During the July 15 Goldsboro City Council meeting, the City Council presented a resolution in memory of former Goldsboro Mayor Al King, who passed away on July 2.

Mayor King served from 2002 through 2015. His wife Juanita and daughter Alison were among the family members present to receive the special presentation.

King, who was 92 when he passed away, was Goldsboro’s first and only African American Mayor, serving from 2002 to 2015.

King was born in Duplin County on Feb. 10, 1932, to Jessie Odell King Royal and Tommy Kornegay. He started his education in the Duplin County Schools and subsequently transferred to Carver School in Mount Olive, where he excelled in athletics and academics graduating in 1952.

He attended North Carolina A&T State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. While at A&T he excelled in Air Force ROTC, was editor of the Aggie Yearbook, and was inducted into Who’s Who.

King entered the U.S. Air Force as a 2nd Lt. retiring after 20 years as a Major.

Upon retirement, he began a brief tenure of employment with Wayne County before becoming the Director of Personnel and Safety for the city of Goldsboro.

After a 21-year stint, King retired again. He was called out of retirement to replace Mayor Hal Plonk who had passed away.