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Orange County Commissioner Jamezetta Bedford died unexpectedly Sunday from complications following hernia surgery at UNC Hospitals, her family announced. She was 67.
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Bedford, who was elected to her District 1 seat in 2018, has served as the board’s chair and vice chair and had just been elected to another four-year term in March. She previously served on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, including as chair and vice chair, from 2003 to 2015.
Bedford was a certified public accountant with Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC. She married her husband Ed Bedford in 1981, and they have three children: sons, Jim and his wife Lindsey and Kevin and his wife Jonelle; and a daughter Shannon. Bedford is also survived by two grandchildren.
She will be cremated, Ed Bedford said in a message to the community. The family will plan a memorial or celebration of life service for a future date, he said.
“Thank you for your love, support, and understanding during this incredibly difficult time,” Bedford said.
Bedford grew up as an “Army brat,” living with her family in Germany, Virginia, California, Hawaii and Utah. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Virginia in 1980 and was a math teacher in Lexington, Virginia, before moving with her husband to Baltimore.
The Bedford family moved to Chapel Hill in 1992 seeking specialized services for their daughter, who has autism. Bedford became active in the disability community and began volunteering in the schools and local Parent-Teacher Associations, working for five years as a substitute teacher.
She earned a master’s degree in accounting in 2004 from UNC-Chapel Hill and got her CPA license in 2005. She was also active in the Democratic Women of Orange County, an Orange County Communities in Schools board member, and a former president of the local chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina.
The county, in a news release, called Bedford “a devoted public servant, community advocate, and leader whose commitment to public service helped shape Orange County for decades.”
“From her years of service on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education to her leadership on the Board of County Commissioners, she never lost sight of the people she represented,” Commissioners Chair Jean Hamilton said.
“Jamezetta was deeply committed to ensuring that every resident had opportunities to thrive, and she worked diligently to strengthen our schools, expand behavioral health resources, and build a brighter future for Orange County,” she said. “Even in recent months, she remained focused on seeing critical projects move forward for the benefit of future generations. Her wisdom, dedication, and steady leadership will be profoundly missed.”
Friends and colleagues remembered Bedford for her steady hand and thoughtful approach to challenges, her tireless work and easy humor, and the love and pride she showed when speaking about her family.
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Bedford was a “cool head” who could move things forward and a champion for the schools, mental health and people with disabilities, Commissioners Vice Chair Amy Fowler said. She was also “a mentor to many of us, and such a diplomatic colleague that we will all remember her for years to come,” she said.
Fowler recalled how Bedford was unable to be at last week’s meeting but worked until the last minute to make sure there were enough votes to approve construction later this summer of the Orange County Crisis Diversion Facility. She also helped the board find compromise during recent budget negotiations, Fowler said.
“I am just so sad and in shock and devastated. I’m going to miss her terribly,” Fowler said.
Bedford was a friend and mentor to so many people, always willing to listen or offer advice, said Lisa Kaylie, executive director of Extraordinary Ventures, a Chapel Hill nonprofit that provides job training and employment to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
She “had so much knowledge had so much knowledge from everything she’d been through with Shannon … and she just knew what agencies to call and who might be of assistance, and was just a good calm person to direct people to when things were really rough,” Kaylie said.
“Her importance to the autism community just cannot be overstated,” Kaylie said. “She has been a public force, but also a really important private source of support [and] real help for people in crisis, and you know, that is a rare, rare thing to find is people who are willing to be there for people when things are so hard, and she just never stepped back from that.”
Bedford’s family is asking friends to make a donation in lieu of flowers to the Autism Society of North Carolina’s Camp Royall.
State law outlines the process for filling a county commissioner’s vacant seat. Interested Orange County applicants must be a member of the Democratic Party and live in District 1, which covers Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
Nomination forms will be posted to the Orange County Democratic Party website at orangedems.com, according to Lynn McGee, the local party chair. Members of the party’s Executive Committee who live in District 1 will recommend a nominee to fill the seat until Bedford’s term expires in December.
The county commissioners will appoint the new member, but don’t have to accept the committee’s recommendation, McGee said. The same Executive Committee members will also choose a candidate to appear on the November ballot.
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The winner of the November election will serve a full, four-year term.
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 8:55 AM.