Deep Roots in Pharmacy

The Pike family legacy in pharmacy stretches over 100 years and across five generations

Story by Emma Ives | Photos provided by the Pike Family | Published May 27, 2025

“I wrote my dad after graduation about coming back to Concord, NC to manage his stores, and he said ‘No, I need a pharmacist,’” shares Jesse Pike Jr. (BSPharm ’71). This was a shock at the time to the recent 1967 Radio, TV, and Motion Pictures graduate. He immediately asked Dean Hagar if he could enroll in the UNC School of Pharmacy, to which Dean Hagar replied, “Your philosophy and psychology classes are not going to transfer.” So, Jesse Jr spent the next four semesters completing the pre-requisite classes to start year three of the five-year BS in Pharmacy program, taking his pharmacology exam on the same day his wife went into labor with Jefferson Pike Sr.

Jesse is a third-generation North Carolina pharmacist, with many pharmacists throughout his family tree.

Joseph William Pike “Joe Sr”
Jesse credits Joseph William Pike with starting the pharmacy legacy when he passed the Board of Pharmacy exam in 1904. In 1919, Joe Sr moved to Concord and bought an existing pharmacy, The Pearl Drug Company. He lived above the store in an apartment with his family: Joseph William Pike Jr., Jesse Miller Pike Sr., Billie Pike, and Nancy Pike. Out of all his children, three became pharmacists: Joseph William Pike Jr., Jesse Millie Pike Sr., and Nancy Pike (BSPharm ’36). In fact, Jesse credits Nancy with enrolling his father, Jesse Sr (BSPharm ’40), at the UNC School of Pharmacy. Billie, a nurse, went on to marry Herman O’Thompson (BSPharm’37), a professor at the School.

Jesse Miller Pike Sr. “Jesse Sr.”
Jesse Sr. and Nancy continued to manage the pharmacy after the death of their father, Joe Sr. in 1935. When World War II broke out, Jesse Sr. and Joseph Jr. left to fight with the US Navy. Nancy operated the store until she was married to John Michener Jr. (BSPharm ’37). Joe Sr.’s wife could no longer operate the store on her own, so she sold The Pearl Drug Company. Upon leaving the Navy, Jesse Sr. was unable to regain ownership of the store. Instead, he worked as the Chief Pharmacy Officer at O’Tens Veterans Hospital in Asheville and then ER Squib for the next seven years before buying property in Concord, NC. In 1954 Jesse Sr. established Pike’s Drug Store near the hospital and outpatient centers on Church Street in Concord. He expanded to several locations during his ownership. “I do not know how he did it,” says Jessie Jr. “My dad was unbelievable and always on the forefront. A member of every civic organization in town.” Jesse Sr. was elected President of the National Associations of Retail Druggists (precursor to the NCPA) and was a tenured member of the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

Jesse Miller Pike Jr. “Jesse Jr.”
Jesse Jr. worked at his father’s store upon graduating until 1977, when he was motivated to leave for another adventure. The original location of the store processed 400 prescriptions a day and keeping the medication records was quite difficult. Jesse Jr. wanted to computerize this process in a cost-effective way at a time when this was not popular. “Dad and I had a ball working on something that took me out of the business,” he explains. Jesse Jr. experimented with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston on a pilot to automate the pharmacy. The software was then bought by the National Data Corporation (NDC), who offered Jesse Jr. a job in Atlanta, GA. “Dad was very supportive of me working on this project,” he says. During Jesse Jr.’s time away, Jesse Sr. was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and due to his health, had to sell all six of his stores. In 1980, Jesse Jr. returned to community pharmacy and, with his father’s help, opened Pike’s Pharmacy in Charlotte, NC in 1982, where it has served the community ever since.

Jennifer Keller
Jennifer Keller, now Pharmacist Owner of Pike’s Pharmacy, began working for Jesse Jr., her father, at the age of 12 for $0.50 an hour at the cash register. She originally never thought of becoming a pharmacist like her dad. “The perspective of a young adult at the pharmacy is entirely different than the perspective of a practicing pharmacist,” says Jennifer. However, after helping her dad manage the front of the store, she decided to go back to school. She shares that her experience at the pharmacy inspired her and equipped her with knowledge and confidence, allowing her to focus on the important information during pharmacy school. She earned her degree from Wingate University School of Pharmacy in 2008. She pursued a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist certification (BCPS), becoming one of a few community pharmacists with that distinction. Jennifer also precepts for UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy students at her independent community pharmacy, a role she loves. “It is important because so many times [students] walk in the store with an idea of what community pharmacy is, and they quickly realize it is not what they thought at all,” she shares. “I choose to practice independent community pharmacy because it’s where I find a richness and fulfillment I don’t feel elsewhere.”

Jefferson Pike Jr.
Upon completion of his PharmD degree from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2022, Jefferson Jr. became a fifth-generation pharmacist in the longstanding history of the Pike family. His father, Jefferson Pike Sr, pursued a career in cybersecurity but Jefferson Jr. decided to take after his grandfather, Jesse Jr., and build a career in pharmacy. He leverages his PharmD degree as a Life Science Consultant at L.E.K. Consulting.

The Pike family legacy in pharmacy now stretches over 100 years and across five generations. From Joseph William Pike Sr. purchasing The Pearl Drug Company in 1919 to Jesse Miller Pike Jr. and Jennifer Keller continuing the legacy with Pike’s Pharmacy, and everyone in between, it stands as a testament to dedication, resilience, and innovation in community health care. Through all this, each generation has built upon the last—facing challenges, embracing change, and shaping the future of pharmacy.