NEWS

Frank Jordan is the recipient of the 2024 G. Jackson Burney Community Service Award.

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Wednesday morning, November 27, members of the Davidson community gathered in the auditorium at the Town Hall and Community Center for the 2024 G. Jackson Burney Community Service Award. In keeping with tradition, the Moravian Band played music prior to the start of the ceremony and the National Anthem at the start of the event.

Frank and Laura Jean Jordan with the Burney children and Mrs. Bernice Houston the original recipient award.

Mayor Rusty Knox welcomed everyone and expressed his gratitude to Jack Burney’s family for starting and continuing this award that honors “those who through unselfish service also benefit the Davidson community.”

He highlighted the fact that the award was created twenty years ago in 2004. The recipient that first year, Mrs. Bernice Houston, was in attendance this year as well to honor the newest recipient.

Recently, there has only been one recipient (or a couple) each year, but in the early years there were often several recipients. As a result, Frank is the 28^th person to receive the award.

Rusty also noted that the community lost three recipients of this award over the past year: Evelyn Carr, Bill Giduz, and Ralph Quackenbush.

Ruby Houston provided a brief introduction of Frank Jordan, noting that he is often the first one to help and the last one to leave. She specifically highlighted some of this work at Davidson Presbyterian Church, including a colorful story about how he helped following a mischievous raccoon’s uninvited visit to the church sanctuary during COVID.

Margo Williams painted a detailed picture in words, giving everyone insight into Frank Jordan and why he was most deserving of the selection as the 2024 recipient of Davidson’s singularly special award. (The full citation is provided at the end of the article.)

Karen Toney presented Frank with a hand-carved bowl.

Former recipient of the Burney Award, Karen Toney, carved a wooden bowl for Frank. She noted that she carved it from an oak and compared the strength of the oak with that of Frank.

The Burney Award comes with a monetary stipend, and Frank Jordan opted to donate his stipend as a gift to the Ada Jenkins Center. Harold Rice and Georgia Krueger were on hand to thank him for the gift.

After the ceremony came to a close, those in attendance took time to come to the front of the auditorium to talk with Frank and Laura Jean.

The following is the complete citation from Frank’s G. Jackson Burney Award.

Frank Jordan did not stray far from his hometown of Mooresville after he married the love of his life, Laura Jean. For a time, they lived in her mother’s Davidson house, which she had kindly vacated for an apartment on Griffith Street, leaving the bigger house for the newlyweds. She certainly helped them get off to a great start.

Frank’s parents, Mamie and Luther, were both born and raised in South Carolina. They moved to Charlotte to be close to family who lived nearby. After a short time, they settled in Mooresville, where Luther worked as a general contractor and Mamie as a nurse assistant at Lowrance Hospital, now known as Lake Norman Regional Hospital. Along with raising her growing family, Mamie worked at the hospital for 20 years, while Luther built homes in and around Iredell County. Luther was most proud of the houses he built in the Fieldstone neighborhood, on the east side of Mooresville. When Luther saw the need, he would not charge for his labor, only materials. He wanted people to be able to afford these nice homes he was building. Frank absorbed what his father and mother did for people and resolved to live a life that reflected that purpose.

Mamie taught Sunday School at the Mt. Mourne Baptist Church. She did just about every job in that church, including as a deacon and missionary. She stressed to her children that they should always tithe and give the Lord ten percent. She thought that if a person could not get by on the other 90 percent, they were not trying hard enough.

His parents’ daily living gave Frank the model of working hard, combined with being community minded. His daddy told him to never forget his community and to never forget where he came from. Frank has never forgotten.

Speaking of family, Mamie and Luther had 11 children, two boys and nine girls! Frank was the third one up from the baby, and he was greatly influenced by his sisters. Of the original 11 siblings, three are still living. In addition to Frank, Dorothy Colson lives in Davidson and Helen Carter, age 98, lives in Brooklyn, New York. All the siblings were known for being hard workers, as Frank so richly demonstrates.

Frank remembers his youth in Mooresville as a happy time. He loved to fish and hunt, and he played baseball, basketball, and football. He attended a predominantly Black high school, Dunbar High, but he interacted with people from all across his town when he played in recreational sports leagues on weekends. As he says, “Black and white fellows played together, with good sportsmanship and good manners.” He learned that people are more alike than they are different, and he felt a kindred spirit to all, which he has carried into his adult life.

Frank first saw Laura Jean Farrer when she was standing on the sidewalk during the Mooresville Christmas Parade. He was playing in the band, and he did not miss this pretty girl watching him march by. After the parade, he asked her to walk with him to his car, and they have been walking together ever since.

They were married on October 24, 1968, while Frank was still in school and working on the weekends. The young couple quickly became an integral part of Davidson, raising their family, joining the Davidson Presbyterian Church, and giving back in hundreds of ways to others. They had three sons, Ricky, Stanley, and Rodney. Laura Jean and Frank suffered the tragedy of two of their sons dying far too young. Ricky was only 46 years old when he died, and Rodney was only 39. Rodney is survived by two children, daughter T.C. and son Adrian. Stanley has two children, Shaba and Rashika. These grandchildren mean the world to the Jordans.

After ten years of living in Laura Jean’s mother’s house, they built a new house on Westside Terrace, the house in which they still live. Laura Jean worked at Reeves’ Brothers for about 15 years, and Frank worked at Foamex in the shipping and lamination departments for 27 years. The experience of managing 62 people taught him that he had to meet people where they were and to adjust to their different skills and attitudes. He found that no one who worked for him was the same, so he had to develop the leadership skills to help them work as a unit to get the job done.

Meanwhile, Davidson Presbyterian Church became central to their lives. Frank was deeply influenced by men like Joe McLean and James Howard. Joe walked up to him one day after church, placed his hand on Frank’s shoulder, and said “Young man…” And Frank wondered, “uh-oh, what have I done wrong!”

But of course, these men wanted him to know that they saw potential in him. They said, “We know what your mother and daddy stood for, and we see that in you.” Frank certainly has lived up to that early assessment. He started out on the Steward Board to help keep the church’s money squared away. They then asked him to be a deacon to visit the sick and needy and those who are grieving. He prayed with and assisted families in any way he could.

Next, he served on the Trustee Committee, which was responsible for the upkeep of the church and grounds. He served on that committee for four terms, with two as chairperson.

Then came his tenure as a Ruling Elder of the church. Frank says that elders are “the living body of the church.” At Session meetings, they discussed and oversaw every aspect of the church’s life and its role for members and in the wider community.

On another twenty-fourth day of October, years later in 1982, an important event occurred in the life of Frank and his family. That’s the day that Lake Norman Limousine and Van Services was officially started. He believed he had the ambition and ability to make this fledgling business become successful. He took classes in business management on the weekends, and bought his first vehicle, a 1979 Cadillac funeral home car, with only two seats in the back. And Lake Norman Limousine’s first job? Taking four kids to their high school prom in Mooresville. It was quite a sight to see those fancy, full dresses squashed into that little back seat.

Because Frank learned the importance of hard work from his parents, he was not afraid of the challenges of owning his own business. He now has 12 vehicles – SUVs, classy cars, limousines, big vans, and minibuses. He takes college kids back and forth to the airport, and gives safe, quiet rides to college presidents, such as Presidents Quillen, Vagt, Ross, Kuykendall, Johnston, and Spencer, as well as many members of the Davidson community. He drives his minibus twice a day for Pine Lake Prep for students who live out Brawley School Road. He doesn’t even mind the 5:30 a.m. wake up call to get the kids to school on time.

People of all ages, from school kids to celebrities, are a joy to Frank. And in working for them, Frank has driven somewhere around 1.6 million miles since 1982. Not many people could match that record.

He has met many entertainers and political figures, such as Congressman John Lewis and activist Angela Davis. Many athletes have ridden with Frank, from Steph Curry to Magic Johnson, Dennis Rodman, and Charles Barkley, among others. Each person is as important as another to Frank. He wants every ride to be a good one. And he has passed that ethic along to Stanley, who is now Frank’s partner in the business.

Frank has remembered the Davidson community, too, in his commitment to be of service to others. He helped organize the first board of the Ada Jenkins Center, supervising the work to paint and renovate the old building, making it habitable for use by citizens and organizations.

He has served on numerous town committees, such as the Transportation and Parks and Recreation boards, and he was a founding board member of the Davidson Community Foundation. He helps guide the funding of various organizations by the Foundation because he is so knowledgeable about the community after his years of service to us. Frank stands tall for this community and all its citizens.

Frank Jordan, because you took the lessons given to you by your mother and father and gave of your time and talent and love to others in our town, because you are a friend to people of all ages and walks of life, and because you have been called by God to live a life of purpose and meaning, it is our honor to name you the recipient of Davidson’s 2024 G. Jackson Burney Community Service Award. No one could better embody the ideals of Jack Burney than you.

We thank you and we love you.