From Humble Beginnings To A Distinguished Legal Career, Jimmy Narron Reflects On 50 Years

The longtime attorney says the biggest cases weren’t always the most meaningful. Often, it was helping a widow keep the family farm that mattered most.

SMITHFIELD – For more than 50 years, Smithfield attorney James W. “Jimmy” Narron has helped families protect their businesses, preserve their farms and pass what they worked a lifetime to build on to the next generation.

Along the way, he became one of North Carolina’s most respected estate and tax attorneys, handling complex legal matters, teaching other lawyers and earning some of the state’s highest professional honors.

But for Narron, now 78, the most meaningful cases weren’t necessarily the biggest or most profitable.

They were the ones where he could help a widow keep the family farm or make sure children and grandchildren could hold on to land their families had owned for generations.

“The ones that stand out are not the big cases that required all that work and generated all that money,” Narron recalled. “It was the little guys who needed help.”

“A lawyer can really help people. It is really satisfying. It’s better than being a preacher, to tell the truth,” he added jokingly.

Now, after a legal career spanning more than five decades, Narron is retiring.

A retirement reception honoring him will be held Thursday, November 5, at the Johnston County Courthouse in Smithfield, marking the end of a career that began in the same town on September 10, 1975.

For Narron, it has been quite a journey from a Johnston County farm without running water to a law practice that earned him recognition across North Carolina and beyond.

Humble Beginnings On A Johnston County Farm

Narron was born in Washington, D.C., where his father, Wiley Narron, was practicing law after World War II.

In 1950, when Jimmy was 2 years old, the family moved to Johnston County and settled on a farm off Brogden Road.

His grandfather had purchased the farm in 1943. At the time, it consisted of about 520 acres with a tobacco allotment of approximately 4½ acres. Narron said his grandfather paid less than $20,000 for the property.

The family home was modest.

There was no running water, a single light hung from the ceiling, and the family relied on a fireplace and wood stove for heat.

“There was no running water until I was 7,” Narron recalled. “I pumped water so Mom could wash dishes after supper.”

The farm was more than a place to live. It was where Narron learned the value of hard work, something that would follow him throughout his legal career.

His father established a law practice in Smithfield in 1953, and Narron grew up around both the farm and the legal profession.

He attended Smithfield Elementary School and Smithfield High School before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1970.

Following college, Narron served as a line officer in the United States Navy from 1970 to 1973. He later remained in the Naval Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant in 1992.

After completing his active military service, he enrolled at Wake Forest University School of Law.

His father died in 1973 while Narron was attending law school.

Narron graduated from Wake Forest in 1975, earning his law degree with honors. He later returned to school to earn a master’s degree in taxation from New York University in 1983.

He had not always been certain he would become an attorney.

“No, I sure didn’t,” Narron said when asked whether he imagined spending his career practicing law. “I didn’t know what I would do.”

But after law school, he returned to Smithfield, determined to build a practice in the community where he grew up.

A Difficult Start

Narron remembers the exact day his legal career began.

“I was sworn in September 10, 1975, and began practicing that afternoon,” he recalled.

But building a successful law practice proved much harder than earning his law degree.

His father had died two years earlier, leaving Narron to rebuild a practice without the benefit of having his father alongside him.

During his first calendar year practicing law, Narron said his practice brought in just $3,800 in gross receipts, before expenses.

“It was tough. There were lots of lawyers in Smithfield,” he recalled.

Money was so tight he couldn’t afford to hire a secretary. His mother helped with the office, and he relied on money left over from his Navy service to pay his bills.

Narron credits several established Smithfield attorneys with helping him survive those early years.

“Bob Spence was particularly nice to me and gave me a lot of business. Also Austin Stevens and Yates Dobson,” he recalled. “Without them I would not have survived financially.”

Spence, now a longtime Smithfield attorney himself, remembers those difficult beginnings.

The two grew up together in Johnston County and first met through Boy Scouts. Both returned home in 1975 to begin their legal careers.

Spence said he and Narron initially struggled to establish their practices.

In 1976, after Spence’s father returned to Smithfield, the family law practice became involved in complex litigation that eventually reached federal court.

Spence’s father brought Narron into the case to represent another party whose interests were closely aligned with their clients.

“Dad had the experience in court. Jimmy is an excellent student and could research the law and appear with him,” Spence recalled.

The case provided Narron with substantial legal work at a time when he badly needed it.

“It was a substantial case in multiple areas which in effect booked a lot of time for Jimmy,” Spence said. “Just as important, he was paid.”

Spence said Narron possessed qualities that would serve him well throughout his career.

“He is an excellent student and more important than that, he is not afraid to invest the time necessary to understand the law in an unfamiliar situation,” Spence said.

Those early struggles eventually gave way to a growing law practice.

In 1979, Narron joined attorney Jack O’Hale in practice. Two years later, attorney Hampton Whittington joined them, forming Narron, O’Hale & Whittington, P.A.

Whittington had known Narron since 1979, when Whittington began working as an assistant district attorney under John Twisdale.

“Jimmy, Jack O’Hale and I started practicing law together as Narron, O’Hale & Whittington, P.A., in September 1981, after I left the D.A.’s office,” Whittington recalled.

The practice continued to grow over the years, eventually becoming Narron Wenzel, P.A., with offices in Smithfield, Raleigh and Benson.

Helping Families Keep Their Farms

Over the decades, Narron developed a reputation for his knowledge of estate planning, tax law, trusts and business matters.

His practice included complicated tax cases, substantial business transactions and legal matters involving millions of dollars.

But when asked what he remembers most about his career, Narron doesn’t talk first about the biggest cases.

Instead, he remembers the people.

“I got to do a lot of work for people, widowed women who needed to save the farm after their husband died,” he said. “I handled a lot of interesting tax cases.”

Estate planning, he explained, was especially important during years when federal estate taxes could create financial hardships for farmers and small business owners.

“Estate planning took a lot of tax expertise to get the farm to the kids and not having to sell it to pay estate taxes,” Narron said.

Then he offered a statement that says much about what he considers his greatest professional accomplishment.

“I never lost a single farm to estate taxes in my career.”

For Narron, helping families preserve property and businesses was personal.

His father had represented some of the same families before him, and those professional relationships continued through the generations.

“My dad had represented their parents, I represented their children and now their grandchildren,” he recalled.

“That is the most rewarding. That is what you go home and tell your wife at night.”

Narron said the personal satisfaction he received from helping those families was greater than the recognition that came from handling major legal matters.

“We did some really serious $100 million stuff,” he said. “It is satisfying professionally, but the personal satisfaction came from helping family businesses and families.”

Sometimes, the appreciation came in simple ways.

“They would bring you a ham at Christmas. That meant something.”

Looking back, Narron said the relationship between an attorney and client was about much more than completing legal documents or collecting a fee.

“It was a people practice,” he said. “I didn’t like my clients, I loved them.”

“I loved these people. By and large, all my clients knew I was going to take care of them. It was not about money. It was a satisfying personal experience. I loved every minute of it.”

Respected Across North Carolina

While Narron’s roots remained firmly planted in Johnston County, his legal career extended far beyond Smithfield.

His decision to leave his practice temporarily to attend New York University and earn an advanced degree in taxation helped establish him as an authority in a highly specialized area of law.

Spence said that decision demonstrated Narron’s commitment to improving his legal knowledge.

“He had the courage to close his practice for much of a year and obtain a master’s in tax in New York City,” Spence recalled.

After returning to North Carolina, Narron became increasingly involved in teaching other lawyers about estate planning and tax law.

He served on the faculty at Campbell University School of Law and taught in continuing legal education programs for attorneys and financial professionals.

Over the years, he spoke at legal conferences and seminars in cities across the country, including New York, Miami, Chicago and locations in Texas and California.

He also made presentations to the Internal Revenue Service.

Jason W. Wenzel, managing partner of Narron Wenzel, P.A., said Narron instilled in his colleagues the importance of studying the law, understanding its history and continually seeking knowledge.

Wenzel said Narron taught younger attorneys to look beyond the immediate legal question and understand the background of a client, the history of a statute and the circumstances surrounding a dispute.

“To read, learn, and lead every day,” Wenzel said, describing the example Narron set for others.

Wenzel also recalled a story Narron once shared about a school assignment requiring him to collect 50 leaves from local trees and identify them.

Narron didn’t stop at 50.

Instead, he collected 124 leaves, stopping only after an exhaustive search because he couldn’t find any more.

“Too many individuals go through life only doing the bare minimum and miss the joy found in the journey and knowledge to be gained,” Wenzel said.

Narron estimates he prepared more than 100 legal papers during his career.

His professional biography documents legal publications and presentations spanning more than four decades, including work published as recently as January 2025.

He became a board-certified specialist in estate planning and probate law in 1987 and was elected a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American College of Tax Counsel.

Narron also served as vice president of the North Carolina Bar Association and as a councilor of the North Carolina State Bar.

His professional honors include recognition by Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers and Business North Carolina.

In 2022, he received the North Carolina State Bar’s John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award, recognizing outstanding service to the legal profession.

Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Thomas Lock has known Narron since 1981, shortly after Lock graduated from law school.

“As long as I can remember, Jim Narron has been regarded as one of the Deans of the Bar,” Lock said.

Lock remembers his first impression of Narron, who was then a young attorney.

“Even though he was barely 30 years old then, he carried himself as if he were a crusty old law professor,” Lock recalled.

“But I quickly learned that Jim is brilliant and kind, and he possesses a wicked dry wit.”

Lock said Narron’s influence on the legal profession extended well beyond Johnston County.

“Johnston County is blessed to have been served by one of the foremost estate and tax lawyers in the entire state of North Carolina.”

A Lawyer’s Lawyer

Those who practiced alongside Narron for decades say his reputation was built on more than his knowledge of the law.

Whittington, his longtime partner, believes the values Narron learned from his parents played an important role in the kind of attorney he became.

“As my mother would have said, ‘his raisings,'” Whittington said when asked what made Narron such a respected attorney.

He described Narron’s parents as honest, hardworking and fair-minded people who lived and worked on their farm in the Brogden community.

“The values instilled in him by his parents are still there and have been for all the years that I have known him,” Whittington said.

Whittington said Narron became the kind of attorney other lawyers would turn to when they needed advice on difficult legal matters.

“Most attorneys, including me, who know Jimmy, would describe him as a ‘lawyer’s lawyer,'” Whittington said.

“He is a lawyer who other lawyers will come to for advice on how to handle legal matters in which they are involved because they know of his vast legal knowledge and experience, his honesty and integrity and his willingness to help any other lawyer if he can.”

O’Hale, who practiced with Narron for 39 years, offered similar praise.

“I had the privilege of practicing law for 39 years with James Narron and Hampton Whittington,” O’Hale said. “James Narron is a terrific lawyer and is a credit to the legal profession and the Johnston County bar. Congratulations Jimmy!”

Wenzel said Narron’s treatment of others is what stands out most to him after years of working together.

“He’s a gentleman first and foremost,” Wenzel said. “In all aspects of his life, from lawyering, negotiating business deals, or his numerous philanthropic pursuits, he treats everyone with kindness and respect.”

Wenzel said Narron also taught him to hold himself to high professional standards.

“To strive for greatness. If you are going to be a lawyer, be the best lawyer you can be,” Wenzel said.

Like Whittington, Wenzel described Narron as an attorney whose experience and judgment were regularly sought by others in the profession.

“He is the consummate lawyer’s lawyer,” Wenzel said, recalling the countless times other attorneys called Narron seeking advice.

Spence, whose friendship with Narron dates back to their childhood, said his longtime friend has been an example for younger attorneys.

“Jimmy has walked this walk and inspired lawyers within and beyond our area,” Spence said.

“As a young man who grew up here in Johnston County with Jimmy, I can truly say he has made us proud. He has made all the lawyers of our area so very proud.”

Never Forgetting His Roots

Despite his professional success, Narron never left behind the farm where he grew up.

Over the years, he purchased adjoining property, expanding the original farm from approximately 520 acres to nearly 2,000 acres.

The property remains an important part of his life. He raises registered South Devon cattle and manages pine timber.

Whittington said anyone who has attended a social or charitable event at Narron’s farm has probably seen him wearing something other than a business suit.

“90% of the time if you attend any event, social or charitable, at Jimmy’s farm (and there have been many in the last almost 50 years), Jimmy will be wearing his overalls,” Whittington said.

“I think he wants to make sure that people understand that he has not outgrown his ‘raisings.'”

Narron has also devoted considerable time to civic and charitable organizations.

He served as chairman of the North Carolina Community Foundation’s board of directors, as a trustee of Johnston Community College and as a member of the board of directors of the Public Library of Smithfield and Johnston County.

His community involvement has also included service with Campbell University, the North Carolina Symphony Foundation, the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation and historic preservation organizations.

Wenzel said Narron’s commitment to community service is another example of the lessons he passed along to the attorneys around him.

“Seek out opportunities to advance humanity,” Wenzel said. “Citizenship is a blessing that must be cultivated by daily actions, work ethic, and civic involvement.”

In 2006, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Smithfield-Selma Chamber of Commerce.

Most recently, in June 2025, Narron was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Gov. Josh Stein, one of North Carolina’s prestigious civilian honors.

Whittington said Narron’s community involvement has been nearly as extensive as his work in the courtroom and law office.

“As for the Johnston County community, you would have a difficult time finding a community board or service of which Jimmy has not been a member, board of director, officer and/or financial contributor,” Whittington said.

Changing Times And Long Workdays

Narron has witnessed dramatic changes in the legal profession since 1975.

When he began practicing law, lengthy legal documents were typed using carbon paper. Making corrections could mean retyping entire pages.

“Back when I started, we were using carbon paper in a typewriter,” Narron recalled.

Today, computers have transformed much of that work.

He credits Amy Honeycutt, who has worked as his paralegal for 38 years, with helping him navigate those changes and keeping his practice running smoothly.

“She can do in 30 minutes what it used to take all day to do,” Narron said, recalling the time required to prepare 30- or 40-page agreements on a typewriter.

Technology, including artificial intelligence, is continuing to change the profession, he said.

But one thing that never changed was the amount of work Narron believed was necessary to succeed.

For many years, his workday began long before most people were awake.

Narron recalled a cafe across from the Johnston County Courthouse that opened at 4:30 a.m. He was a regular customer, stopping for breakfast before arriving at his law office around 5 a.m.

By 8:30 a.m., when the phones began ringing and clients started arriving, he had already been working for several hours.

“I was at work six to seven days a week,” he recalled.

“It is a lot harder profession than people realize. You can’t do it in eight hours a day.”

There were years of continuing legal education classes, teaching assignments and evening work, all while maintaining a busy practice in Smithfield.

“I had nothing, but it’s built up now,” Narron said. “It wasn’t all there. I built it one case at a time.”

Time To Slow Down

Narron began gradually reducing his personal law practice in 2024.

He said the decision to retire was not an easy one, but he recognized that the time had come to step away from the demanding schedule he had maintained for decades.

“I wasn’t getting any younger,” he said. “The firm was getting bigger. I got to feeling I wasn’t being as productive as I had been when I was 40.”

At 78, Narron said he is ready to slow down, although anyone who knows his work habits might question whether he understands the meaning of retirement.

Among the things he will miss most are his longtime employees, fellow attorneys and clients.

He specifically mentioned Honeycutt and Sherri Matthews, who have worked with him for many years.

“I will miss Amy and Sherri Matthews,” Narron said.

He will also miss the everyday conversations with clients, many of whom became longtime friends.

It wasn’t always about legal matters.

Sometimes the conversations were about their children, their grandchildren or how big a fish they caught during a trip to the beach.

Those relationships, he said, made practicing law enjoyable.

“It’s been fun. It’s been quite a ride.”

Although Narron is retiring from his personal practice, the law firm he helped build will continue serving clients.

Back To The Farm

Retirement will give Narron more time to enjoy the property where his life in Johnston County began more than seven decades ago.

He hopes to spend more time working on his tractor and bulldozer, tending to the farm and enjoying the outdoors.

He also plans to travel more with his wife, Julia.

The couple were college sweethearts and have been married for more than 30 years.

Their son, Wiley, works for Grifols and lives in Smithfield.

Narron said he and Julia recently returned from a trip to Wales and plan to visit friends in London around Thanksgiving.

He has also taken time to preserve part of his family’s history, recently publishing a book about his uncle, Hardy Narron, who served as a pilot during World War II.

For someone who has spent much of his life working six or seven days a week, retirement will undoubtedly be an adjustment.

But after more than half a century helping families protect their farms, businesses and estates, Narron says he is grateful for the opportunities he has had and the people who have been part of his life.

He has a message for the clients who placed their trust in him throughout those years.

“Thank you for your loyalty and good wishes and for all the blessings over the 50 years,” Narron said.

As he prepares to close this chapter of his legal career, Narron said he has few regrets.

“I am a really lucky guy,” he reflected. “I have a great kid, and I’m married to a wonderful woman.”

And after more than 50 years of practicing law in Smithfield, helping families keep their farms and building a career one case at a time, Narron is looking forward to spending more time on the very land where his own story began.