James Dobbins Obituary

DOBBINS, SR., James James Ellis Dobbins, Sr., 81, of Yadkinville, N.C., husband of Jessie David Dobbins, died Wednesday, January 19, 2005. Funeral services will be held at GENTRY FAMILY FUNERAL HOME CHAPEL, YADKINVILLE, N.C., Saturday afternoon, January 22, 2005, at 2 o'clock. Burial will be in Center United Methodist Church Cemetery with full military honors by Yadkin VFW Post 10346. Friends may call at Gentry Family Funeral Service this Friday evening from six until eight o'clock. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, C/O Epsilon Sigma Alpha Circle of Life, 364 West Drake Road, Ft. Collins, CO 80521. Mr. Dobbins was born July 29, 1923, in Yadkinville, N.C., a son of the late Henry Paschal Dobbins and Sara Jane Shore Dobbins. He was a graduate of Yadkinville High School where he was an outstanding baseball player. On his graduation day, May 13, 1942, he married Jessie Davis Dobbins and began a union that spanned 62 years. During World War II he served in the US Navy Seabees, seeing duty in the Philippines, Admiralty Islands, New Guinea, Australia, and other areas of the Pacific Theater for two-and-one-half years and attained the rank of Petty Officer First Class at the age of 21. Mr. Dobbins returned to Yadkinville to raise a family that consisted of four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was a loving and attentive daddy. He coached his sons in baseball and carried his daughters to horse shows. He taught by example through his great faith and served as a Deacon in the Yadkinville First Baptist Church and East Cooper Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Mr. Dobbins spent 46 years in road construction and "scratched a little dirt" on many US and Interstate highways including I-85, I-77, I-40, I-26, I-440, US 321, US 74, the DC Beltline and sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. He also performed grading work for the Apollo launch pads at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and the Pocono International Speedway in Pennsylvania. He was civic minded and believed in doing what he could for the improvement of his hometown. He served four years as a Yakdinville Town Commissioner, many years on the Yadkinville School District Committee, was very active in the Parents Teachers Association at Yadkinville School and was instrumental in organizing the community to build the athletic field at Yadkinville School. He was a founding member of the Yadkinville Volunteer Fire Department, and was a member of Yadkin VFW Post 10346. He was a big fan of both the Atlanta Braves and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Jessie Davis Dobbins; two sons, James Ellis Dobbins, Jr., and his wife, Sylvia of Hendersonville, N.C., and Paschal Ray Dobbins and his wife Lisa of Yadkinville, N.C.; two daughters, Julia D. Joyce and her husband Steve of Anderson, S.C., and Ennis D. Karns and her husband Mike of Ladson, S.C.; seven grandchildren, Justice Briand and her husband Ron of Charlotte, N.C., James Michael Reavis, Jr., and his wife Nickie of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; David, Andy, and Mahlon Dobbins all of Yadkinville, N.C., William Crocker of Charlotte and Christy Crocker of Winston-Salem; four great-grandchildren, Keaton and Taylor Goforth of Charlotte, N.C.; Calib Dobbins of Yadkinville, N.C., and Nolan Harn of Mt. Pleasant, S.C. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Robert Henry Dobbins and three grandchildren. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.