Brent Nash

Brent Drane Nash was born in Tarboro, North Carolina, on January 12, 1936, son
of Pembroke Nash and Jaquelin Drane Nash. He had 4 sisters: Annie Gray Nash,
Jaquelin Nash Jenkins, Florence Thomas Nash, and Arabella Nash Hubbard. He
lived in Tarboro nearly all of his life, serving as an acolyte at Calvary Episcopal
Church, earning the rank of Eagle Scout, and distinguishing himself as an
outdoorsman and an athlete.
He graduated from Virginia Episcopal School, where he was captain of four
sports teams. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
graduated in 1959. During his time at UNC he was captain of the swim team and
an All American swimmer. He was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity and Rex
of the Order of Gimghoul.
After completing ROTC at UNC Chapel Hill he was commissioned as an ensign
in the U.S. Navy. He served two years, spending most of that time in classified
communications at the Pentagon. In 1961 he left the Navy as a Lieutenant
Junior Grade.
He married Sylvia Crumpler Nash in 1959, and they raised their 3 children in
Tarboro. Their life in Edgecombe County was full and rewarding, with active civic
and church involvement and great enjoyment of the outdoors.
In 1961 he joined his father working for Edgecombe Homestead and Loan,
which was founded by Brent’s grandfather in 1890. He successfully guided the
business through the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s, during which
Edgecombe Homestead was listed in USA Today as one of the 25 safest savings
and loans in America. He became its president in 1990 and went on to
successfully negotiate the sale of Edgecombe Homestead and Loan to First
Citizens Bank before retiring. He continued to serve for several years on the
board of directors of First Citizens Bank.
Brent was a lifelong member of Calvary Episcopal Church. He served on the
vestry, was senior warden, and was a lifelong choir member, as well as
basketball coach for the Holy Hoopsters youth team. He served the town of
Tarboro as chairman of the planning committee, town council member, and
Rotary Club member and president. He was also a member of the Society of the
Cincinnati.
All his life he was a dedicated athlete and outdoorsman. He enjoyed playing
tennis and racquetball, but his greatest loves were hunting and fishing. He was
an enthusiastic member of the Jones Island Club and if he wasn’t at the club
duck hunting, then there was nowhere he would rather be than in the bight at
Cape Lookout, fighting albacore on a fly rod.
He is survived by his wife, Sylvia Crumpler Nash; his son Brent Nash Jr. and wife
Jean Anderson Nash; son Pembroke Nash II and wife Gretchen Ward Nash; and
daughter Marie Nash Hardy and husband Stuart McDowell Hardy. Grandchildren
are Brent Drane Nash III; Grady Mitchell Nash; David Lane Long and fiancée
Hannah Sarah Lyttle ; Pembroke Nash III and wife Rachel Fort Nash; Gerald
Mercer Nash and fiancée Jessi Haley Boose; James Merriwether Hardy II;
Samuel Nash Hardy; and Katherine Cheshire Hardy. Great grandchildren are
Jonah Farrell and Pembroke Nash IV.
A memorial service will be held at Calvary Episcopal Church in Tarboro, NC, on
Saturday, January 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM. Following the service, a reception will
take place at the home of Brent and Jean Nash, 904 Trade St., Tarboro. In lieu of
flowers, memorials may be sent to Lower Cape Fear Life Care Center in
Wilmington, NC, or to Calvary Episcopal Church