
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997                TAG: 9703040470

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   51 lines

VETERAN RESCUER PUT ON REGION'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PANEL

William Lehmann, a retired Coast Guard aviator who logged most of his 8,500 hours in the air on rescue missions, has been named to the Northeastern Regional Economic Development Commission.

Lehmann, 52, whose appointment by North Carolina House Speaker Harold J. Brubaker is effective immediately, will complete the unexpired term of Jimmy R. Jenkins Jr., former chancellor of Elizabeth City State University.

Jenkins' term expires June 30, but Lehmann is expected to be quickly reappointed. Of the 15 regular members of the partnership, five are appointed by the speaker, five by Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, D-Dare, and five by the governor.

Lehmann is a former chairman of the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce and serves as vice chairman of the Pasquotank County Planning Board. He also operates Coastal Appraisal, a local real estate consulting firm.

Lehmann had a star-spangled career as a Coast Guard flier who virtually grew up in C-130s, the familiar four-engine search-and-rescue aircraft with an unsurpassed record for hazardous long-range missions.

``I retired after 20 years because I had an idea that I wanted to be an airline pilot,'' Lehmann said. ``And that's what I did, but it wasn't long before I missed getting home occasionally.''

Years before his retirement as a commander, when he and his wife, Linda, were on an earlier tour of duty at the Coast Guard Air Station at Elizabeth City, they fell in love with the Albemarle area. They bought a house in Elizabeth City and kept it through the years as the home where they would retire.

``Bill really believes in improving life for people,'' Linda said Monday about her husband's future with the Northeast Economic Partnership. ``He'll work his heart out for that commission.''

Lehmann himself looks forward to helping the pump-priming panel.

``I like that kind of work. I promise to promote the best interests of everyone who lives in the area served by this group,'' Lehmann said. ILLUSTRATION: APPOINTMENT

Lehmann, 52, whose appointment by North Carolina House Speaker

Harold J. Brubaker is effective immediately, will complete the

unexpired term of Jimmy R. Jenkins Jr., former chancellor of

Elizabeth City State University.

Lehmann is a former chairman of the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of

Commerce and serves as vice chairman of the Pasquotank County

Planning Board. He also operates Coastal Appraisal, a local real

estate consulting firm.