enjoy making a difference. Knowing that you’ve done something that’s going to have a long life, it’s going to have an impact on the future generation. I have one child. She’s a sophomore at Appalachian State (University). That’s where I graduated from, that’s where my wife graduated from. And she did really well in school. And when she started looking at going to college, one of the things I told her, I said, let’s look at the North Carolina University system first. Yeah, I’m a little bit prejudiced, but I think North Carolina has the greatest university system in the nation. And I said let’s look there first. And then we’ll look in the private sector, and we’ll expand from there. But, you know, she was blessed, she had choices. And she chose Boone (Appalachian State), and I couldn’t have been more excited. And there was no stipulation on there that “that’s the only one that I would pay for,” nothing like that. But that’s what she chose. And my wife is an educator. She’s got 33 years in public education. And she works for the county school system. And my daughter, that’s what she’s interested in doing. And I think that’s a very noble profession. I’m more proud of the choices that she’s made. And to be honest with you, that’s what I almost did. I was going to teach math and coach baseball. And as a matter of fact, when I retired, a friend of the superintendent said, you know, there’s a pathway for lateral entry if you’re interested in doing that. And at that point in time in my life, I just couldn’t work that into my schedule. I still now try to play golf a couple or three days a week. So yeah, that I’ll try to work that into my schedule. And you can meet constituents and have conversations out on the golf course, too. RP: Absolutely, absolutely. But that’s kind of my background. My dad, I think my dad was really the most influential on me. He unfortunately passed away in 2004, and I really didn’t get into the political arena until 2016, as a county commissioner, and actually, you know one of the things unique about that was it was something that I had been thinking about doing as opposed to talking about doing, and the opportunity presented itself, and I took it. And actually, for the last year of my career as a police chief (in 2018), I was also a county commissioner. So, I was a police chief in Eden and a county commissioner. And I knew I was going to retire. I mean, that was never in question, because I shared that during my political stump speeches. I shared with them, I hope to get elected to county commissioner, but I’m real sure I’m going to retire in December. So, it was. It was fine. And I think that’s one of the things that’s really helped me, as I shared earlier, is that spending 30 years in working for a municipality. I was there as a county commissioner about five and a half years before I moved to the General Assembly, and then being in the Legislator Q&A: Rep. Reece Pyrtle One of the things I’ve often said is that every pancake’s got two sides. And I think it’s important to understand that although you may not agree with the different ideas, and outcomes that ought to take place, I think it’s important to understand where the other person is, where the other side’s coming from. continues on page 22 NCLM.ORG 21
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