Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Betty R. McCain "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore Friday, April 23, 1993 There was great rejoicing in the clan and among friends throughout North Carolina when our own Betty Ray McCain, formerly of Faison, was appointed as Secretary of Cultural Resources by Governor James B. Hunt. It is comforting to know that we have one of our own who understands our cultural and historical heartbeats in this important position. Betty is intelligent, well-read, full of personality and outgoing, talented and has beautiful manners. She is a true Tar Heel of the old school with a modern, progressive outlook. Betty was born in Faison in the same old house which was built by her grandfather. Her father, Horace T. Ray, was a school principal and a lawyer for 41 years in Faison. Her mother, Mary Ferret Ray, was a teacher for many years in Faison. She was beloved by everyone. Betty's grandmother, Eloise Faison, was the daughter of William and Susan Gates Faison, who lived on a plantation east of Faison. This makes Betty a member of the Moore-Thomson- Hicks-Faison Clan which meets near Turkey once a year. Betty has one brother, Dr. Horace T. Ray Jr. of Warsaw. Betty McCain attended elementary and high school in Faison and because of her agreeable disposition and friendliness she was the darling of the community. She was valedictorian of her class. She then attended St. Mary's College in Raleigh and then the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received an A.B. Degree in Music. Then she attended Columbia University in New York where she received a M.A. degree in Music. I am much older than Betty, but I was one of her marshals at the debutante ball when she made her debut. Betty married Dr. John L. McCain of McCain who had settled in Wilson. His father was Dr. McCain, the superintendent of the T.B. hospital at McCain, and his mother was dean at Flora MacDonald College. They settled in Wilson and became active in everything in town which was good for the community. She was a member of St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church in Faison where she was married, but she later became a Presbyterian in Wilson. She is a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Wilson. The McCains have a son, Paul, who teaches at N.C. State, and a daughter, Mary Eloise Hassel, an attorney, who teaches at the School of Business at U.N.C. Greensboro. The McCains have four granddaughters. Betty McCain is and has been a member of so many cultural, political, historical, educational, and medical organizations, and space here would not allow me to list all of them. Among the numerous honors she has had, she is a former member of the board of trustees of the University of Chapel Hill, a past president of the N.C. Museum Associates, and a member of the board of directors of the National American Medical Association Woman's Auxiliary. She is a member of the U.D.C. and the D.A.R. She had an avid interest in politics since high school days. She has held the position of Chairman of the N.C. Democratic party, 1976-79 and in 1976, 1980, she was co-chairman of the Jim Hunt campaign for governor. She was a volunteer in Jim Hunt's campaign for governor in 1992. I honestly believe that we could not find a more versatile person in North Carolina. She is an elegant speaker with a fine sense of humor. Betty will be remembered far and wide as the outstanding leader of our Cultural Resources for North Carolina in this century. She will be able to involve the people of North Carolina in the activities of this valuable department. We do congratulate her ! ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Guy Potts ==============================================================