James (Jim) Russell Dickens

ROCKY MOUNT – James “Jim” Russell Dickens, Sr., age 88, went to his heavenly home on Friday, August 18, 2017. Jim was born on March 13, 1929 in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina into a family of mill workers. His parents were the late Cleveland Shepard and Catherine Blythe Dickens. He was the first in his family to attend college, and he did so at his beloved UNC Chapel Hill, where he received a BS in Business. He served in the US Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1950s. It was while he was stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, that he met the love of his life and mother of his children, Alice. After marrying Alice in 1953, he began a career with National Cash Register Company which took him first to Raleigh and then to Rocky Mount in 1958. In 1968 he co-founded Printed Paper Products, and then in 1978 founded Jim Dickens Business Forms which later became Jim Dickens Printing and Promotional Products, Inc. He continued to go in to the office daily well into his eighties and stayed involved in the business right up to the very end. Retirement was not in his vocabulary.

He and Alice were faithful members of West Haven Presbyterian Church for over 62 years, where he served routinely as an Elder, a Deacon, and on the Endowment Committee, and where he loved in recent years to give the children’s sermons. They were co-founders of Englewood Presbyterian Church.

Jim was passionate about education. He was devoted to the University of North Carolina and served on the UNC Board of Trustees and the UNC Alumni Board of Visitors, as well as supporting university athletics. A hearty “Go Heels!” was never far from his lips. He was very involved with NC Wesleyan College, serving on the College Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2014, and he continued to serve as a trustee emeritus until his death. He also served NCWC as chairman of the Bishops Club, member of the Board of Visitors, and member of the James M. Johnston Fellowship Program. He was the 2015 recipient of the college’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, and he was active in fundraising for the college, chairing the 1989 Day for Wesleyan.

Community involvement was a key value to Jim, and he was tireless in his volunteerism and leadership in giving to Rocky Mount and the surrounding community. He served for over 30 years on the Salvation Army Advisory Board and was a past Chair. He was a Past President of the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce, the Rocky Mount Merchants Association, the United Way Board of Directors, the Rocky Mount Kiwanis Club, the Breakfast Optimist Club, and Northgreen Country Club; Past Chair of the Rocky Mount Chapter of the American Cancer Society and East Carolina Council Boy Scouts of America; and past Director of the Twin County Education Foundation. He served on the boards of First Carolina State Bank, Centura Bank, Triangle East of North Carolina, Jobs for Progress, My Sister’s House, Cities in Schools, and Nash Community College Foundation; and he served on the Advisory Board of the United Negro College Fund. He also helped form the Down East Radio Reading Service and served as Vice-Chair from its inception in 2001 to the present.

He loved to serve in the background as well. Accolades were never his motivation, but his sincere desire to help people in any kind of need. He could always be seen at Christmas time ringing the Salvation Army bell or, in recent summers, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for over 150 Gatekeepers volunteers.

He was an active fundraiser, co-chairing Rocky Mount’s City Lake Renovation Project in the early 1990s, and he donned costumes and entertained crowds to raise money for the Twin County Education Foundation.

One of his proudest accomplishments was leading the effort to get the ACC golf tournament to Rocky Mount and spearheading the tournament when it was there in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was recognized as the 1987 Phi Beta Lambda Businessperson of the Year, the 1989 Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Man of the Year, and the 1992 Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen.

Jim embraced life with gusto. He loved people, he loved fun, and he loved to make people laugh. He was a faithful husband, father, grandfather, and a friend to many. And everyone was equal at Jim’s table; differences like race, religion, or economic status that so often divide us held no sway with him. In fact, his heroes ranged from some of the university greats like Bill Friday and Dean Smith to the man he would see collecting cans along Rocky Mount streets in order to make a living. And many who knew Jim would count him among their heroes. Even so, he was a humble man. Though asked several times, he refused to write his own obituary, and would be embarrassed by this one written by his children.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved wife Alice King Mullis Dickens, his sisters Frances Dickens Hursey and Doris Anne Dickens Shaw and brother Cleveland Shepard “Tommy” Dickens, Jr. He is survived by his children Carol Dickens Barker and husband Andy of Elm City; James Russell (Rusty) Dickens, Jr. of Rocky Mount; and Mary Alice (Missy) Dickens Pair and husband Grant of Raleigh; and by his granddaughter Ana Catherine Dickens-Massengill and husband John of Raleigh.

A Celebration of Jim’s Life will be held on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 11:00 AM at West Haven Presbyterian Church, 1001 West Haven Boulevard, Rocky Mount with Pastor Sam Codington officiating. The family will receive visitors at the home after the service. A private graveside service will be held on Wednesday.

The family will receive friends and relatives on Monday, August 21, 2017 from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM at the Dickens home in Rocky Mount.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to The Salvation Army of Nash and Edgecombe Counties, West Haven Presbyterian Church, or Nash Healthcare Hospice.

Arrangements entrusted to Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. You may share memories and condolences with the family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.