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M.K. Blount, Jr.
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The funeral service will be conducted Monday at 11 a.m. at Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery.
Mr. Blount was born on August 21, 1939, in Greenville to Marvin Key Blount, Sr. and Florence Taft Blount. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. He is survived by his wife, Jan Dulin Blount; his sons, Marvin Key Blount III and wife Rebecca, and James Iredell Blount and wife Anne, all of Greenville; his daughter, Jane Blount Lewis and husband Frank of Wilmington; his stepson, Charles Alexander Sarratt and wife Wendy of Raleigh; his stepdaughter, Anna Sarratt Godwin and husband Steve of Atlanta; beloved grandchildren, Jane, Caroline, Helen, Eleanor, Jake, Kate, Ginny and Martha; his brother, William Gray Blount and wife Barbara of Greenville; his sister, Nelson Blount Crisp of Greenville; and devoted friends, Arlene Ebron and Bobby Purvis.
Mr. Blount attended Woodberry Forest School from 1952-1957. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Georgia in 1963. Mr. Blount received his Juris Doctor Degree from Wake Forest University in 1966 where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity and the Wake Forest Law Review. He attended the National College of the State Judiciary at the University of Nevada in 1972.
Mr. Blount served in the United States Army Reserve from 1962-1967.
He was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1966. At the age of 30, Governor Robert W. Scott appointed him as the youngest Special Superior Court Judge in North Carolina history and he presided over cases in over 50 counties in the state. In 1973, Mr. Blount returned to private practice and has been a nationally recognized trial lawyer since then. He owned The Blount Law Firm, P.A. where he specialized in personal injury cases, class action cases and complex litigation.
He was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and all North Carolina Federal Districts. Mr. Blount was a member and former president of the Third Judicial District Bar Association, a member and former president of the Pitt County Bar Association, a member of the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, a fellow with the American Bar Foundation, a founding member of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a fellow with the Roscoe Pound Foundation, a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, a member of the American Bar Association and a member of the North Carolina Bar Association. This year he was the first recipient of the Pitt County Bar Association Outstanding Service Award.
Mr. Blount was a life-long member of Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church where he served as former chairman of the Administrative Board and president of the Methodist Men.
He was a founding member of the Duke University Medical Center Advisory Board, the Director of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, a member of the Advisory Panel of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, director of the North Carolina Black Angus Association, chairman of the Pitt-Greenville Airport Authority, director of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Pitt County, director of Hackney & Sons, Inc. of Washington, NC, director of Occidental Life Insurance Company of Raleigh, vice chairman of the Salvation Army Board, chairman of the Greenville Community Services Committee, member of the Evening Rotary Club and a Jaycee.
Mr. Blount actively supported the North Carolina and national Democratic Party throughout his life. He was a candidate for the United States Senate and North Carolina Senate and worked on campaigns for every level of elected office including presidential campaigns. In 1996 he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the Board of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
He was a private pilot, golfer and an avid outdoorsman who loved fishing and hunting. In the field of sports, one of his major accomplishments was winning the International Masters light Tackle Sailfish Tournament in 1998. From the time he was a little boy, he loved all animals. In his later life, one of his passions was training and handling Labrador retrievers. He qualified for the National Amateur and National Open Field Trials with eight of his dogs and was nationally recognized as one of the leaders in the field. Although he owned and handled many championship retrievers, his most beloved was FC-AFC Hawkeyes Candlewood “Shadow.”
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Wilkerson Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions may be made to: Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church, 510 S. Washington Street, Greenville, NC 27834; or Woodberry Forest School Amici Fund, 402 Woodberry Station, Woodberry Forest, VA 22989.