DATE: Thursday, September 4, 1997           TAG: 9709040616

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND                    LENGTH:   50 lines

MOLLIE FEARING, A CIVIC ACTIVIST AND FRIEND, DIES

Mollie Fearing, a Manteo insurance executive whose numerous civic and community activities won her friends and admirers across North Carolina, died Wednesday after a brief illness.

Fearing, who at one time was mayor of Manteo, was an active supporter of the outdoor drama ``The Lost Colony.'' She also served on a number of state and local panels, including the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission.

But she was equally well-known for her hospitality, which included holiday dinner invitations to Roanoke Island newcomers, and an annual Easter egg hunt for local children at her elegant Uppowac Street home.

``She was an extraordinary lifelong community leader,'' said longtime friend and former Manteo mayor John Wilson IV. ``She served on a number of state and local boards. But she was most devoted to her town and to `The Lost Colony.' Because Mollie had been so active in so many civic activities, you couldn't go anywhere around the state and say you were from Roanoke Island without being asked about Mollie Fearing.''

Fearing, a graduate of Manteo High School and Meredith College, was president of Mollie Fearing and Associates Insurance in Manteo. Longtime friend Earl Green, who lived with the Fearing family as a high school student, recalled her community activism.

``She was really outgoing,'' Green said. ``She did a lot for the town and the county, and was really involved on the Coastal Resources Commission in trying to preserve our shoreline. That's a real controversial issue. But everywhere she went, she was always trying to promote Manteo and Dare County.''

Fearing served as president of the Greater Nags Head Chamber of Commerce, a forerunner of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce. She was also a member of the North Carolina Insurance Issues Committee, studying the availability of insurance for coastal communities.

She was a member of the Dare County Tourism Board, serving on its executive committee from 1992 to 1996. She was also a member of an advisory panel working on the renovation of the Aycock Brown Visitors' Center in Kitty Hawk.

But many around her hometown will remember her for her hospitality.

``There wasn't a holiday that passed that she didn't invite people for dinner who didn't have any family in the area,'' Wilson recalled. ``She must have served hundreds of buffet dinners in her home for various organizations she was involved in. She loved people.''

Wilson added, ``She leaves a void that will be impossible to fill.'' MEMO: Funeral arrangements were pending Wednesday evening. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Mollie Fearing

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