Her husband was in the Air Force in Hawaii in the late 1940s, then when he came back he worked for the Curtiss Candy Company, and then they built and operated a laundry a few doors down, then closed it. Then he worked for the Pillam Chemical Company downtown, which produced fertilizer. After Lewis Liles was born in 1947, Eva worked as a bookkeeper for Gill Buick, beside the Methodist Church which is now Auto Zone. Gill Buick later became a large dealership and she recalls when it was run by Dabny Gill and Ruric Gill, brothers who lived in a home on Wakefield Street. She later worked at Electric Storage and Battery Company in Raleigh as an Executive Secretary until it closed.
Eva and Jack were one of the first in Zebulon to own a television. “Neighbors would come over just to see it and watch it.” She also enjoyed listening to Zebulon’s new radio station, WETC, located between Zebulon and Wendell on the other side of the river.
In 1966 at age 39, Eva became a widow when Jack suddenly passed unexpectedly at age 40. She raised her son Lewis, and daughter Cassandra Beth in Zebulon. Eva Liles moved onto Church Street in 1966 after Jack passed away at the age of 41.
President Truman’s Visit 1958 and 1960
When President Truman visited here, one of his rituals was to walk down the railroad track, and Dr. Coltrane would walk with him. A family friend Geraldine Massey Roundtree was going to make a special potato salad for the choir and from President Truman to have at lunch after church. Geraldine’s daughter Betsy Roundtree and Eva got to work. “We got on our bike and rode to Temple’s Market to buy some Duke Mayonnaise for it. We planned to place it on the rack on the bicycle and ride home with it. But a man walked in front of our bike and we wrecked the bike and the Duke Mayonnaise broke into pieces,” Eva recalls. So she got on the bike, told her mother and got more.
She recalls E.C. Daniels walking into church with President Truman. Eva recalls hearing the conversation between them. “President Truman said to E.C. Daniels – ‘your son married Margaret Truman.’ To which E.C. Daniels replied ‘Margaret Truman married my son.’ You see, E.C. Daniels owned a drug store and he thought his son as editor of the NY Times did just as much as Margaret Truman.”
Commissioner
Eva had been considering running for Town of Zebulon Commissioner when the town manager Donald Horton told her “Go sign up for the Town Board and I’ll pay your fee.” So Eva put in her name for commissioner right before the noon cutoff on the last day of registration, and joined 12 others running for a seat for 1977. She won a seat, replacing Jo Ward. “They needed a woman to counter balance the board.” Eva served two terms, from 1977 to 1979, and from 1981 to 1991, and also was Mayor Pro Tem for one year.
She wanted to see business settling into this once-sleepy town.
“A group of men got together and made themselves drivers for economic development,” she recalls. The team was comprised of Avos Estes, Doug Bird, Bob Privette and others. “Our group got Nomaco, Glaxo, and Devil Dog to come in to Zebulon, and High Coal, O Mark and Whitley Furniture were large companies.”
During her two terms, Eva Liles served with the following mayors: Frank Wall, Thurston Debnam, Ralph Lewis, and Bob Matheny. She served with the following commissioners: Sidney Eddins, Leonard Seawell, Rom Moser, Grace Kilkelly, Perry Grogan, Charles Corbett, Roy Collins and Robert Holder.
She is also proud of acting as commissioner when the Town of Zebulon purchased a ladder fire truck since Glaxo and other large industrial companies were coming into town.
Mudcats
When Eva and the commissioners planned for a semi-pro baseball team to come to town, there were a lot of objections, she recalls. “When it opened I wanted to be the one to let them in the door. Mayor Matheny helped bring the Mudcats in.”
Eva was selected to throw the first ball at the Mudcats’ first game on July 3, 1991. “I didn’t get the ball to home plate,” but was pleased to be selected for the honor. “I got the Mudcats here. The Mudcats were needed for our town, gave opportunities for people to have jobs, and for people to have recreation.” The new Five County Stadium was built near the convergence of Wake, Wilson, Nash, Johnston, and Franklin counties and projected to pull attendees from all five areas.
Eva was also Director of Zebulon’s Chamber of Commerce for 10 years, from 1995 to 2005. She is best known for her coordination of the annual Zebulon Christmas Parade.
Changes
“Wendell and Zebulon are stepchildren of Wake County. Zebulon is lucky to have gotten industry in town.”
The largest change has come with the loss of a small town feeling with growth in Zebulon. “When I grew up, everyone knew everybody, and people did not want that to change. As the older generation is gone, we lose compassion for what has happened in our town. Lots of citizens objected to the growth,” she explained. “You’d also be surprised at the objection to computers coming into town, for example with Town Hall having a computer system.”
Bicentennial Celebration and LRHS
In 1976, patriotism was high and people were very interested in the area’s history. Eva became one of the founding members of the Little River Historical Society, which is active to this day.
She also became involved in Zebulon’s Bicentennial Events. Activities included a parade on July 4, activities and performances all day at school, and young women in beige dresses posted in front of the historic homes of Zebulon while Jerry Cross gave tours. A time capsule was buried at People’s Bank, and the Bicentennial Chorus gave 20 performances from 1975 throughout 1976. Hudson Funeral Home furnished a vault and Eva served on the Bicentennial celebration board.
“I was never a historian, but ….Edythe Tippett was a good friend, and she decided we needed a historical society and asked me to join the board,” Eva explained. Founding members included Jerry Cross, Rex Tippett, Edythe Tippett, Ferd Davis, Mary Davis, Robert Massey, and B.F. Lewis. The Little River Historical Society met one Sunday and as a group visited all of the area cemeteries and recorded all information on the tombstones. The project continued over several years, and the resulting information is now in special collections at the Olivia Raney Library in Raleigh.
Little River Mill
“Preserving history means so much to me,” she reflects. “It bothers me that we are destroying history, and I don’t like to see all the tobacco barns being torn down and things like the Little River Park was almost destroyed when the mill on the river was torn down.”
She recalls swimming near the dam in Little River. “It was the only place to swim, and once I fell on the rocks and broke my chin.”
The Mill on the Wendell side, Moore’s Mill, has a family connection too. “Nancy Liles was the first postmaster at the mill on this site (appointed in 1874). My father-in-law, Louis Liles, operated an electric paver plant that ran the first street lights for two years” in Zebulon.
Lions Club Auxiliary variety show
The Lion’s Club had an auxiliary, where the wives of the men’s Lions could be active. Eva was a Charter member of the Zebulon Lions Club Auxiliary. ”After my husband passed away, I was still invited to be involved. There were fundraisers we could hold for the auxiliary, but often the money was sent away. I wanted to keep the money here. So I decided we would have a variety show for Lions, their wives and children. So Mildred Strickland, Jay Liles and I got together and put together the show ‘Down Memory Lane.’” The show was a success and featured eras in history from the 1920 through the 1960s, one decade at a time. It was performed three times over two years. “We bought an activity bus for Zebulon Elementary School with the proceeds and talent from the group,” she recalls. Another year the Zebulon Lions Club Auxiliary put on a womanless beauty pageant contest with the Lions competing to win the title of “Ms. Masculine Heartbeat.”
Citizen of the Year
Eva won Zebulon’s Citizen of the Year award in 1991. This award honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the community.
“I’ve seen Zebulon grown and am thankful to have the opportunity to be a part of it,” Eva proudly claims. “Zebulon is my life and Wendell means a lot to me too. I’ve seen both towns grow and have had my children grow up here as well. My experience and appreciation of this area has filtered down to my grandchildren.”
By MaryBeth Carpenter, Copyright 2020, All rights reserved. Excerpt from the book, “Legendary Little River Locals” which will be published soon. Info taken from interview with Eva Liles in August 2017. MaryBeth Carpenter is Executive Director of Preservation Zebulon Inc
