March 11, 2025, 93, Goldsboro —
J Micah Pate, Jr. passed away Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at Brookdale Country Day Road. He was born on September 1, 1931 in Goldsboro to J Micah Pate and Cecile Hope Pate.
Mike was an Eagle Scout and attended the Boy Scout World Jamboree in Paris, France in 1947. He later was an Assistant Scout Master for Troop 3 and a lifelong supporter of the Tuscarora Boy Scout Council which awarded him the Distinguished Citizen Award. His love of the Boy Scouts led his two sons and grandson to become Boy Scouts. He was also awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the Governor of North Carolina.
Mike received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a lifelong Tar Heel going in a caravan from Goldsboro to many Duke-Carolina football games and letting the referees know when they made bad calls during basketball games. He served in the U.S. Navy as a 1st Class Petty Officer Hospital Corpsman from 1951-1955.
Mike met and married his first wife Mary Lane Tucker in 1955. After living in Raleigh for a year where Mary Lane worked while Mike finished his college degree, they moved to Goldsboro where he joined the family business, Pate Dawson Company. He was President and then Chairman for over 50 years. Mike also served as President of the NC Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and the NC Food Service Distributors Association.
Mike strongly believed in giving back to his hometown. He was a Deacon and Elder at First Presbyterian Church and on the Board of Directors for the Salvation Army, American Red Cross and First Union Bank in Goldsboro. Outside of work and leading community organizations, Mike liked to spend time at the beach and on ski trips with his family and friends. He especially liked going fishing early in the morning with Mary Lane who would cook the fish for his dinner. He twice drove to Canada to ski before deciding it was better to fly to Colorado and Utah which he did until he was 80. The ski trips with the “ski gang” from Goldsboro were some of his favorite times.
Mike also enjoyed playing golf and bridge and was a NC Senior Champion in badminton at age 46. People who knew him well knew he was very competitive trying to excel in whatever endeavor he attempted. After Mary Lane’s passing in 2006, Mike was fortunate to enjoy a second marriage of 17 years to Anne Lee Kinsey. Mike and Anne loved to travel and took their families with them many times around Christmas.
Mike was preceded in death by his two sisters, Nona Sullivan and Hope Schuch, and by his second wife Anne.
Mike is survived by his two sons J Micah Pate III, wife Nanalee B. Pate, and George Timothy Pate, wife Phyllis W. Pate; three step-children Katherine Kinsey Gourley, husband John Gourley, John Exum Kinsey, Jr., wife Rebecca Kinsey, and Robert Brownrigg Kinsey, wife Blakely Kinsey; six grandchildren, Jessica H. Pate, partner Bryant Turffs, Christina B. Pate, husband Justin C. Baney, Jason M. Pate, wife Sarah B. Pate, M. Kathleen Burke, husband Austin J. Burke, Alexandra M. Andrews, and Wesley L. Andrews; five step-grandchildren Georgia G. Hill, John W. Gourley, Jr, John E. Kinsey, III, Johnson B. Kinsey, and Julia E. Kinsey; three great-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren.
A time of visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at Seymour Funeral Home in Goldsboro. A service to honor his life will be held at 3:00 p.m. in the Chapel. A private entombment will be held after the service.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Tuscarora Council, 172 NC Hwy 581-S, Goldsboro, NC 27530.
The family expresses heartfelt gratitude to all his caregivers who loved and cared for him during his last years including Shoni Mayhue and Annette Pressely.
