Jeanette Wallace Hyde, a renowned North Carolina state and national Democratic activist and philanthropist, died on Feb. 10 at the age of 86.
Hyde, who also served as a U.S. Ambassador, had been known for doing everything to her highest ability, her loved ones told CityView. During her lifetime, she earned numerous accolades, including from North Carolina universities, state organizations and women’s groups, for her work increasing education opportunities, international diplomacy and promoting women in politics. It was no different in Fayetteville, a city she called home for about a decade.
“She wanted to make a difference everywhere,” Jill Hendrickson, Hyde’s niece, told CityView. “I could never been more proud of her.”
Hyde lived in Fayetteville from 1965 to 1976; during those years she worked as a social worker for the Cumberland County Department of Social Services before becoming the first female family counselor for the North Carolina Administration of the Courts in Fayetteville.
“Everything she did in Fayetteville was helping people,” Debbie Liebers, Hyde’s niece and Fayetteville resident, told CityView.
In 1971, Hyde left social work to open and manage the day-to-day operations of The Foxy Lady, a ladies’ boutique, alongside her sister Wanda Wallace Smith, who was also Liebers’ and Hendrickson’s mother. According to her obituary, Hyde was no stranger to the retail business. Growing up, Hyde had helped her father, Gurney Clifton Wallace, run his local country store in Yadkin County.
Her own business, The Foxy Lady, expanded to three locations before Hyde sold it in 1978.
“They had a ball doing it,” Liebers recalled.
Despite success as a social worker and business owner, Hyde couldn’t resist the call of politics. As soon as she came to North Carolina, Hyde became active in Democratic Party activities, she recalled in a 2007 interview for The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. From Fayetteville, she ran for and successfully became a DNC National Committeewoman for the Young Democrats of America.
Hendrickson recalled being floored by one of the speeches she watched Hyde give for the Young Democrats while in Fayetteville.
“I could not believe that that was my aunt up there speaking like that,” Hendrickson said. “To be that gracious, that intelligent, hold a captivated room. You could not go anywhere where Jeanette wasn’t the center of the tension in the room. She was just that dynamic.”
Hyde was also the campaign chair for Charlie Rose, a Fayetteville native who represented the state’s 7th U.S. House District from 1973 to 1996. Liebers and Hendrickson remember following along during doorknocking events for Rose when they were 15 and 8 years old. Both loved watching their aunt, who they said was more like a second mother, in action.
Hyde was also a founding member of Fayetteville’s local chapter of the National Organization for Women, a grassroots women’s rights organization. She would later receive the Susan B. Anthony Award from the chapter for her work amplifying women’s voices in local and state politics.
“What Jeanette was looking to do was instill that next generation of leaders, particularly women leaders,” Tom Hendrickson, Jill’s husband and Hyde’s nephew-in-law, told CityView.
Tom Hendrickson said Hyde credited her father for instilling in her a love of public service and Democratic politics. He said Wallace was one of few Democrats in Yadkin County at the time and served on the Yadkin County Board of Education for 22 years.
Liebers said Hyde played a similar role in her life, as Wallace did for his daughter. Liebers, an active Democrat in Fayetteville, credits her aunt for showing her how to be a good organizer and fundraiser. She fondly recalled marching down Hay Street with Hyde and other members of the Fayetteville NOW chapter to advocate for women’s rights. She also remembered Hyde congratulating her after she was once arrested during a Moral Mondays protest outside the North Carolina Legislative Building.
“She believed in people,” Liebers said. “She was the best person I ever met, and she was always there for me and other people.”
The family found it hard to encapsulate Hyde’s impact on Fayetteville and nearly impossible on the state and nation.
“The totality of her life was so impactful in so many different areas,” Tom Hendrickson said. “Because there is so much, it is hard for folks to fully appreciate the magnitude of the good that she did.”
In North Carolina, Hyde co-chaired the North Carolina Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992. She was the first woman to serve on the North Carolina Board of Transportation. She established the Jeanette W. Hyde Global Studies Scholarship at Wake Forest University and the Ambassador Jeanette W. Hyde Study Abroad Scholarship fund at Western Carolina University. This and more of her work in the state earned her The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest award from the state’s governor, twice in 1985 and 2011.
In 1994, Hyde became the first North Carolina woman to be appointed to an ambassadorship after President Bill Clinton appointed her as the U.S. Ambassador to seven Caribbean nations. Both Hendricksons and Liebers said she made a tremendous impact on the nations, promoting women’s leadership and security.
For her work, Hyde was given civilian awards from the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency for her work around reducing drug trafficking. The United States Coast Guard also awarded her the Highest Civilian Award for Public Service for her efforts in establishing drug trafficking treaties with the nations.
“She was just a remarkable human being,” Hendrickson said. “I don’t think there was a goal that she didn’t fulfill.”
Hyde is survived by her nieces Jill D. Hendrickson (Tom), Debbie D. Liebers (Chuck), Pam D. Aleshunas (John), Christy S. Cole (Laverne) and nephew Mark Smith (Desiraa), stepson Charles W. Hyde (Christine), along with seven great-nieces and nephews Lori and Katie Hendrickson, Meghann Liebers Davis (Chris) and Amber Liebers, Ben and Elizabeth Aleshunas and Grayson Cole (Lauren), and five great-great-nieces and nephews.
The family will receive visitors at The Woman’s Club of Raleigh from 6 to 8 p.m. A memorial service will be held at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.