Eva says goodbye

When Eva Sermons wants to help, there’s no stopping her.

She refused to give up when her application to volunteer with the Havelock Rescue Squad was denied in 1972. Women weren’t allowed to serve in the rescue squad — until Sermons’ passion and persistence changed city leaders’ minds. She was admitted in 1976 after assisting the short-staffed squad on an emergency call.

“I was passing by the fire station when they got a call about a wreck down on (N.C) 101,” she remembered. “I said, ‘Can I help?’ They said, ‘Let’s go.’”

Attitudes about women in the firehouse quickly changed, Sermons said.

“The men said that their wives would not like it if there was a lady on the squad, but the funny thing was instead of the ladies being mad, they joined, too,” she said.

Mayor Jimmy Sanders credits Sermons with paving the way for his wife, Cherie, to join the rescue squad.

“She was persistent, and she was able to get in,” Sanders said. “My wife was the captain of the rescue squad for 10 years, and she wouldn’t have been able to do that if there had not been an Eva Sermons.”

The first woman on the Havelock Rescue Squad gradually became the Gateway City’s most beloved matriarch, serving as a youth sports volunteer, a library board member and the longest-serving member of the city Board of Commissioners. She leaves the board after a combined 29 years as commissioner when her current term expires Monday.

First elected in 1977, Sermons served 28 consecutive years as a commissioner before losing her seat in the 2005 city election. She returned for an encore in August 2006 to fill the remainder of Al Reid’s term when he resigned.

“I think one thing she’s always been is the calm voice of reason,” Sanders said. “No matter how heated the discussions became, she always stood above the fray. Eva would always be calm and cool. She’s going to be missed.”

Sanders, who was first elected in 1979, said Sermons was a dependable advocate for the rescue squad, city recreation department and the Havelock-Craven County Public Library.

“She’s certainly been a very effective leader for over 30 years,” Sanders said. “She came to Havelock in 1959, she hit the ground running, and she’s been running ever since.”

He estimated that Sermons has been a commissioner for nearly 12,000 days.

Sermons lobbied for the library during the 2007-08 budget cycle, prompting her fellow board members to approve an emergency allocation to the Cunningham Boulevard library that would keep its doors open on Saturdays. The facility had reduced its hours when Havelock halved its library contribution in an effort to prod county leaders into paying more.

“She was super-loyal to the library,” said George Griffin, a former Havelock mayor who served on the board with Sermons for eight years. “She made some really dynamic efforts to make sure the funding was there for the library during the last fiasco, too.”

For her part, Sermons said the achievement she’s proudest of was helping to bring a Britthaven nursing home to Havelock in the early 1980s.

“I worked my fanny off for that, and I was really happy,” she said.

Sermons volunteered with the rescue squad for 11 years, was president of Havelock Little League and served in volunteer leadership roles for numerous youth sports programs, including Babe Ruth baseball and basketball and cheerleading programs at the recreation center.

She and husband Henry Sermons raised six children, four of whom surprised her with an impromptu visit in June 2006 when she was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest civilian honor.

Known to fellow commissioners and residents alike as “Miss Eva,” Sermons also served on the Havelock Appearance Commission, Recreation Advisory Board and — most recently — the Comprehensive Transportation and Land Use Plan Committee. She represented Havelock on a water conservation subcommittee of the N.C. League of Municipalities.

“Her love for Havelock is what I’ll always remember,” said Griffin. “She’s a one-person chamber of commerce for the city. She was a team player, she had things that she believed in, but she would compromise when it was in the best interest of the town.”

During the Nov. 26 commissioners’ meeting, Sermons thanked city residents, fellow board members and Havelock employees for their help and support over the years. Her statement received thunderous applause and an extended standing ovation from all in attendance at the City Hall chambers.

“I hate leaving,” she said. “This is part of my life that’s just gone. I will miss it, but I feel like we really accomplished a lot over the years. You look and see lots of things that weren’t there before. It wasn’t time wasted.”