THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9406290087
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The governor?
``Never met the man.''
Being honored as Chesapeake's First Citizen?
``Oh, yes, that's right. . . . When is that?''
It's not that Harry C. Paxson Jr. is ambivalent. He is simply embarrassed by all the fuss.
Paxson, 88, is scheduled to receive the honor from the Great Bridge Jaycees at the Greenbrier Holiday Inn on July 7. Gov. George F. Allen will be the keynote speaker at the ceremony.
Over decades, many Chesapeake residents have been influenced by Paxson, said Roger Petersen, a member of the Jaycees' selection committee. The longtime Chesapeake resident has been nicknamed the ``Miracle Man'' for his coaching process and the ``Father of Education'' for his help during the merger of South Norfolk and Norfolk County Schools.
He also has been credited as one of the school leaders who helped a smooth transition during the integration of Chesapeake schools, Petersen said.
``What really impressed me the most was the obvious effect he'd had on a cross-section of the entire city,'' he said. ``He received about 30 nomination letters from people in all walks of life in the city of Chesapeake. There was a certain warmth with which people wrote about Mr. Paxson.''
Born in Waverly, Va., in 1906, Paxson moved to what's now Chesapeake at age 3. He grew up in the Indian River area, where his father owned a dairy farm. As a youth, he helped milk and feed the cows.
``We would take the horse and wagon to carry to the milk to Norfolk, where it was sold,'' he said.
His brother, B.F. Wilson Paxson, took over the business after their father, Harry Sr., died in 1936. But the business didn't last.
``It was the times,'' he said. ``Great Bridge Boulevard used to be lined with dairies. All the dairies went out of business.''
Paxson attended South Norfolk High School, where he played right guard for the football team that won the 1925 Class B state championship. From 1927 to 1931, he played for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
Fresh out of college, he returned to South Norfolk High School to coach football, baseball and basketball until 1939. Both his baseball and basketball teams won state championships in 1935.
In the process, he coached some of the city's most prominent leaders. Chesapeake Circuit Judge William L. Forbes was one of Paxson's bat boys.
Paxson's career in the schools continued to flourish. He went on to become the South Norfolk High School assistant principal in 1940 and then headed the Norfolk County Recreational Department. He was the assistant personnel superintendent of Norfolk County schools before the locality merged with South Norfolk in 1963.
He retired from the Chesapeake school system, where he was the assistant personnel superintendent, in 1972. He was a real estate salesman sometime after that.
Since 1986, Paxson has been one of four Chesapeake marriage commissioners. He presides over about 100 marriages a year.
``I meet interesting people from around the world - China, Ireland, Pakistan, the Philippines,'' he said.
Paxson holds many weddings at his Great Bridge home, where he lives with his wife, Virginia Hall Paxson.
In his spare time, he likes to garden, read and play bridge. He also is a member of the South Norfolk Old Timers Club, a group of residents who reminisce on the first Monday of each month.
``It's a group of boys I used to coach,'' he said. ``We talk about the baskets they made, and the ones they didn't.'' ILLUSTRATION: Harry C. Paxson Jr.
City's ``Father of Education''
by CNB