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Politician, fervent booster of Yadkin County dies at 86
Warren Dinkins spent 35 years in service to county he loved
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Published: February 10, 2009
Warren "W.G." Dinkins established a reputation over his political career as a man who knew what he wanted and who wasn't afraid to fight for it if he thought it would advance his beloved Yadkin County.
Dinkins, 86, died on Sunday.
He was a building contractor for a number of years and served on a number of community boards. But it was Dinkins' more than 35-year career as a politician that earned him the nickname, "Mr. Republican of Yadkin County."
He served on the Yadkinville board of commissioners from 1973 to 1981, when he was elected mayor, a post he held for 10 years. He then served as a county commissioner from 1992 to 2000.
As a politician, Dinkins was straightforward, said Thomas Wooten, who served with Dinkins on the Yadkin County board of commissioners.
Education was important to Dinkins, and he cast two tie-breaking votes to bring a satellite campus of Surry Community College to Yadkin, Wooten said.
Widening U.S. 421 was another cause that Dinkins supported because he thought it would bring vitality to Northwest North Carolina, Wooten said.
In a speech before DOT officials, Dinkins sounded more like a preacher when he said: "How long? How long do we have to wait?"
Wooten said he believed that such speeches helped sway transportation officials to widen the road through Yadkin County.
Dinkins' causes in his public life were often supported with volunteer activities in his private life. He served as a Meals on Wheels volunteer for a number of years and was a tutor at Yadkinville Elementary School for 19 years.
Cecil Wood, who was county manager in Yadkin from 1995 to 2006, said that Dinkins was a fighter for issues that he believed in.
"He certainly wanted the younger generation coming along to have opportunities in Yadkin County," Wood said.
Mike Crouse, a retired principal of East Bend Elementary School and a Yadkin County commissioner from 1982 to 1994, said that of all the people that he worked with through the years, he believes that none loved the county more than Dinkins.
As a politician, Dinkins believed in serving all of his constituents and in giving 100 percent to the causes he believed in. Even as his health failed, he continued to set an example of service, Crouse said.
"I think he liked the challenge of it," he said. "I think he was one of those people who hoped he could make a difference."
His family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. today at Gentry Family Funeral Service in Yadkinville. A funeral service will be held at First Baptist Church of Yadkinville at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
■ Mary Giunca can be reached at 727-4089 or at mgiunca@wsjournal.com.
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