AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n
Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n Orange County Commissioner Jamezetta Bedford died unexpectedly Sunday from complications following hernia surgery at UNC Hospitals, her family announced. She was 67.<\/p>\n Read more NC man who battled cancer, organized Operation Charlotte\u2019s Web protests dies at 28<\/a><\/p>\n Bedford, who was elected to her District 1 seat in 2018, has served as the board\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you for your love, support, and understanding during this incredibly difficult time,\u201d Bedford said.<\/p>\n Bedford grew up as an \u201cArmy brat,\u201d living with her family in Germany, Virginia, California, Hawaii and Utah. She earned a bachelor\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n She earned a master\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The county, in a news release, called Bedford \u201ca devoted public servant, community advocate, and leader whose commitment to public service helped shape Orange County for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom 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,\u201d Commissioners Chair Jean Hamilton said.<\/p>\n \u201cJamezetta 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,\u201d she said. \u201cEven 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Read more \u2018This is crazy.\u2019 Crowd size for Canes\u2019 Stanley Cup parade shatters Raleigh\u2019s record<\/a><\/p>\n Bedford was a \u201ccool head\u201d 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 \u201ca mentor to many of us, and such a diplomatic colleague that we will all remember her for years to come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fowler recalled how Bedford was unable to be at last week\u2019s 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<\/a>. She also helped the board find compromise during recent budget negotiations, Fowler said.<\/p>\n \u201cI am just so sad and in shock and devastated. I\u2019m going to miss her terribly,\u201d Fowler said.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n She \u201chad so much knowledge had so much knowledge from everything she\u2019d 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,\u201d Kaylie said.<\/p>\n \u201cHer importance to the autism community just cannot be overstated,\u201d Kaylie said. \u201cShe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Bedford\u2019s family is asking friends to make a donation in lieu of flowers to the Autism Society of North Carolina\u2019s Camp Royall<\/a>.<\/p>\n State law outlines the process for filling a county commissioner\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Nomination forms will be posted to the Orange County Democratic Party website at orangedems.com<\/a>, according to Lynn McGee, the local party chair. Members of the party\u2019s Executive Committee who live in District 1 will recommend a nominee to fill the seat until Bedford\u2019s term expires in December.<\/p>\n The county commissioners will appoint the new member, but don\u2019t have to accept the committee\u2019s recommendation, McGee said. The same Executive Committee members will also choose a candidate to appear on the November ballot.<\/p>\n