This was that moving evening, when Ennis Wright would reflect about growing up with five brothers off Old Wilmington Road, and where Mary Ellen Malloy Wright insisted that Ennis Wright and his siblings live by the Golden Rule and make something of themselves in life.
He thought of his late mother on this retirement celebration.
He thought of Earl “Moose” Butler, the late Cumberland County sheriff, who believed in all that Ennis Wright could be in law enforcement.
“My mom always said, ‘It’s not where you come from, it’s how you treat people,’” Wright, 65, who retired June 30 as the 22nd sheriff in Cumberland County history, told more than 400 people Monday night at the Crown Agri Expo Center. “I have always wanted to do things right and I always strived to do what was right. If we can all do that, the world would be a better place.”
Ronnie Mitchell, a lawyer and legal confidant to Butler and later to Wright, reminded us that Ennis Wright wanted nothing more than to become a lawman after serving in the U.S. Army as a drill sergeant.
“In his own words, he never thought he would be sheriff,” Mitchell, 72, said. “He never saw it. He never tried to assert himself into it. Instead, he grew in the light of the love and leader his mother and his family provided to him.”
Wright joined the Spring Lake Police Department under then Chief Gil Campbell after his Army hitch and three years later found himself in 1997 applying for a position with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
By happenstance, Wright says he saw Butler.
“I was coming off the elevator and said, ‘Can I talk to you?’” Wright said. “He said, ‘Yeah, son, give me a few weeks and you’ll hear from me.’”
Butler hired Wright on June 23, 1997, as a school resource officer.
“If you do your job, somebody will notice you,” Wright said. “Sheriff Butler noticed I was doing my job. It instilled in me what I saw him doing.”
Butler had a keen eye for what a law enforcement officer should be.
He had a Spidey Sense for people.
He saw something in Ennis Wright, and Wright would rise through the ranks to become Butler’s chief deputy from Jan. 21, 2014, until Jan. 1, 2017, when the Cumberland Board of County Commissioners appointed Wright as sheriff after Butler retired, ending 22 years as sheriff.
“I’m leaving office, but a man who’s here with me today is a man of integrity,” Butler told WRAL-TV in pushing Wright as his successor. “He’s a leader. He’s a true person as far as dealing with people. He’s a great individual I know personally… I don’t think there should be any question at all who should be appointed.”
Ronnie Mitchell said Butler treated Wright like a son.
“He expected him to be a man of integrity,” Mitchell said. “A man of honor.”
Ennis Wright did not disappoint the old sheriff.
Wright has served as sheriff since, never losing an election.
“He doesn’t like the spotlight or limelight,” Ronnie Mitchell said. “But he had broad enough shoulders to help people. He got his values from his mother and grandmother — integrity, trustfulness, and yes, righteousness. He had the broad shoulders to protect you and fulfilled his duty to protect every one of you.”
From the county seal to the Long Leaf Pine
Others would offer retirement tributes.
“We are grateful for his selfless service to Cumberland County,” said Cumberland Board of County Commissioners Chair Kirk deViere, who joined with commissioners Veronica Jones and Henry Tyson in presenting Wright with seals and coins of the county, and Tyson announced July 14, 2025, at “Sheriff Ennis Wright Day in Cumberland County.”
DeViere said commissioners will appoint a new sheriff on Aug. 11.
Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said a “key to the city” will be coming Wright’s way in August.
Former CityView and Fayetteville Observer and high school editor Earl Vaughan Jr. presented Wright with a life-size photograph of his basketball playing days at Terry Sanford High School, and gratitude “for keeping players and fans safe underneath the ‘Friday Night Lights.’”
Former U.S. Rep. and N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction Bob Etheridge of Harnett County was among dignitaries thanking Wright for his law enforcement career.
Glenn McNeill Jr., a U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina and former commander of the N.C. Highway Patrol, presented Wright with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine on behalf of Gov. Josh Stein.
“Every time I went through a hardship, you called me,” McNeill told Wright. “Every time I had to bury a highway patrolman, you called me. Life is not measured in years and titles. It’s measured in the lives he touched. His story isn’t one of just service. It’s commitment to those he led and those he served. Tonight, we celebrate a career defined by selfless service.”
The state’s highest honor brought the audience to its feet in ovation.
‘You can’t do it alone’
Wright would transform this night of celebration about those who believed in him along his career path.
“The ones in the trenches are those who made me look good,” he said of the men and women of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. “I also want to thank Mrs. Butler, who was like a second mother to me.”
It was a poignant moment for Julia Butler, widow of the late Earl “Moose” Butler. Moose Butler died at age 84 on March 20, 2022.
It was a poignant moment for Ennis Wright.
“I love him,” he said. “I miss him.”
He remembered Gil Campbell, the former police chief in Spring Lake, who gave Wright his first opportunity to become a lawman. He thanked his wife, Trudy, who was always there to support his career.
“In life, you can’t do it alone,” Wright said.” Who would have thought a young kid on welfare running barefooted would have been sheriff of Cumberland County. I always told people, ‘I’m the sheriff, but no better than anybody else.’ You make hard decisions as a leader, and you have to stand by them. It isn’t easy. But you have to do it with integrity.
“I’m going to miss you.
“But it’s time for me to move on and let somebody else do the job,” Wright said. “I’m going to miss it. But it’s time to move on and see what the good Lord wants me to do.”
Epilogue
There would be one last farewell.
Ennis Wright would take his seat behind the wheel of a sheriff’s office cruiser outside the Agri Expo Center with Senior Sgt. Mickey Locklear by his side.
“Cumberland Car 1,” Wright told the Cumberland County Emergency Management dispatcher in the 10-42 end of duty shift. “I just want to say it has been an honor to serve the wonderful people of Cumberland County. I truly appreciate all the support I have received.
“I have had the opportunity to work alongside some of the best individuals in this field. I believe this is the finest agency. Thank you to all the dispatchers, deputies, detention officers, employees and my command staff. Thank you very much for the great 30 years. You are the best.
“Be safe, watch out for each other and God bless,” Wright said. “Cumberland Car 1 10-42 for the last time.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Maj. Johnathan Morgan’s first name.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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