James Zealy dies at age 96
By Staff Reports
Published in News on January 17, 2016 1:45 AM
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Dr. James Zealy
Wayne County is mourning the death of Dr. James M. Zealy, 96, who for 45 years practiced dentistry in the county, and who is being remembered for making significant contributions to the health and lives of those in the community.
A Wayne County native, Zealy died Thursday, Jan. 14, at Kitty Askins Hospice Center.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18, at First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Leigh Gillis officiating. Inurnment will be in the church columbarium. The family will receive friends following the service in McChesney Hall at First Presbyterian Church.
Zealy is perhaps best known for spearheading a successful push to have Goldsboro include fluoridation in the community water supply.
He later obtained a dental operating room for Wayne Memorial Hospital while serving as the chief of the hospital's dental staff.
Zealy served as president of the Wayne County Dental Society and twice as president of the Fifth District Dental Society.
He was born in Wayne County on Dec. 25, 1919, to the late Dr. Albert Hazel Zealy and Bertha Baird Zealy.
He was married to the late Nannie Piper Zealy and Martha Brooks Zealy.
Zealy received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his dental training at the Dental School of the University of Louisville.
Among his honors are the Citizenship Award of the North Carolina Dental Society, and in 1992, the Distinguished Service Scroll from the North Carolina Dental Society.
In September of 2015, he was inducted into the Wayne County Historical Association's Wall of Fame.
Zealy also served as a board member of the Wayne County Public Health Department, a member of the Committee for Product Re-evaluation at Wayne Memorial Hospital, chairman of the Wayne County Alumni Association for UNC at Chapel Hill, deacon and elder at First Presbyterian Church and a board member of the Wayne County Historical Association.
He served for six years on Wayne Community College's Foundation board and received the college President's Award for Distinguished Service.
Zealy served as president of the James E. and Mary Z. Bryan Foundation, which established the Bryan Foundation Endowment at Wayne Community College that provides at least 10 scholarships per year for students at the college.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 1101 E. Ash St, Goldsboro, N.C., 27534 or Kitty Askins Hospice Center, 107 Handley Park Court, Goldsboro, N.C., 27534.