A native of Lincolnton, NC, he was a graduate of Western Carolina Teachers’ College with a Bachelor of Science Degree and was a graduate of North Carolina State University and East Carolina University with a Master’s Degree in Teaching. Mayor Plonk acquired his first teaching position with the Shelby City School System where he also coached an elementary baseball team. After leaving this position, he began working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. This position consisted of training public school bus drivers. World War II interrupted Mayor Plonk’s employment with the Safety Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. He enlisted in the United States Navy and prior to his discharge he received the rank of Chief Specialist Petty Officer and became an instructor in the ROTC Unit at Stanford University. At the conclusion of his military career, Mayor Plonk returned to his former position with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Mayor Plonk worked in the field of public education in North Carolina for 40 years, having served 32 years in the Goldsboro City Schools as a teacher and administrator. He organized the first Driver’s Education Program in the public schools in the State of North Carolina at Goldsboro High School. Mayor Plonk retired in 1981 as Assistant Superintendent of Goldsboro City Schools. He also organized the Goldsboro Industrial Education Center, which is now Wayne Community College and served as its director.

Mayor Plonk was elected to the Goldsboro City of Council on May 13, 1969, and served 11 years as a Council member prior to being elected Mayor on November 2, 1979. During his many years of public service, he has been noted for his consensus building and strong leadership qualities. His effort to better the quality of life for all citizens has been readily apparent. His quality of life, economic development interests, and unquestionable popularity transcended Wayne County throughout eastern North Carolina.

Mayor Plonk was a former member of the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee of the NCLM, where he was elected to the Board of Directors in October 1990 and of the Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee of the NLC. He was a past member of the North Carolina Association of Educators and the National Education Association. Mayor Plonk was past chairman of the Eastern North Carolina Air Cargo Exploratory Committee consisting of 8 counties and was past chairman of the Eastern North Carolina Air Cargo Exploratory Committee Task Force, which was organized to promote governmental funding for the proposed Transpark and it grew into the Global Transpark Commission consisting of 13 counties. He served as chairman of the Global Transpark Commission from 1993-1996. Mayor Plonk was a member of the North Carolina State and National Advisory Committee’s of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other memberships include the Rotary Club of Goldsboro, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Over the years, Mayor Plonk has received many awards that include: the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the Paul Harris Fellowship, the Bob Forsythe Good Government Award, the National Guard Civilian Commendation Medal, Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Woodmen of the World, the Neuse River Council of Government Outstanding Mayor of the Year, the Goldsboro Jaycee Outstanding Citizen, the NAACP Humanitarian Award, and the 2001 Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Award.

He also received the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the North Carolina National Guard Civilian Accommodation Medal of Honor.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, of which he was a member, with Rev. Eugene Carpenter and Rev. Charles Morrison officiating. Graveside services will follow in Willow Dale Cemetery with full military honors, provided by Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Honor Guard. Both services are open to the public.

Mayor Plonk is survived by his wife, Madeline Warren Plonk of Goldsboro; his son, Hal Warren Plonk of Goldsboro; and a brother-in-law, M.G. Warren and his wife, Marjorie of Spivey’s Corner.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of North Carolina, 4330 Bland Road, Raleigh, NC 27609.

The family will not receive friends at his residence, but they will be at Seymour Funeral Home on Tuesday from 6-9 p.m. to greet family and friends.