Tony Everett Maye

Tony E. Maye’s lifelong love affair with the Town of Wingate, NC, ended Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020 with his death at age 74. Maye, born June 16, 1946, was a former mayor of Wingate and served on the town council prior to becoming mayor. Maye could not imagine residing elsewhere and delighted in announcing to telemarketers selling cemetery plots in neighboring Monroe that he had “been a good boy all my life so that I will not have to be buried outside Wingate.” Although Maye loved his hometown just as he found it, he devoted himself to improving its qualities through public service, both as an elected official and via active membership in the Wingate Jaycees and, later, the Wingate Lions Club. He also was a lifelong member of Wingate Baptist Church. Maye enjoyed a fulfilling 35-year career with Duke Energy, where he worked out of Charlotte as a Senior Right of Way Agent in the Real Estate Department; he also became a North Carolina-certified general real estate appraiser and a licensed broker. He joked that when he was hired at Duke, his only real estate experience was having plowed a great deal of it. He retired as a senior member of the American Right of Way Association and a past-president of the Carolinas Chapter of the International Right of Way Association, which in 1985 recognized him as Right of Way Professional of the Year. During his years acquiring rights of way for Duke’s public utility lines and substations throughout the Carolinas, Maye earned a reputation as a master negotiator with a knack for disarming adversarial landowners with his affable approach and his ability to walk away if the terms were not suitable. Those characteristics served Maye well in local politics. During his 10-year tenure as mayor that ended in 2007, the Town of Wingate broke ground on a new community park and community center, established a more stable and efficient police department and oversaw a major waste treatment system improvement project. Because of its potential to facilitate shared memories, Maye was most proud of his role in bringing the Wingate Community Park and Community Center to fruition. When he opted not to seek reelection in 2007, a local newspaper article stated, “Tony Maye always had the best interests of his hometown at heart. … Wingate can be proud of its now former mayor. He deserves our gratitude for years of service, acting both responsibly and dutifully during his commitment to his community.” Maye’s most treasured time was spent with his family and a wide, yet close, circle of friends. Before orthopedic issues cramped his style, he could be found manning the grill or fryer at many a Carolina Panther game tailgate with his “tailgate buddies,” sharing his envy-producing tomatoes with neighbors or tooling around on his tractor or lawn mower. He also never missed a televised North Carolina Tar Heels basketball game and maintained a long tradition of speaking to his daughter by phone at every halftime or, if they watched together, enjoying good-luck “half-time brownies” fresh from the oven. Maye enjoyed a successful, productive marriage to Joyce Strawn Maye for 28 years before her untimely death in 1993. Theirs was a true partnership and everyone in their circle was made better for it. He is survived by his daughter, Carmen Maye and her husband, Erik L. Collins of Columbia SC; brother, Dan (C.D.) Maye and his wife, Donna W. Maye, of Riverview FL; and many cousins, in-laws, nieces and nephews with whom he frequently interacted. In addition to his wife and parents B.J. and Ethel Lackey Maye, he was preceded in death by a brother, Kenneth L. Maye. An outdoor public memorial will be held Friday, October 2 at 11:00 a.m. at Wingate Community Park. A private burial is planned for Wingate Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations earmarked for the Tony Maye Community Center Maintenance Fund may be made to the Town of Wingate. An online guestbook is available at www.gordonfuneralservice.com. Gordon Funeral Service and Crematory, 1904 Lancaster Ave Monroe, NC 28112 is caring for the Maye family.