who stepped up first — and then inspired others to follow. The theater survived and remains, by the estimation of those who know the region, the finest theater in Eastern North Carolina.
That pattern — seeing a need, refusing to walk past it, pulling others along — defined how Creighton moved through the world.
A Legacy That Endures
The memorial event at Butler Ridge was the first of what organizers hope will become an annual tradition. ECU Health Chowan Hospital extended its appreciation to Krahenbill, Stallings, the Creighton family and all who contributed to its success.
For those who knew Charlie Creighton, the $10,000 raised is more than a donation. It is a reflection of what one person, working with genuine conviction in a mid-size tire business in a small Eastern Carolina town, can leave behind.
He was, as those who loved him say simply, beloved by all.
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