John G. Medlin Jr.

MEDLIN WINSTON-SALEM John G. Medlin, Jr. Nov. 23, 1933 - June 7, 2012 John G. Medlin, Jr. died Thursday, June 7, 2012, at Grandfather Mountain, N.C., of a heart attack while playing tennis. He was 78. Mr. Medlin was born in Elevation, N.C., on November 23, 1933. The son of John Grimes Medlin and Mabel Stephenson Medlin, he grew up in Benson, N.C., and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1956. From 1956-1959, he was an officer in the U.S. Navy. In 1959, Mr. Medlin joined Wachovia Bank and Trust Company where he rose through various managerial positions until his election as President and Chief Operating Officer in 1974. He was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of Wachovia Corporation and the bank effective January 1, 1977 until he stepped down as CEO in 1993. Mr. Medlin continued to serve on the Wachovia board until 1998. In 1991 and 1992, he received the American Banker Award as the most admired CEO in banking as well as the American Banker Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. He was selected by Financial World in 1990 as the Chief Executive of the Decade of the Eighties for Southern Banks and the best Chief Executive in the nation in 1993. He served on the boards of directors of Bell South Corporation, Burlington Industries, Inc., Carolina Power & Light Company, Hanes Corporation, Media General, Inc., RJR Nabisco Holdings Corporation, National Service Industries, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation, Piedmont Airlines, Inc., Summit Communications, and US Airways Group, Inc. Mr. Medlin also served twice as Chair of the Board of Wake Forest University and on the boards of Davidson College, Duke Endowment, the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the National Humanities Center, the National Urban League, the Research Triangle Foundation, Salem Academy and College, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and many other nonprofits. He served as Chairman of the Future of Justice and the Courts in North Carolina and as President of the Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve System and the Association of Reserve City Bankers. Mr. Medlin is survived by his wife of 54 years, Pauline Sims Medlin, his daughters Elizabeth Medlin Hale (Sheffield) of Atlanta and Ridgely Medlin Phillips (John) of Charlotte, by a granddaughter Pauline Winston Phillips and grandsons John Merrill Phillips, Jr., Sheffield Medlin Hale, Thomas Harrold Hale and John Bradley Hale. He also is survived by his sister Patsy Blackman and brothers Jerry and Tracy Medlin. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, June 11 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Winston- Salem, N.C. The family will receive guests at the church following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to a charity of your choice. Arrangements by Salem Funeral Home.


This obituary was originally published in the Winston-Salem Journal.