Oxendine, Jesse E., 1926-2017

Jesse Edward Oxendine, born in Pembroke, N.C., on July 20, 1926, died February 10, 2017. Oxendine grew up in Pembroke, N.C. and was a long-time resident of Charlotte, N.C. A member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, he was the first licensed Native American pharmacist in North Carolina. As a youth, Oxendine was active in scouting. He graduated from Pembroke High School in 1944 and was drafted into the military the same year.

A member of the 82nd Airborne Division, 325th Glider Infantry, he helped to liberate the Wobbelin concentration camp near Ludwigslust, Germany on 2 May 1945. Following the war, Oxendine graduated from Pembroke State College where he was the quarterback of their first football team. He next attended the Medical College of South Carolina Pharmacy School and became the first licensed Native American pharmacist in North Carolina. He founded, owned, and operated King Drugs in Charlotte for over 40 years.

In retirement, Oxendine organized reunions for the 82nd Airborne, served on the Board of Trustees at Pembroke State University, and spoke to school, synagogue, and church groups about his wartime experience and Wobbelin. His interest in the preservation and study of history extended to his Lumbee heritage. He donated treasured artifacts from his service in World War II to the Native American Resource Center in Pembroke and he wrote a memoir titled Memories of Pembroke, N.C. (2016).