The Lumbee Tribe of N.C. sends our deepest condolences to Mrs. Barbara and the family of Mr. Horace Locklear.
The Lumbee Tribe of N.C. sends our deepest condolences to Mrs. Barbara and the family of Mr. Horace Locklear. Mr. Horace passed away on Sunday. In 1972, Mr. Horace became the first American Indian licensed to practice law in the state of North Carolina. He would go on to serve his tribe and the citizens of N.C. in many capacities. In 1968, he cofounded the Lumbee Regional Development Association in Pembroke. In 1976, he became the second Lumbee to serve in the N.C. General Assembly. He served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1977 until 1983. Mr. Horace was born in Lumberton and graduated from Pembroke State College and N.C. Central School of Law. He was an enrolled citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of N.C.
Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery said the Lumbee People have lost a great leader. “Mr. Horace was a trail blazer for the Lumbee People and served in many leadership capacities,” said Lowery. “We are a better tribe today because of Mr. Horace and his contemporaries who helped open many doors for our people.”
Charles Graham, Former NC State House Representative, remembered Mr. Horace as being a leader who was not about recognition for himself, but was interested in what was best for the Lumbee People and Lumbee Children. “Horace Locklear was a great community leader. During the prime of his life he began his professional career as a teacher. He made an impression on me. I never forgot him as a teacher or community leader. I give him great credit for helping me in my career as a legislator. He was an adviser and mentor. He did a great job supporting our Lumbee People,” said Graham.
Obituary
HORACE LOCKLEAR
American Indian. Lawyer. Statesman
(November 27, 1942 -May 05, 2024)
Horace Locklear, 81, was born in Robeson County, NC to farmer Riley Lee Locklear and wife, Margaret Locklear, who later became a public-school teacher; their family heritage was Lumbee Indian. After graduating from Magnolia High School in 1960. He was graduated from Pembroke State College (now UNC-Pembroke) in 1964, with a B.S. degree. Locklear taught grades sixth and seventh-all subjects - in a makeshift classroom next to a fellow teacher who also taught combination grades; a cloth curtain separated the classrooms located in the school's auditorium. He resigned his teaching position midway the second school year and was rescued from a futile teaching career in the mid 60 's by a federal anti-poverty program. He was hired by the NC Fund Project as a mobility specialist and his wife and young child to Statesville, NC. In 1969, he left that job when he won a school scholarship from the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Bureau of Indians Affairs to attend law school. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1972, admitted to the NC Bar, thus becoming the first licensed American Indian lawyer in North Carolina. Locklear was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives; he served three from 1977 -1983, choosing not to seek re-election to another term.
Afterwards he continued to practice law while immersing himself in Civic Affairs, Community Development, Human Rights, The Civil Right Movement, and American Indian Rights and Causes. Locklear's death on May 05, 2024, in the Lower Cape Fear Life Care Center in Bolivia, NC ended his 61-year-old marriage to Barbara Braveboy-Locklear who survives him along with their three children a daughter, Millicent Locklear Long (Joseph) Shallotte, NC; his two sons: Horace Bryan Locklear of Zebulon, NC, and Jasper Edwin Locklear (Nicole) of Lillington, NC; his sister, Angelin Lee Locklear of Lumberton, NC; his brother, D 'Angelo Locklear of Lumberton, NC; his stepmother, Angeline of Lumberton; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Date of "Celebration of Life" Service is Saturday July 13, 2024 at 2 pm at Mt. Olive Baptist Church located at 1476 Mt. Olive Church Rd., Saddletree Community, Lumberton, NC 28360. The service is open to the public.
Horace's family requests that anyone who is considering giving a flora memorial, to instead make a tax-deductible donation in his Name to: Lower Cape Fear Life Center, 955 Mercy Lane SE, Bolivia, NC 28422.
