George Henry “Hank” Macknee of Durham, NC, passed away on February 11, 2022, at the age of 87. Born in Queens Village, NY, the son of George Edgar and Victoria Charlotte Macknee, Hank joined the Air Force on his eighteenth birthday and began his training at Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio, TX. He attended radio school at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and subsequently was stationed at Greenville Air Force Base in Mississippi as an airborne radio repairman. There, on June 24, 1954, he became a born-again Christian. He met his future wife, Ermie Grayson, when he and some fellow airmen went to hear a friend speak at Northside Baptist Church in Greenville. Ermie and her sister, Linda, were singing a duet as part of the service.
Hank and Ermie were married on August 5, 1956; in the years following, they traveled from Greenville—where their first daughter, Salem, was born—to New York, Memphis, and other cities and then to Columbia, SC, where Hank attended Columbia Bible College. Their second daughter, Megan, was born in Columbia, and their son, John Michael (“Gilly”), came along when the family was living in Danville, VA. Hank and Ermie loved to stay on the move and lived in a number of other places before landing in Chapel Hill, NC, in 1972. They settled into their “forever home” in Durham in 1992.
Hank was a man of varied skills and interests, and his working life reflected this versatility. After doing a variety of jobs in the early years, Hank became a programmer with IBM, retiring 28 years later from the corporation. In retirement, he continued to use his technological talents in part-time jobs that included stints at Duke Medical School, Durham Tech, and the Durham Herald-Sun.
Hank was passionate about his charitable activities, many of which were an extension of his strong Christian faith. He participated in numerous domestic and international outreach and disaster-relief efforts with the North Carolina Baptist Men’s Association and other groups. He also devoted his time and energy to social and political causes that included early childhood education, antiracism initiatives, helping the homeless, renewable energy and environmental concerns, and organic gardening. Hank was beloved “Opa” to his eight grandchildren. He nursed Ermie through several illnesses before her death in 2018 and continued with his long prayer list and regular Bible reading until the end, even participating in two weekly Bible studies via Zoom during the COVID pandemic.
Hank is survived by his sisters, Jean Macknee, Joan Abruzzese, and Victoria Riley and his niece Carol Wood Negron, who was as close as a sister; his children, Salem Macknee (Lee Howard), Megan Mazzocchi (Jay), and Gilly Macknee (Ramona Renfroe); his grandchildren, Maddie Howard, Seton Raynor (Aaron), Abby Howard (Tony Arias), Mary Clare Mazzocchi, Jeremy Macknee, Guthrie Howard, Eben Macknee, and Angelica (“Geli”) Macknee; and his great-grandson, Philip Raynor.
Hank will be buried next to Ermie at Oak Grove Cemetery in Mantachie, MS, with a memorial service to be held in the Triangle area at a later date.
McNeece-Morris Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice in honor of Hank’s humanitarian work.
