WINDSOR – The long and distinguished service of the late Seaton Poe Fairless Jr. was honored Monday night at the Bertie County Board of Education meeting.

During their regular session, the board honored the memory of Fairless, who died in July, for his 16 years of service to the school board.

“We lost one of the pillars of the school system in the passing of Mr. Seaton Poe Fairless,” said school board member Rickey Freeman. “He always had the students of Bertie County at heart.”

Freeman presented the family of Fairless with a plaque and a photograph of the late educator as a token of esteem from the board. On hand for the presentation were Fairless’s wife, Sue, and his daughters, Kimberly Fairless Williamson and Mary Jo Fairless Whitley.

“Thank you so much,” Sue Fairless said. “Any of you who worked with Seaton knew that serving on the school board was one of the great loves of his life. He loved Bertie County and he would have appreciated this so much.”

Fairless served 16 years on the school board, including the last several as chairman before retiring at the end of his final term. He was also an outspoken advocate of the Bertie County Schools seeking Unitary Status, which was granted just months after his death.

During his service of the Board of Education he was chosen as a member of the All-State School Board in 2005.

He was also an avid lover of outdoors and hunting and was a member of the Roanoke/Albemarle Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.