Benjamin E Jordan, Jr., July 18, 1926 to December 19, 2020. Family and friends knew Ben Jordan as speaking often of his gratitude, a long list beginning with Ellen McMasters Jordan, his wife of 69 years, and his children Margaret Ellen (and John Perduyn), Katherine (and Dan Bottjen), and Barbara (Jordan), who remember him as a quiet man equally at ease with humor and the enduring demands of character.
North Carolina was his home from birth in Gastonia, to growing up in the mill village of Saxapahaw, and, with the exception of attending Woodberry Forest School prior to his undergraduate years at Duke University, and his service as a Naval midshipman in WWII, he lived in Burlington, then Pinehurst. He was a textile man, first working at and then running Sellers Mfg Co., the family business sold in 1978. Whether swinging into impromptu dance steps with his wife in the kitchen, or good sportsmanship honed in golf, tennis and sailing; or being part of advice on the boards of Wachovia’s regional bank, Louisberg College, or The North Carolina Zoo, Ben’s associates knew him as being a credit to his faith, community, and country.
His grandchildren, Andrew Dixon (d. 2011), Sara (and Adam Daniels), Barbara (Rabon), and five greatgrandchildren spoke often of his constant and loving involvement in their lives. His siblings, Rose Anne (and Roger Gant, Jr.- d. 2010), John McLean (and Margaret) Jordan, remember Ben as their older brother, a man whom they admired, as did so many, for his generosity and unequivocal moral compass.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Katherine McLean and Senator B. Everett Jordan.
A family service will be held 2PM, Tuesday, December 22 at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Southern Pines. Memorial gifts may be sent to Brownson Memorial Presbyterian Church, 330 South May St., Southern Pines, NC 28387, or Sandhill Community College Foundation, 162 Causey Hall, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374, or FirstHealth Hospice Foundation, 150 Applecross Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374.
Online condolences may be made to www.bolesfuneralhome.com
Services entrusted to Boles Funeral Home of Pinehurst.
