Cary History: Fred Bond
Cary, NC — Fred G. Bond was mayor of Cary from 1971 to 1983, during which time he oversaw significant expansion of the town. The foundations he put in place to accommodate population growth have shaped Cary into the desirable community it is today.
Cary History: Fred Bond
Fred Bond was born on January 1st, 1929 in Elbert County, Georgia and received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Georgia. He worked at the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation from 1952-1995 of which he became General Manager and Secretary Treasurer in 1968.
3 Term Mayor
Bond was appointed to the Cary Zoning Board of Adjustment in 1964, was elected to the Cary Town Council in 1965 and served as mayor pro-tem under Joe Veasey. His council colleagues unanimously elected him mayor in 1971.
In February 1975, Cary citizens voted to end mayoral selection by the town council in favor of election of the town as a whole. In the same referendum, voters also decided to end at-large election of all council members. Bond ran unopposed and was elected to his third term as mayor.
In 1983, after 12 years as Mayor of Cary, FredBond decided not to seek reelection.
Town Hall opening in 1975. (L-R) Harold Ritter, Ike Andrews, Fred Bond, Russell Secrest and Joe Veasey.
Bond’s Legacy
While in office, Bond was passionate about recreation and health care, pushing for a hospital in Western Wake County prior to the relocation of Rex Hospital.
During Fred Bond’s tenure as mayor, Cary grew from a town of 7,000 to 26,000 people. This influx was due largely to the relocation of IBM to the Research Triangle in 1965. Bond helped direct growth so Cary could accommodate new neighbors and still be a desirable place to live. While he was mayor, Cary revitalized the downtown area and built a new town hall and library.
Fred Bond worked to help Cary grow productively while still preserving Cary’s small town feel, which he enjoyed.
He continued to work full-time while serving as mayor. His daughter, Lisa, remembers picking him up from the airport after an international flight and driving him straight to a council meeting. He was a long time member of First United Methodist Church and once went over to a woman’s house and shoveled snow in her driveway after she called the house and said she couldn’t get out.
When another woman had a verbal altercation with a Cary police officer, the officer in question was fired and Bond wrote the woman a personal letter of apology.
His wife, Fellas Bond, said that her husband was remarkably good at getting two opposing factions to work together. He would say that in order to come to an agreement “both sides have to give a little.”
Bond passed away in 1997 at the age of 68 and was hailed as a “founding father” by the Cary News. Fred G. Bond Metro Park is one of the many examples of Cary’s high quality community and it is only fitting that it bears Mayor Bond’s name.
Bronze bust of Fred Bond, Cary Town Hall
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Story by Audrey Weinbrecht for CaryCitizen. Read more Cary History and Profiles.
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News on CaryCitizen is supported by Cary Visual Art, hosting their annual Art Ball on Saturday, November 23, 2013.
Audrey W., I apologize, I am not a social web person. But I just found this article. I want everyone to know how proud my mom and family are of you and the article you wrote. My daddy would and is so proud of not only you but your whole family including your dad as mayor. As well as your mom and sister. You wrote an awesome article and did an awesome job giving info very well. Should be a journalist.
Thank you Audrey from our whole family. Well written.
On another note, I still miss my father as my family does.
This is still an awesome town to live in. We are very proud to call ourselves born and raised here.
Again Thank you Audrey , Great job!
Lisa Bond
Thank you Audrey for such a nice article. Freddie is watching down from Heaven with a proud smile. Good job!
Thanks for a fantastic article, Audrey, about one of Cary’s larger-than-life figures from our not too distant past. And great photos, too!
My favorite Fred Bond story comes from Around and About Cary by Tom Byrd (illustrated by Jerry Miller):
“The [Cary High School marching] band had a tradition of marching triumphantly from downtown to the school when it returned from one of its many successful competitions. And members did not see any need to deviate from this tradition when they returned from the Richmond Tobacco Festival just because it was after midnight. When an aroused citizen called the Bond home, demanding to speak to the Mayor, Mrs. Bond explained that he wasn’t there. ‘Where is he,’ the caller asked? ‘Down there leading the parade,’ Mrs. Bond replied.”
Classic!
Nice article by the grand niece of Mayor Bond, and the daughter of our current Mayor. I really enjoy these “looks back” to our community’s history. Keep it up!