Harmon Broughton was reared in Garner, where he helped his 1936 Garner High School basketball team to the state Class B championship game. At Barton, Broughton was a four-year starting center and the leading scorer for the Bulldogs’ basketball team. He earned All-Conference honors and was the 1939 Kiwanis Male Athlete of the Year.

After graduation, he taught at Selma High School and directed the school’s football team to a six-player state title. He entered the Navy in 1942 and married Martha Nelson (Class of ’39) at the University of Princeton while attending officer training school. He coached basketball at the U.S. Naval Training Center, then ran Broughton’s Furniture and Appliance Center in Rocky Mount for 35 years.

He was highly involved in community service, serving in numerous high-ranking positions with the YMCA, Rotary Club and Englewood Methodist Church before retiring in 1988. Broughton has proclaimed induction into the Hall of Fame the proudest moment of his life. He and his late wife are the parents of two sons, Warren and Steve.