Joseph Armstrong De Laine, Jr.

Charlotte, North Carolina

August 17, 1933 - December 10, 2025

Joseph A. De Laine, Jr., of Charlotte, NC, passed away peacefully on December 10, 2025. Born on August 17, 1933, in Blackville, SC, Jay (or Joe) was the oldest of three children born to the former Mattie Lee Belton and the Reverend Joseph A. De Laine, Sr.

Jay grew up in Summerton, SC, where he attended Scott’s Branch School. Because of the school’s poor educational facilities (which led to the filing of the Briggs v. Elliott lawsuit, the first federal challenge to public school segregation), he transferred to—and graduated from—Mather Academy in Camden, SC. He attended Charlotte’s Johnson C. Smith U. for two years, then transferred to Lincoln U. (Oxford, PA) where he earned a B.A. in Biology.

He was in Korea, serving as a U.S. Army Medic, when his father had to flee from his SC home to escape targeted harassment for his role in the filing of Briggs (the first of five cases covered by the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education verdict). After honorable discharge from the Army, Jay became employed in cancer research (Roswell Park; Sloan-Kettering). Identifying a path to better opportunities, he moved to the pharmaceutical industry (Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Hoffman-La Roche). At Hoffman-La Roche (Nutley, NJ), he earned professional certificates in Business Management, Marketing and Employee Development while building a distinguished professional career as a corporate executive.

At a relatively early age, Jay retired from the pharmaceutical world to pursue his longtime dream of entrepreneurship. He moved to Charlotte and opened an upscale specialty boutique. For several years, he fulfilled his dream of buying fine furnishings and art pieces from sources across the world and selling the treasures in his shop, Joseph’s Imports.

A very special human being, Jay was indeed “his brother’s keeper,” living his values through action. Following his parents’ forced relocation from South Carolina and his Army discharge, he helped his family purchase two different home steads over the period of a year and a half. A short time later, postponing his own personal gratification, he bought a house to provide his newly married brother BB with a place to live. He also supplied his sister Ophelia with a car.

Jay cared for others when they were most vulnerable, offering comfort and protection without hesitation. When his mother became an invalid, he closed his store and dedicated himself to her full-time care. Later, he tended to his brother with the same devotion and selfless love.

Those who knew him best loved him for his wit, candor, storytelling ability, and willingness to help others without expecting anything in return. He opened his home and his life to strangers, even political refugees from faraway lands and unfamiliar cultures, welcoming them with generosity and humanity—despite language and cultural barriers.

In his busy life, he found time for public service. When he lived in New Jersey, for eight years he served as a trustee for the New Jersey Youth Correctional System. In Charlotte, he was Chairman of the Charlotte Northwest Corridor Community Development Corporation for ten years. 

Jay was a founding member of the re-established and re-organized Briggs–De Laine–Pearson Foundation (BDPF). BDPF is a charitable organization in Summerton that works to memorialize the legacy of the Briggs plaintiffs and to continue to pursue their goal of better local public education. He remained an active member of the BDPF Board of Directors until his death, 22 years later.

This first-hand witness was perhaps the nation’s foremost expert on Briggs’ history and one of its most careful chroniclers. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the case and its impact on the civil rights movement which he generously and readily shared with both historians and lay people.

In recognition of his expertise, he was appointed (circa 2003) by President George W. Bush to the United States Presidential Commission for the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Celebration. In 2004, the United States Congress posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal to his father, Reverend Joseph A. De Laine, in recognition of his contributions (via his role in the Briggs case) to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court desegregation verdict for Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. The medal was presented to Jay as next of kin of Reverend Joseph A. De Laine.

A lifelong bachelor, Jay was preceded in death by his parents and his brother (Brumit, known as “BB”). The close family that he created for himself was characterized by love, honor, and friendship. He was anchored by his devoted sister Ophelia Gona (husband Amos), her children, Shantha Farris and (husband[DB1] [GU2] [GU3]  Sheldon Hirt) and Raj Gona, and her grandchild Kira Farris. Other extremely special family members who were always at his side include Cousin Larry Gaither (whom he considered his son), Cousin Marguirite De Laine who was like a sister, cousins David C. Belton and wife Alfreda whom he considered as a brother and sister-in-law, Craig De Laine, neighbors Frankie Barnes, and Dianne Wyche. Jay was a terrific brother, uncle, great uncle, godfather, cousin, and friend whose extended family included cousins, friends, and scores of additional individuals.

His wishes for no funeral or memorial service, and for burial of his ashes in Charlotte’s Oaklawn Cemetery will be respectfully honored. If you wish to help memorialize his life, you are encouraged to donate to his favorite charity: the Briggs-De Laine-Pearson Foundation (PO Box 155, Summerton SC 29148; https://briggsdelainepearsonfoundation.org/). Be sure to indicate that your donation goes to the Joseph De Laine Jr. fund. You can also honor Jay’s memory by Sharing a Memory or simply signing your name at https://www.roseborosmortuary.com/obituary/Joseph-DeLaineJr.

The De Laine Family have entrusted arrangements to Roseboro's Mortuary & Crematory.

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