01/19/2026
Finkelstein’s wishes to express our condolences to the family. He was a true legend for our area. Rest in peace.
OBITUARY
Harold Kenneth “HK” Edgerton
February 18, 1948 – January 18, 2026
Harold Kenneth Edgerton “HK,” 77, went to be with his Lord and Savior and his family and Southern heroes and family on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at the Asheville Veterans Administration Medical Center in Asheville, NC.
He was born in Asheville, NC on February 18, 1948, to Roland Roger Edgerton and Anna B. Edgerton.
Mr. Edgerton is survived by his brothers, Rashad Hasan of Stone Mountain, Georgie, Terry Lee Edgerton and sister Obra Elaine Hall and “Favorite Niece” Danielle Hall, Niece Shykita Hill, Nephews Corey Edgerton and Darius Edgerton, and a host of Great Nieces and Nephews of Asheville, North Carolina.
Mr. Edgerton graduated Asheville High School in 1967 and served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam as Signal Corp Instructor at Fort Monmouth, NJ 1969-1972.
He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1976 with a B.S. While in college, he was Chairman of the Board of the United Way Agency that was responsible for running the Sabathani Community Center in south Minneapolis. He founded the University of Minnesota Black Student Center and served on the Student Regent Board of Directors.
He served as an intern for the Green Giant Company, Customer Service Engineer for International Business Machines (IBM), and later he and his brother Terry Lee owned and operated Edgerton and Edgerton Office Products in Fullerton, California from 1981-1989. He later consulted with APAC, a Fortune 500 company.
He returned to Asheville to serve his hometown in various roles after his retirement including serving as Chairman of the Program Planning and Implementation Committee for the Asheville-Buncombe County Drug Commission, first as Vice President and later as President of the Asheville Branch of the NAACP and conducted a bid for Mayor of the City of Asheville. He received the Citizen of the Year Award.
He was a supporter and leader of youth sports and education, including being a volunteer and founder of the Boys and Girls Golf Team at Shiloh Community Center in Asheville and volunteer coach at Oakley Middle School for girl’s and boys’ basketball. He was a teacher’s aide at Ira B. Jones Elementary School.
He was best known for his Southern civil rights activism. He saw the people of the South being discriminated against and he fought vigorously to support them. He frequently appeared in the news and was featured in an episode of Penn and Teller. He gained international recognition during his Historical March Across Dixie which began in Asheville in 2002 at the now-removed Asheville, NC Vance Monument, and culminated January 26, 2003 in Austin, TX. The March brought attention to the decision by then Governor George W. Bush to remove historic plaques from the Texas Supreme Court Building by marching donned in the uniform of a Confederate Soldier carrying the Confederate Battle Flag.
He was a plaintiff in several lawsuits including against the U.S. Army to prevent the removal of the Reconciliation Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. He authored an Open Letter and Report on his activities for two decades and was a frequent public speaker on Southern History and served as an expert witness in two lawsuits.
He was widely acclaimed for his efforts and received the Key to the City of Carthage, Texas and the Key to the City of Toccoa, Georgia, the Horace L. Hunley Award from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Gen. Robert E. Lee Medal from The Virginia Division, SCV, the Jefferson Davis Medal from the Texas Division, UDC, SC Division SCV, Lifetime Achievement Award, North Carolina Order of Confederate Rose, John F. Harris Award, Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans and others.
He was a member of numerous organizations including Chairman Board of Advisors Emeritus Southern Legal Resource Center, Save Southern Heritage Florida, Founder, Veterans Defending Arlington, Honorary Scots of Austin, Honorary Life Member North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia Orders of the Confederate Rose, Honorary Life Member Jackson Rangers Camp 1917 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Associate Member Abner Baker Chapter 2614 United Daughters of the Confederacy, Honorary Member of Augusta Jane Evans Wilson, Chapter 2640 UDC, and the Judah P. Benjamin Camp 2210, SCV, Honorary Life Member, Longstreet Zollicoffer Camp 87 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Honorary Member Simonton-Wilcox Camp 257 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Honorary Life Member, Zebulon Baird Vance Camp 15, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Honorary Member Maria Baker Lemmon, TN OCR #25, Honorary Life Member, Forest Orphans Camp 1744, Sons of Confederate Veterans Honorary, Camp Commander, Granbury, Texas Brigade Camp 1479 Sons of Confederate Veterans, and Honorary Life Member Bradford Rose Camp 1638 Sons of Confederate Veterans.
He passed away peacefully in his sleep after a prolonged illness arising from the COVID vaccine.
Final arrangements will be announced in the future and planning is underway. For more information visit: https://forms.gle/XE3627EHgc2xZNF76
