The City of High Point just lost one of the most notable and important leaders in the history of the city. And when it comes to female leaders in the city over the years in particular, Mary Riddick Long Jarrell – who died Sunday, Jan. 25, at the age of 95 – was clearly one of those at the very top when it came to influencing the history of the city and promoting the interest of the city she loved.

In 1977, former civic leader and former High Point Mayor O. Arthur Kirkman asked Jarrell to run for the High Point City Council, which she agreed to do.

She went on to win and she served on the City Council for two terms.

While on the Council, Jarrell served as Mayor Pro Tem as well.

In the early 1980s, Democratic Party leaders asked Jarrell to run for the North Carolina General Assembly as a representative of Guilford County. She won that election as well and went on to serve seven terms in the NC House of Representatives – all the while advocating for the interests of High Point, Guilford County and state residents as a whole.

Despite her hectic schedule, she took on other responsibilities as well.  She became the chair of the Local Government Committee, chair of the State Government Committee, and co-chair of the Finance Committee.

Just to name one prominent example of the way she benefited High Point, she sponsored the bill that founded the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival in that city.

Her obituary recounts her life as a young woman growing up in the area before she entered politics: “Mary was born on February 16, 1929 in Winston-Salem to Jennie Mae Fife Long and David Allison Long, Jr. and her childhood was spent in Thomasville, NC. She was a graduate of Fairfax Hall in Waynesville, Virginia and Queens College in Charlotte, NC, where she earned degrees in education and English. In addition, she did graduate work in education at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Mary was proud to be a 7th grade teacher in the public school systems of both Forsyth and Davidson Counties for 9 years. She spent the rest of her life championing the importance of quality public education in North Carolina. She later was appointed to the Board of Trustees at Guilford Technical Community College and served as their Legislative Liaison. She was a member of the Chi Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.”

Later in life, she remained a High Point resident living at River Landing Retirement Community. Mary and her husband, Dr. Harold Thomas Jarrell, now deceased, moved to River Landing, a section of High Point with a Colfax mailing address.

At the Thursday, July 9,  Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Kay Cashion said, of Jarrell: “She was a power to be reckoned with. She was a hard worker; she had high ethics; you always know where she stood.”

Cashion said at the meeting that the two had become lifelong friends and that Jarrell was a “person of action.”

Cashion added that many women in politics today in the area stand on Jarrell’s shoulders.

She had married her husband in 1956 and moved to High Point, where she quickly became an integral part of the community. She joined the Junior League of High Point. Later in life, she credited that organization as the place where she was able to develop her leadership skills and her love of community service.

As part of that group, she led, among other efforts, the restoration of the John Haley House.

Here are a few of her other notable contributions:

  • Vice President of the High Point Historical Society
  • Member of the Guilford County Historical Commission,
  • Member of the High Point Museum board
  • Member of the William Penn Restoration Committee
  • Member of the Community Concert board,
  • President of the YWCA,

The list goes on and on and includes other notable service such as service on the High Point Drug Action Council, the Board of Westchester Academy, the Board of visitors of Maryfield Nursing Home, and she was a board member of the High Point Chamber of Commerce.

She remained active in the Democratic Party her whole life and she co-founded the first domestic violence shelter in High Point.

Jarrell loved being a member of the High Point Friends Meeting and always made that group a priority.

The very long list of honors and awards includes the fact that in 2012, Governor Beverly Perdue awarded Jarrell The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, an award presented to individuals who have a proven record of extraordinary service to the state.

For those who wish to pay their respects to the remarkable citizen, a Memorial Service, officiated by Pastor Scott Wagoner and Chaplain Robbin Mundy, will be held at High Point Friends Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m., following a private burial at Springfield Friends Meeting. The family will receive visitors immediately following the Memorial Service in Regan Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to High Point Friends Meeting or High Point Friends School, 800 Quaker Lane in  High Point, NC 27262; Guilford Technical Community College Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 309, Jamestown, NC 27282; or the State Capitol Foundation, Inc., 4624 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4624.

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