WILLIAMSTON -- Edgar Jarvis Gurganus, chairman of the N.C. Inmate Grievance Commission, former state senator and past president of the state Jaycees, died Sunday in Nags Head at the age of 61. Gurganus, a lifelong resident of Williamston and a graduate of Wake Forest College School of Law, was born Jan. 15, 1921. He served as a state senator from 1963-69, representing Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Martin and Tyrrell counties. He was also a member of the N.C. Prison Commission and the N.C. Commission of Correction. Gurganus was appointed as a member of the first Inmate Grievance Commission in 1974 and was appointed chairman in 1981. -- Wilmington Morning Star, 6/1/1982

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From "Biographical directory of the General Assembly of North Carolina, 1963-1978": The son of George N. Gurganus and Mary Bonner Hatton, Gurganus was born in Williamston on January 15, 1921. Gurganus attended Williamston High School and received his legal education at the Wake Forest College School of Law, where he obtained an LL.B. degree in 1943. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946 and attained the rank of staff sergeant. Gurganus practiced law in Williamston and later served as senior partner in the firm of Gurganus and Bowen. While a member of the General Assembly, Gurganus strove to improve the correctional programs in the state.

Professional organizations: Martin County, Second Judicial District, and North Carolina bar associations. Senate committees: (chairman) Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, Welfare and Institutional Care; Public Welfare; (vice-chairman) Penal Institutions, Judiciary. Commissions: North Carolina Prison, vice-chairman; North Carolina Commission of Correction, chairman, 1968-7; and the North Carolina Inmate Grievance, 1974.

State positions: Senate, General Assemblies of 1963 and 1969; Democrat, Second District, Martin County; state government liaison officer, North Carolina General Assembly, 1971.

County positions: veterans service officer, Martin County, 1948-56. Memberships: United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, director, 1954-55; North Carolina Junior Chamber of Commerce, president, 1955-1956; Williamston Jaycees, president; Williamston Rotary Club, president; Williamston Chamber of Commerce, director; and Moose, governor, 1959-80. Methodist: steward, 1959-61; trustee; associate district lay reader, 1959-68; district board of appeals, 1962; and chairman, administrative board, 1973.