Dewey Albert Lawrence

Dewey Albert Lawrence, 91, passed away peacefully at his home at 5:37 a.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, surrounded by the love of his family.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, August 22, 2026, at Wilkerson Funeral Home with Pastor Ronnie Warner officiating. Burial will follow in Dan River Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Wilkerson Funeral Home on Saturday, from 12:30 – 1:45 PM and other times at the home.

A man whose life was defined by faith, family, hard work, strength, music, and an extraordinary ability to make something useful with his own two hands, Dewey leaves behind a legacy that cannot be measured simply in years, but in the lives he shaped and the people he loved.

Born March 9, 1935, Dewey was the son of the late John and Mary Lawrence. He came from a generation that understood the value of hard work, keeping your word, taking care of your family, and lending a hand when someone needed one. Those were not simply values Dewey believed in they were the way he lived his life.

At the center of Dewey’s story was the love of his life, his late wife, Lorene, with whom he shared an extraordinary 70 years of marriage. Together, they built far more than a home. They built a family, a lifetime of memories, and a legacy of love that will continue through their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren for generations to come.

Dewey spent the majority of his career working in supervision before retiring from Fieldcrest Mills. But retirement was never going to mean sitting still for a man like Dewey. Instead, he went back to school and earned a degree in small engine repair, turning his natural mechanical ability and love of working with his hands into another chapter of his life.

For approximately the next 30 years, people throughout the Ruffin community and surrounding area knew they could bring Dewey a lawn mower, chainsaw, or small engine that needed fixing. If something could be repaired, there was a good chance Dewey could figure out how to do it.

His hands told the story of his life.

They worked. They built. They repaired. They cut wood. They provided for his family and helped his neighbors. And those same strong, hardworking hands could pick the strings of his beloved Martin guitar.

Music was another thread woven throughout Dewey’s life. He loved bluegrass and traditional American country music, and throughout his life he enjoyed playing his Martin guitar. For a time, he even played in a bluegrass band, something that perfectly suited a man who simply loved to pick. Whether he was listening to the music he loved or making it himself, bluegrass and country music spoke to something in him—the stories, the simplicity, the faith, the heart, and the sound of home.

His guitar was yet another example of the remarkable talent in those hands. The same hands that could take apart an engine and put it back together, sharpen a chainsaw, work a long day, or split a pile of wood could settle around a Martin guitar and make music.

Even near the end of his life, when asked what he would most like to be doing if he could choose anything, Dewey’s answer was wonderfully and unmistakably him: cutting and splitting wood. It was one of his favorite things to do. There was something about hard work, being outdoors, and seeing the results of his own labor that brought him genuine happiness.

Dewey also had a spirit that refused to grow old.

After Lorene passed away, his road-legal side-by-side became both transportation and a little bit of freedom. If there was a road he was legally allowed to travel, there was a good chance Dewey might eventually find his way down it. People throughout the community became accustomed to seeing him out and about, enjoying the open air and going wherever that side-by-side could carry him.

Many of those trips, however, had a destination that mattered.

Dewey was strong, independent, resourceful, immensely talented, and incredibly hardworking. Beneath that toughness was a man with a genuinely good heart whose actions often spoke his love more loudly than words ever could.

Most importantly, Dewey loved his Lord and Savior. His faith in God was woven throughout his life and remained with him through its joys, hardships, tremendous losses, and ultimately his journey home. His family finds peace in knowing that the faith Dewey carried throughout this life carried him all the way home.

He is survived by his children, Vanessa Brown, Duane Lawrence (Karen), Tammie Stophel (Chuck), Ricky Lawrence; grandchildren, Melissa Tillman (Greg); Tara Ferrell (Makiyo), Kyle Lawrence, Justin Brown (Kelly), Amber Kernodle (Chad), and Bridget Smith (Brandon); Great Grandchildren, Dylan, Easton, Hadley, Abby, Henry, Elizabeth, Henry, Aleece, Benjamin, and Hailey; brother, Elmer Lawrence (Bonnie); sister, Edrie Strader (Aubrey).

Memorial contributions may be made to Ancora Compassionate Care, P.O. Box 281, Wentworth, NC 27375.