Richard Whitefield Dabbs (1946 - 2022)

Born 1946 in Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 18 Dec 2022 at about age 76 in Mayesville Township, Sumter, South Carolina, United States

Biography

Richard was born in 1946. He was the son of James Dabbs and Edith Mitchell. He passed away in 2022.

• Richard Whitefield Dabbs passed away on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. He was 77 years old.

Dick "Dickie" grew up in the Salem Black River community at Dabbs Crossroads in his ancestral family home. He returned there in the 1970's to farm and lived there the rest of his life. In the early 2000's, he opened the Crossroads Workshop, where he made outdoor furniture and also carefully crafted custom furniture. Dick was very involved in his community. He was always a member of Brick Church (Salem Black River Presbyterian) and also attended Concord Presbyterian Church for many years, where he sang with the choir and led an adult Sunday school class. Dick was also a member of Mission to Men, a men's choral group that sang at nursing homes and retirement homes. Dick volunteered at the fire department and felt a close kinship to the farming community and the members of the Sportsman Hunting Club.

As a young man, Dick attended Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College). He received a master's degree from Emory University. He was in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant and a Green Beret and served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971. After returning from military service, he started work on a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, but decided that the academic life was not for him and returned to farm at his family home. Dick taught sociology at Central Carolina Technical College for almost 25 years.

Dick is survived by his wife, Barbara; his children, Sophie, Sam and Nathan; his three grandchildren, Zara, Eli and Jax; his sister, Dorothy; and numerous nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed.

Sources

• The Sumter ITEM ~ Jan 18,2023