Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Honors Johnsey
The NCBA Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section presented the 2025 Distinguished Service Award to C. Gray Johnsey of White & Allen, P.A. in Kinston. Johnsey is a charter member of the Section, which was established in 1979, and Board Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law.
The award was presented on July 24 in conjunction with the 46th Annual Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Program in Kiawah, S.C. Jimmy Narron, a longtime friend and colleague of Johnsey, presented the award.
Gray Johnsey, left, accepts award from Jimmy Narron.
“In my judgment, Gray is an example of what we all should aspire to be,” Narron said. “We began teaching at the trust school at Campbell University (Southeastern Trust School) every summer from around 1984 until probably 2010. We taught down there a long time! He just cares so much about estate planning – and about the Bar and the Bar Association.
“The Bar Association has been about the biggest deal in my life as far as the friends I have made, and over the past 40 years it has been my privilege to observe his leadership in the firm and with other lawyers – trust officers in particular. I just admire the guy.”
Johnsey is a lifelong Kinstonian whose temporary departures evolved around education and military service. He earned his undergraduate degree in English and History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1971; a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (M.B.A.) from East Carolina University, where he was awarded a graduate teaching fellowship in economics; and a Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.), cum laude, curia honoris, from Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, in 1978. He also received a Master of Laws in taxation (LL.M.) from the University of Florida.
Johnsey served in the North Carolina National Guard. He was an Honor and Leadership Graduate of the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. He was an Honor Graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Ga.
Additional biographical information is provided below in the resolution that was introduced in Johnsey’s honor during the presentation of the award.
“It’s very flattering,” Johnsey said. “and very surprising when you hear the other people, starting with Graham Holding and then Jimmy Narron and Rudy Ogburn – all seven of them before me. It is humbling to think that somebody would include you on that list or even consider including you on that list.”
The greatest reward, Johnsey continues, is the camaraderie and collegiality that extends beyond the Section’s annual meeting and continuing legal education programming into the day-to-day practice of law.
Johnsey said. “People go to the annual meeting, and they look forward to being there, not only for the CLE, which is always first class, but also to see others they haven’t seen in a while and maybe get a chance to play golf or go to dinner with them. It’s such a nice group to be in.
“At the annual meeting you see your peers and you learn what they’re doing – what they are involved in. And they are helping the Bar, and you get inspired by what they’re doing. You see a lot of different areas being touched on and you can find something that maybe suits you.”
Regardless of your interests, there is always a place in the Section for attorneys who focus on this area of the law.
“You may say, ‘I don’t want to lecture’ or ‘I don’t want to write,’ but I’m willing to do something else that is of interest to you,” Johnsey said. “Helping write wills for people who are in the military or people with low income may be something you could do. Or teaching may be something you could do. I think that by being in the Section, you see what other people in the Section are doing is very diverse, and it gives you some ideas as to how you can participate and serve the Section, the Bar, and the public.
“It’s collegial, but it’s also very helpful.”
Previous recipients of the Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section Distinguished Service Award are:
2018 – Graham Holding
2019 – Jimmy Narron
2020 – Rudy L. Ogburn
2021 – Elizabeth L. Quick
2022 – Robert Haggard
2023 – Maria Lynch
2024 – Jean Gordon Carter
RESOLUTION IN HONOR OF C. GRAY JOHNSEY
WHEREAS, the Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association was authorized, effective June 7, 2018, to recognize and honor the distinguished service of a Section member whose expertise, character, knowledge of fiduciary law, commitment to the Section, the Association, the North Carolina Bar, and the general public, have made a significant impact for betterment of legal practice in the area of estate planning and fiduciary law; and
WHEREAS, such recognition and honor shall be known as the “North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section Distinguished Service Award” and shall be awarded annually to a recipient whose service warrants such high and special recognition; and
WHEREAS, C. GRAY JOHNSEY graduated in 1971 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an Atrium Baccalaureus in English and History; and
WHEREAS, upon graduation, he served his country with distinction as a member of the North Carolina National Guard and an Honor Leadership Graduate of Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning; and
WHEREAS, following active duty military service, he attended East Carolina University where he received a Masters in Business Administration and was awarded a graduate teaching fellowship in economics; and
WHEREAS, he was thereafter admitted to the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, where he obtained a Juris Doctorate cum laude, curia honoris, in 1978, and later attended the University of Florida, graduating in 1979 with a Masters of Laws in Taxation; and
WHEREAS, he has served as an exemplary member of the Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association since its creation in 1979, all the while building a practice devoted to estate and trust law and taxation, principally located in Kinston, North Carolina, but sought-after statewide; and
WHEREAS, his law partners at White & Allen, P.A. have praised his ability to “always do the right thing” and to foster a culture of service to the community and the Bar, while exercising the highest moral and ethical character; and
WHEREAS, for more than forty years, his peers have shared appreciation and recognition for his level of professional skill and competence, resulting in speaking engagements too numerous to list with the North Carolina Bar Association, the Duke University Estate Planning Council, the North Carolina Society of CPAs, the Campbell University Southeastern Trust School, and various banking institutions, ranking him among the most popular continuing legal education speakers statewide; and
WHEREAS, throughout his professional life and as a result of his Bar-related and community activities herein described, he has developed a reputation as a legal scholar and a generous and thoughtful colleague earning admission as a Fellow in both the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel and the American College of Tax Counsel, and by recognition as a top lawyer for tax and estate planning in peer-based publications such as Best Lawyer in America, Super Lawyers, Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite, and others; and
WHEREAS, known as a student of the law, Gray is known among the North Carolina Bar for his commitment to the highest ideals and ethics of the profession, serving as an effective mentor to many attorneys, young and old; and
WHEREAS also a teacher of the law, in addition to his CLE presentations, he served on the faculty of and taught at the Campbell University Southeastern Trust School for more than thirty years, teaching courses focused on the areas of estate, gift, and generation skipping tax; and
WHEREAS, a member of the American Bar Association, the North Carolina State Bar, and the North Carolina Bar Association, he has been very active in the work of the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina State Bar for forty-six years, particularly in his service as member of the Section Council for the North Carolina State Bar Association’s Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section, and in his service as the inaugural Chairman of the North Carolina State Bar Specialization Committee for Estate Planning and Probate Law;
WHEREAS, in recognition of his expertise in the areas of Estate Planning, Tax, and Probate Law, he was selected by the North Carolina State Bar and his peers in 1987 to qualify as the first North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in the fields of Estate Planning and Probate Law and to serve as the Chairman of the nascent Board of Legal Specialization for Estate Planning and Probate Law, where he authored the very examination that many North Carolina attorneys took in an effort to qualify as a specialist alongside him;
WHEREAS, in his professional life, in his endeavors as a practicing attorney, in his dealings with other counsel, in his work as an outstanding legal scholar and writer, in his service as a member of this Section and the Bar Association he has conducted himself in such a manner as to reflect the highest standard of honor, service, and professionalism to be exhibited by members of the North Carolina Bar Association; and
WHEREAS, in his personal life as a father of two outstanding children and as a devoted spouse to his wife, Betty, as a citizen of his community, as a friend and as a colleague he continually exhibits integrity, kindness, and decency; and
WHEREAS, he has provided exemplary service to civic and philanthropic organizations in his Lenoir County community and Statewide, serving, among other such organizations, as a member of the Duke University Estate Planning Council for more than three decades, as a Trustee of Arendell Parrott Academy, as a leading member and Deacon of First Baptist Church of Kinston, as a volunteer and leader with Legal Aid of North Carolina, by his work with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance training program at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and on many occasions unwittingly mentoring others on the golf course or in the jujitsu gym; and
WHEREAS, C. GRAY JOHNSEY has so ably fulfilled his duties and responsibilities to this Section and in such a manner well above and beyond what may be reasonably expected that he is hereby recognized as the epitome of steady, equitable, and distinguished service.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, in recognition and appreciation of his many contributions to the Section, the Association, the North Carolina Bar, the general public and the legal profession, does this date award its eighth “Distinguished Service Award” to C. GRAY JOHNSEY and does hereby present this Resolution as a memorial to this occasion with great affection and esteem for our brother at the Bar, C. GRAY JOHNSEY; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this Resolution be transcribed in the permanent minutes of this Section, be distributed to the media covering Kinston and to members of his family and local Bar Association, and be submitted to the Secretary of the North Carolina Bar Association to the end that the same shall be spread upon the minutes of the Association as a permanent record.
This 30th day of June, 2025.
__________________________________________
Janice L. Davies, Chair
Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.