[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 196 (Monday, December 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO MAYO BODDIE

  Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, today I rise to honor and praise a great 
man, Mayo Boddie, who has lived a long and admirable life as a 
successful businessman and dedicated servant to the people of North 
Carolina and his country.
  Mr. Boddie was born on December 6, 1929, on a farm in Nash County, 
NC. The son of Nick and Lucy Boddie, Mr. Boddie learned the value of 
hard work and perseverance at an early age. In 1962, along with his 
brother Nick and his uncle, Carleton Noell, Mayo Boddie opened his 
first Hardee's restaurant in Fayetteville, NC. Fast food was a 
relatively new concept back then, but the new company, Boddie-Noell, 
knew the recipe for success.
  Today, he is chairman of Boddie-Noell Enterprise, headquartered in 
Rocky Mount in the great State of North Carolina. Under Mr. Boddie's 
leadership, Boddie-Noell Enterprises operates more than 350 Hardee's 
restaurants and is the popular brand's largest franchisee. Despite 
their rapid growth and expansion throughout the Carolinas, Virginia, 
and Kentucky, Boddie-Noell has maintained a close-knit family culture 
in which every individual is treated with dignity and respect. To Mayo 
Boddie, the secret of his success is ``our people.''
  His devoted leadership never went unnoticed. In 1987, he received the 
North Carolina Jaycees Outstanding Boss of the Year Award. In 1991, he 
was named Master Entrepreneur of the Year for North Carolina by Inc. 
Magazine. In 2000, Mayo and his brother, Nick, were named NC Restaurant 
Association's Restaurateurs of the Year.
  At the age of 90 years old, celebrating a recent birthday, Mayo 
Boddie continues to be very active in his community of Rocky Mount and 
Eastern North Carolina. He still serves as an advisory board member for 
the NC Wesleyan College Entrepreneurial Center and continues to serve 
on the East Carolina Council BSA executive board. He remains an active 
member of First Presbyterian Church in Rocky Mount and has been active 
in the Boy Scouts since 1941. His support for scouting is legendary. In 
honor of this support, one of the Scout reservations in Beaufort 
County--Camp Bonner--was renamed Camp Boddie.
  Mr. President, it is obvious Mr. Boddie is well respected and loved 
among many who know him, and I am proud to honor him and his life-long 
and innovative service to the great State of North Carolina, along with 
his many accomplishments throughout his lifetime.

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