Claude Mayo

August 3, 1923 started out to be just another North Carolina summer day for the little town of Greenville. Nothing special was happening, "the pigs were happy playing in the mud in the sunshine." Only Bessie Barnes Mayo and Willie Mayo recognized that a change was gone to come. Not they, nor the child himself would ever realize the impact he would have on generations to come.Since nobody can tell a story like CLAUDE MAYO can tell one, I'll just tell his story the way told it to me...Miss Taffry was the midwife who delivered me. I guess she did that alright, 'cause for eighty-five years I was still here! Funny thing though, it took me sixty years to get a birth certificate, I guess she filed it a little too late!People always said I had a great memory for dates and numbers; anyway, we lived at 1216 Green Street and we were the only people with a telephone 'cause Uncle Leroy Barnes worked for the phone company. I guess you could say there were lots of things that I was pretty good at, but school wasn't one of them. I do remember Mrs. Salty though, she was my teacher. I was in fourth grade and she promoted me to the sixth. I'm not sure if it was because I was smart or because I was too tall!Believe it or not, I can still remember every join I had. My first job, at fifteen, was delivering groceries for Honey Cut Independent and Askew Markets. My delivery vehicle was a two-wheeled bike with a basket on the front. I worked six and a half days a week and made $3.50 a week! My last job was with the Baltimore County Public Schools and I retired from there in 1988. Ethel "Merry" used to say, "Claude why don't you get yourself a part-time job?" But I told her, "Being retired is my job and I ain't doing nothing else!" I used to work on a potato farm and sleep in box cars until the age of eighteen, I decided I could do more with white potatoes, so I enlisted in the Army and served three years, seven months and eight days (don't play that number)! Uncle Sam gave me two bronze stars, one victory medal and $100 mustering out pay. I also had a a brand new baby girl, Lillie Mae White. I also didn't know a thing about being a father, but I knew I couldn't feed a baby and me for very long on $100.

Tributes

Claude Mayo

August 3, 1923 - February 3, 2009