The Garland community is reeling following the passing of a local store owner.
Joshua Bartlett, whose parents, Randy and Melva, own the Piggly Wiggly store in Garland, unexpectedly died in a vehicle crash Monday, July 20.
According to local N.C. Highway Patrol officials, at approximately 5:01 p.m. on July 20, Bartlett was driving east on N.C. 210, from Bladen County, in his 2009 Ford F-150 when he was involved in a collision with a dump truck.
“The dump truck was traveling west on N.C. 210, and the Ford F-150 was traveling east.” state Highway Patrolman Sgt. J. Freeman explained. “The F-150 crossed the center line, and the dump truck ran off the road to the right to avoid the vehicle, and the F-150 struck the dump truck. The dump truck came to rest in a ditch on the westbound shoulder, and the F-150 came to an uncontrolled rest in the roadway. So basically, Mr. Bartlett’s vehicle crossed the center line, and the dump truck tried to avoid it, and Mr. Bartlett’s truck hit the dump truck.”
It is undetermined, the trooper said, as to what led to Bartlett veering over the center line in the roadway, but an investigation is still ongoing. Both drivers were taken by Bladen County EMS to Bladen County Hospital in Elizabethtown, where Bartlett died.
When the news broke about the 42-year-old Bartlett’s death , the first feeling running through the Garland community that knew him was shock. A few days later, the feeling remained.
“He was a very well-respected man.” said Garland resident Michelle Britt. “He was very kind, sweet, and he’d help anybody he could. He was a man of very few words, but when he got to know you, he would talk to you and make you laugh. Everybody in the community is still in shock. We can’t wrap our heads around i, because when you think of Piggly Wiggly, you think of Josh, you think of Randy.”
Britt is an employee at the store and worked under the younger Bartlett, as he had recently begun to transition more into the owner role, taking on that responsibility from his parents.
“It meant a lot,” she described the experience. “I looked at him like an older brother. If I was sad, he always knew how to talk to me. He was very sweet and respectful and had a smile on his face. All the customers loved him, and if you had a problem, he would always lend a shoulder to listen. He had a big personality in the community in general.”
That seemed to be the consensus of most people who knew Joshua Bartlett or had spoken to him.
“He would come into our store (Han-Dee Hugo’s), mostly every day,” Miranda Glover recalled. “He was a very nice man and a caring and loving person, especially towards his family and people he knew in the community. He did a lot for the Piggly Wiggly. He did pretty good over there, and he will be very missed. Everybody’s upset. He was very well-known in the community, and he’s done a lot for the community. He and his family both have done a lot, so it was very sad.”
Garland Mayor Ralph Smith Jr. called the situation “tragic,” stressing that the town’s thoughts and prayers are with the Bartlett family.
“He will truly be missed,” Smith emphasized. “He passed way too young.”
The funeral and burial for Joshua Bartlett was held Thursday at 4 p.m. at Serenity Baptist Church.
“He was a man of a few words, but you always knew where he stood,” Garland Commissioner Austin Brown said. “I can’t help but think about what his family is going through at this time. When you think of the Piggly Wiggly, you think of his father Randy, for the many years that he provided that service for the community of Garland.”
Brown remembered growing up watching Joshua go into the Piggly Wiggly every day, stocking shelves, working on the cash register, and, where he was recently, taking on the role of ownership.
“That is a tough void to fill, if it ever will be filled,” Brown added. “We’re continuing to remember that family in our prayers. We thank the Bartletts for sharing Josh with us for all these years. We’ll continue to think about Nicole, and the Garland community will continue to support her.”