A. NELSON BLAND
March 22, 1945-Aug. 24, 2015
Award-winning newspaper reporter, photographer and columnist Allen Nelson Bland, Mount Olive, died Monday afternoon at Wayne Memorial Hospital following a period of declining health. He was 70.
Bland had been in Wayne Memorial Hospital ICU for about two weeks.
A graveside service will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at Wayne Memorial Park in Goldsboro. The Rev. Barry Stallings will officiate.
There will be no formal visitation.
The body will lie in state from noon to 6 p.m. today and until noon Thursday at Tyndall Funeral Home.
He is survived by an older brother, Elmore Bland of Mount Olive; a nephew; niece; several cousins; and other relatives.
He is also survived by his family of former co-workers, who were lifelong friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Bessie Bland, and a brother, Eddis Earl Bland, who lived at Carolina Beach.
He was known for fair and balanced reporting throughout southern Wayne and northern Duplin counties.
Bland graduated from Mount Olive High School in 1963.
The gregarious Bland often joked that he received his "higher education" at the old three-story Mount Olive High School building.
Bland had more than 40 years in the newspaper business, spending close to 36 years at the Mount Olive Tribune.
He worked for several years as a clerk at the Faison ABC Store before joining the Tribune in 1971, where he was a reporter and later chief photographer.
He retired from the Tribune in 2008, and became a contributor and columnist for the Mount Olive Messenger.
Over his career, Bland covered governors, presidents, or, as he liked to say, "stories from the outhouse to the White House."
It was no secret that Bland was a "yellow dog Democrat," but he was well respected for his fair and balanced stories.
He was blunt and not shy about expressing his opinion, whether it was asked for or not, but was known as well for his sense of humor and for playing practical jokes on friends and co-workers.
Bland was particularly well known for his spot news and feature photography, but was also recognized as an accomplished feature writer and storyteller.
He was a perennial winner in the North Carolina Press Association's annual competition, earning numerous awards for his photography, newswriting and his folksy and homespun "Notes" column.
He would tell people as well that he was raised on Route 4, grew up on Route 5, lived on Route 1 and then lived on Northeast Church Road in Mount Olive, and never left the same house -- the addresses just changed.
Bland was well known for his love of and coverage of fire, police and EMS across southern Wayne and northern Duplin counties.
He is only one of a few who have been named as an honorary member of the Faison and Mount Olive fire departments.
He was also an honorary member of the Mount Olive Rescue Squad.
He once wrote that he had many memories of being cussed at, kicked, spit on, threatened, tear gassed, shot at, called ugly names and having dangerous objects thrown at him when he would ride with police as a young reporter.
Along with those kinds of stories, Bland had a wealth of knowledge about Mount Olive history.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Mount Olive Fire Department, P.O. Box 939, Mount Olive, N.C., 28365, or Faison Fire and Rescue, P.O. Box 758, Faison, N.C., 28341.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on August 26, 2015 1:49 PM