A retiring Pitt County legislator was honored Saturday when she was presented the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

Rep. Edith Warren, D-Pitt, received the honor during the Pitt County Democratic Party’s Campaign Kick-Off held at City Hotel and Bistro.

The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is the state’s highest civilian honor. The governor gives the award to a resident who has demonstrated a lifetime of service to the state or a state employee with 30 years or more of exemplary service.

Warren was honored for her years of service as a teacher, the first woman to serve as a principal in Pitt County, the first woman elected as a Pitt County commissioner and her seven terms as the state House District 8 representative, serving Pitt and Martin counties.

“It was just so humbling,” Warren said. “This is one of the highest honors the state has, and I am extremely grateful.”

Rep. Marian McLawhorn, a Grifton resident who was elected to the House the same year as Warren, presented the honor.

“Representative Warren has been a strong advocate for the citizens of House District 8 for 14 years,” McLawhorn said. “Her accomplishments are too numerous to mention, but she has been instrumental in working with other legislators for a heart center, a new family medicine center, and a dental school at East Carolina University.

“She is very proud of helping establish the Bob Martin Equestrian Center in Williamston. Edith Warren is well-respected by other legislators, and she will be greatly missed.”

Pitt County Clerk of Court Sara Beth Fulford Rhodes said Warren has been a role model for women who want to serve their communities and take on leadership positions.

“Her career from educator to legislator is a shining example of dedicated public service and civic responsibility. She has been a role model for many and a trailblazer for women leaders,” Rhodes said. “I have been blessed by her influence in my life from the days she was my elementary school principal to the present.”

Warren was raised on a tenant farm in Edgecombe County. In an oral history, she said she was a child when she became interested in politics because her family was always involved in local elections.

Warren’s son, Steve, said his mother always instilled a sense of right and wrong, of learning and taking responsibility for actions in her three children and four grandchildren.

“She has demonstrated all of these characteristics throughout her public career, first as an educator and then as a public servant in the Pitt County commissioners and most recently in the North Carolina House,” he said. His mother’s touch can be seen throughout the region as she worked to improve education and health and her support of the East Carolina Heart Institute and East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine.

“I am proud to tell her story and to say that she is my mama,” Steve Warren said.

Pitt County Democratic Party Chairwoman Betsy Leech said about 200 people attended Saturday’s event.

Along with Warren’s presentation, Democrats heard from gubernatorial candidates Bob Etheridge and Bill Faison. More than a dozen other party candidates from across the state were given an opportunity to speak as well.

“We heard from about 19 or 20 candidates in all. We really had a good turnout,” Leech said. “I think the mark of a good event is to see people interacting with the candidates and we certainly accomplished that.”

Article Courtesy of The Daily Reflector