05/20/2026
I lost a good friend, a mentor, and a father figure last week. Many of you know Norman Kellum and the impact he had on so many of us. .
It was 1993 when he first called me late one Thursday afternoon and scheduled a breakfast meeting the next morning at 8:30. I drove the 284 miles from Cramerton, NC to New Bern. It was a long drive, but it became one I made once a week for the next 23 years. At one point, I calculated the miles and realized I had driven nearly half a million. I mixed in a few airplane trips along the way, but mostly I became a road warrior — a few tickets here and a few tickets there. Driving gave me time to think.
Much has been said about Norman’s love for New Bern and Eastern North Carolina, how proud he was of his military service, and his love and his devotion to his family, his church, and of course his beloved Wake Forest College. (Please note, I know the university changed its name, but Norman proudly had two diplomas on his wall: one from Wake University University and one from the original Wake Forest College.)
He had a profound impact on me, and I lost a part of myself when he passed away.
I had not worked for Norman since around 2016, but we stayed close and spoke often about family, basketball games, and almost everything except marketing. I appreciated him deeply, and when my father died Norman helped me get through that great loss.
Everybody talks about Norman’s slogan, “With You All the Way,” and where it came from. Nobody really has the full origin story correct, and honestly, it is not my place to correct it, because Norman’s legacy deserves the wide interpretation of that wonderful position line. He truly lived it.
I thank him for his support of me, my family, and my business.
I will close with one of the stories he told me many times and usually ended our conversations with:
“Mike, you’ve got to go down in the mine with your pick and ax, on time, evey day. Take a lunch break and then get back to it. Don’t try to blow things up — just come back the next day and get to work.”
That was Norman.
And I am going to get back to work.
So from my family — including Avery, Junior, and Jeb — we are ready to get back to work
