Harvey Jackson Hinnant

Raleigh - Harvey Jackson Hinnant died peacefully Wednesday, July 30, 2014, at the Rosewood Health Center of the Cypress of Raleigh after a valiant 21 year battle with Parkinsons disease. He was born on January 27, 1922, in Wilmington, NC, the younger child of William Walker Hinnant and Eva Ann White. He moved to the Hayes Barton neighborhood of Raleigh as a toddler and attended Myrtle Underwood Elementary School. Quite the athlete as a small and skinny youth, Harvey played both basketball and tennis at Broughton High School where he graduated in 1940. From 1940-1942, Harvey attended Duke University where he played on the freshman basketball team and pledged Kappa Alpha -both activities being a priority over academics at that point in his life. Like many young men from that Greatest Generation, Harvey answered his countrys call to serve and joined the U.S. Army in 1942 where his typing skills helped him land a clerks job in the 79th Infantry Division of General Pattons Third Army. Harvey traveled from town to town in France, Austria, and Germany as he helped to process citizens displaced by the horrific destruction of World War II -most notably assisting in the liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in April 1945. Harvey returned to Duke University after the War with a more mature academic focus. It was during that first summer back at Duke in 1946 that Harvey met the smart and spunky Talmadge Thomas of Louisburg, NC, six years his junior. After graduating with a degree in History in 1948, Harvey began working with his father in Raleigh for the Atlantic Tobacco Company. Though initially skeptical about his precious daughters dating a city slicker, in April 1949, Harvey and Tal were married with the blessing of her father. Harvey spent the bulk of his career in the property and casualty insurance industry, first traveling throughout eastern NC with the Pennsylvania Lumbermans Mutual Agency. Then in 1968, he had the opportunity to buy into the Dupree & Webb Insurance Agency in Raleigh where he enjoyed working until his retirement in the early 1990s. Harvey was a member of the Carolina Country Club, the Stag Club, the Milburnie Fishing Club, the Carrousel Club, The Assembly, and the Old Raleigh Boys. Along with his Raleigh childhood friend and fellow Duke classmate, Harvey organized in 1980 a fall KA reunion with his Duke fraternity brothers that became an annual event for over 30 years. Harvey and Tal worshipped for many years as members of St. Michaels Episcopal Church, where both of their daughters were married. Later they joined Church of the Holy Cross-Anglican, which Harvey referred to as the singing Anglican church, and enjoyed worshipping there until his health declined. Thereafter, Harvey was blessed by regular visits from the Right Reverend Robert Estill, whose crafty hand-drawn cartoons brought a smile to Harveys face. An avid golfer, Harvey at one time carried a 3 handicap at The Carolina Country Club. And despite not playing competitive tennis since high school, Harvey could summon up an incredible top-spin serve whenever he challenged his daughters on the tennis court. Harveys favorite non-athletic hobby was music. While he had expert knowledge of the songs, singers, & band-leaders of the 1940s, he also kept abreast of the rock, folk, & Motown music that his daughters listened to during the 60s and 70s. Quite the closet writer and record-keeper, Harvey kept a pocket journal during the War and drew maps charting his journey through the European theater. Subsequent to a 50th wedding anniversary trip to Normandy, Paris, & Burgundy in 1999, which prompted numerous historical questions from one of his children, Harvey penned his World War II memoirs. He was in the middle of writing his Raleigh childhood memories when the severity of his Parkinsons disease forced him to give up this project. In addition to his parents, Harvey was predeceased by his older brother William Walker Hinnant, Jr, a professional painter who must have given Harvey a little bit of artistic advice, because Harvey had a talent for drawing free-hand and had penmanship skills beyond compare. Harvey was also predeceased by an infant son in 1957. Harvey is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 65 years, Talmadge Thomas Hinnant; a daughter, Mary Jackson Hinnant DeLuca and her husband James; and a daughter, Talmadge Hinnant Mangum and her husband Michael. Pop Pops pride and joy were his three grandchildren: Walker Franklin Mangum, Caroline Connalley (Calley) Mangum, and William Thomas DeLuca. With a twinkle in his baby-blue eyes, Pop Pop always made sure that his grandchildren got their fill of junk food, be it a popsicle, a chocolate Riesen, or a plate of french fries from the CCC Grill Room. In addition, the family would like to express their gratitude to the wonderful staff at The Rosewood who cared for Harvey almost 7 years, and to the incredible servants of Transitions Hospice. A Reception filled with jazz music and serving Harveys drink of choice -Budweiser in a glass, not a mug, will be held Sunday, August 3, 2014, 3:00pm - 5:00pm at The Cypress of Raleigh Clubhouse, 8801 Cypress Lakes Drive, Raleigh. A private graveside service, officiated by Rev. Claudia Dickson-Greggs and Rt. Rev. Robert Estill will be held at Historic Oakwood Cemetery on Monday, August 4, at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Transitions LifeCare (formerly Hospice of Wake County), 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607. Philippians 3:20-21: But our citizenship is in heaven….The Lord Jesus Christ will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Arrangements by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh.