Lewis Glendale Dickey

Lewis Glendale Dickey, lifelong resident of Alamance County, passed away at Alamance Regional Medical Center the morning of June 20.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lacy Graton Dickey and Gladys Almyra Dickey, a sister, Alma Lee Dickey Bradsher, and grandson, Samuel Colby Ray.

He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Joyce Anderson Dickey, his siblings, Jerry Bland Dickey (Patsy), Albert Rigdon Dickey (Jennie), and Judy Dickey Garrison (Mack); his children, Ivan Glen Dickey (Edna), Michelle Dickey Burgess (Ronnie), and Michael Lee Dickey (Angie); his grandchildren, Chelsea Glen Dickey, Abby Scarlett Dickey (Charlie), Jamison Connor Ray (Sierra), Graham Michael Dickey, Landon Marzhan Dickey, Olivia Mei Dickey, Sandra Lena Blake (Randy), John Love Owen, Jr. (Lily), and Brandon Allen Blake (Allison); great-grandchildren, Zachary Owen Blake, Ben Love Owen, and Nicholas Allen Owen; great-great grandson, Logan Davis Blake.

The fourth of five children, Dickey was born March 5, 1939 and grew up on a tobacco farm in the Pleasant Grove community of northern Alamance County. He met Joyce in the first grade at Pleasant Grove School. As a child, Dickey enjoyed riding his bicycle around and generally engaging in mischief. He played basketball growing up and once memorably competed in a middle school talent contest as a ballerina, wearing red long johns and a tutu: a sight to behold.

Dickey loved to tell the story of the time he was struck by lightning at age 14 when he was hunting and entered a barn to wait out a storm. His rifle was touching a metal part of the barn when his body turned into a lightning rod.

Dickey graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in 1957. He went on to take classes at Elon College and eventually served his country in the National Guard.

Dickey was never bored, and boring. A true jack-of-all-trades, Dickey had a multitude of careers, all of which lasted until the next came along. Sometimes they overlapped and an exhaustive list of all the careers he was said to have would be impossible. He was a buyer for RJ Reynolds; a gold panner; a pizza delivery man for Just Pizza; a mobile home salesman; a watch repairmen; a basket maker; a teacher of silversmithing and jewelry making at Alamance Community College; a landscaper; an organic gardner; a rock crafter; a jewelry maker; a mailbox repairman; owner and operator of a small engine repair shop; and eventually, a professional television watcher at his home. Dickey was a free flowing mentor for any and all who cared to listen. Dickey owned Rock Crafters in downtown Graham for a number of years, and contributed to the foundation of Mebane Shrubbery.

He loved his wife, his family, children, and his winery, GlenMarie Winery, complete with a tasting room inside his own house.

In a testament to both his love for his wife and his eternal desire to learn new things, when Joyce voiced a desire to knit a sweater, he bought her two alpacas for her 70th birthday and began an Alpaca farm in his yard.

In his later years, his children equipped with Wikipedia, Dickey was proven right time and time again. He was the original internet.

Everyone is welcome at a viewing at Lowe Funeral Home, 2205 S. Church St., Burlington, June 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. A graveside service will take place Monday, June 22 at 10 a.m. at Long’s Chapel, 2364 NC-49, Burlington. A graveside visitation with the family will follow the burial.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the National Diabetes Foundation.