Jim Hynes, civic-minded Atrium board chair and Charlotte business leader, dies at age 84
Jim Hynes loved Charlotte more than anything.
The businessman and entrepreneur enjoyed driving people around town and bragging about the growth of the Queen City. “He was so proud of it,” his daughter Laurie Durden told The Charlotte Observer. “He said the things he loved was his family, Charlotte and the hospital.”
Hynes’ family and friends are now remembering his life of service. He died Monday afternoon at age 84, and had cancer, according to the family.
The Charlotte native was a former Atrium Health Board Chair and was on the Atrium Health Foundation board from 1984 to 2020.
He began as a volunteer on the original advisory board for Atrium predecessor Charlotte Memorial Hospital. Hynes later became vice chair of Atrium predecessor Carolinas HealthCare System from 1985 to 1999, then chair from 2000 to 2012.
Michael Tarwater, former CEO of Atrium Health and current board chair for the Leon Levine Foundation, said Hynes gave a lot of his time and talent to numerous causes in the community.
“If he committed to do something, he did it,” Tarwater said. “He made a lot of friends and a lot of personal sacrifices to do the right thing for the community. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Tarwater added that Hynes was “the quintessential servant leader.
“He was a rare, amazing, generous man,” he said.
’He was genuine and real’
Hynes also served for many years as chairman of the board of Hynes Sales Co., a family business founded in 1939, and was a director of Harris Teeter Supermarket, formerly Ruddick Corp. He spent time as a trustee for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and supported the Levine Children’s Hospital campaigns.
Real estate developer Smoky Bissell formed a bond with Hynes in the 1960s, through their experiences as officers in the U.S. Navy. Their kids were the same age and went to Charlotte Country Day School, where they both served on the school’s board of trustees.
“Jim has always given much more than he took out of the community,” Bissell said. “He was genuine and real to the community.”
Bissell and his wife, Margaret, honored Hynes before he died with a $5 million gift to establish the Jim Hynes Prostate Cancer Center of Excellence and Jim Hynes Endowed Chair in Prostate Cancer at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute.
Friend Mark Ethridge III was Hynes’ neighbor in south Charlotte for more than 25 years.
Hynes recruited Ethridge to join the Charlotte Country Day School board. During those years, he watched Hynes stay busy while playing a role in the growth of Atrium and the opening of Levine’s Children’s Hospital. He also said Hynes was one of the leaders who helped turn Charlotte to the major league city it is today.
“Atrium is the largest employer in Mecklenburg County and one of its most progressive institutions,” Ethridge said. “And in terms of its approach to what it does, its leadership and much else, Jim is responsible for a lot of that.”
Erskine Bowles, former White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton and former head of the University of North Carolina System, said Hynes was an extraordinary friend and became a great mentor when he moved to Charlotte.
“I think the community lost an exceptional strong and effective leader,” Bowles told The Charlotte Observer. “He did the same thing in every aspect of his career. If he was involved, you could count on the fact that something positive was going to come out of it.”
Hynes is survived by his wife Peggy; two daughters, Laurie Durden and her husband, Ned, of Charlotte, and Margaret Clark and her husband, Bill, of Wilmington; his sister, Mary Halter, of Scottsdale, Arizona.; and three grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Suzanne. She died in a Vespa scooter accident in Greece in 1985 at age 18.
Durden said people were grateful for her father’s mentorship and enthusiastic encouragement of their endeavors, according to letters Hynes received.
Hynes’ family said he enjoyed going to the mountains and the beach. Along with his wife, he had a love for exploring other countries, which began when his military service took him all over the world, including to Vietnam. He caught the “travel bug” and visited more than 80 countries.
“He was a wonderful father and grandfather, and instilled a love of travel and its awe,” Durden said. “He had an insatiable curiosity about the world that was contagious.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Jim Hynes, civic-minded Atrium board chair and Charlotte business leader, dies at age 84."
