BATH — A longtime volunteer, historian and medical professional has been inducted in the ranks of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

Bath resident Josie Hookway was given the award Friday during an outdoor ceremony at the historic Bonner House on Bonner Point. A crowd gathered to witness the event, which featured the color guard from William H. Hall’s living history unit of the Confederate States Navy bearing North Carolina, American and British-American flags from 1712 to the Civil War, and local Girl Scout Troops Nos. 4324 and 3355 reciting the Girl Scout pledge in honor of Hookway, who served as chairperson of the Girl Scout Council of Eastern North Carolina.

“Josie has been a diehard supporter of Bath,” said Bath Mayor Jimmy Latham.
Latham told the assembled crowd about Hookway’s ongoing dedication to the Town of Bath and preserving its history, referring to her as an “ambassador to Bath.”

On hand to attest to Hookway’s dedication to Bath history was Keith Hardison, director of state historic sites for the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, who presented Hookway with a Long Leaf Pine pin to go along with the plaque presented to her by N.C. Sen. Bill Cook.

Hookway emigrated from Great Britain to eastern North Carolina in 1958 and has lived in Bath since the 1980s. She’s since dedicated her life to health and history. For more than 20 years, she worked in nursing and nursing education for the state and East Carolina University’s School of Medicine, volunteered for more than 25 years at the Historic Bath State Historic Site, and was first appointed to the Historic Bath Commission by Gov. James Hunt. Hookway has also served as and as a volunteer historian at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, among many other accomplishments, according to the event program.

The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is an award given by the North Carolina governor to those with a proven record of service to the state or some other special achievement, and to others as a gesture of friendship and good will.