03/19/2026
We are sad to share that our beloved Community Connector Ms. Mae McLendon passed away earlier this week, getting rest after a lifetime dedicated to serving her community. Join the celebration of her life at her homegoing service next Tuesday, March 24 at the United Church of Chapel Hill (1321 MLK Jr. Blvd.). Visitation will be at 11:30AM and the service will begin at 12PM.
Ms. Mae would joke that she has worked at or with almost every organization in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and that isn’t far off from the truth. Even as someone who has been technically retired for over a decade, Ms. Mae filled her days with community service. From working part-time at the MCJC and for the Town of Carrboro, to serving at the St. Paul A.M.E. Church, to being a poll worker at every election, and being involved with more local organizations than we can list, her agenda as a “retiree” was always packed full of commitments centered around public service and volunteering.
Thanks to decades of organizing and coordinating community events, Ms. Mae had an eye for detail and a brain full of contingencies. For all of our major events like the annual Northside Festival, she made sure that we were aware of and prepared for any scenario. During events, she would spend most of her time preparing or serving food with our student volunteers, always staying busy because there were always tasks to be done and people to oversee.
As a lifelong Northside, Pine Knolls, and Tin Top resident, Ms. Mae knew the who, what, when, where, and why on just about everything going on in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. And it was important to her that everyone else had that information too. Alongside her work as our "Community Connector,” Ms. Mae collaborated with our public history team as a member of their Community Review Board, inviting neighbors to preserve their oral histories on From the Rock Wall, and providing valuable input for public history events and projects. And on the days when she was in the office, she regaled staff, visitors, and volunteers with anecdotes and tidbits from her encyclopedic knowledge of Chapel Hill and Carrboro’s past and present. Even in her free time, she would regularly send email blasts to different listservs on relevant news, events, opportunities, and more. It felt like she was never truly “off the clock” – a regular occurrence on Monday mornings was opening our email inboxes to find multiple emails that Ms. Mae had sent over the weekend.
Ms. Mae was extremely proud of her daughter Ms. Anissa McLendon’s organization the E3 Camp, which provides middle school students of color with activities, field trips, and skills in the Arts and S.T.E.M. fields. For those wondering about how they can honor the legacy of Ms. Mae McLendon, please consider making a direct donation to the E3 Camp using the Paypal link at the bottom of their homepage (https://www.e3camp.com/) or purchasing school supplies for the 2026 camp through their Amazon wish list (https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2DKN3UWKARLI3). If you are purchasing item(s) on the wish list, please add “in memory of Ms. Mae” in the notes!
Ms. Mae, we love you and you will be dearly missed. Heaven has gained another angel.
