Richard Dilworth
Age - 88
December 1, 2023
Richard Lee "Jay" Dilworth passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones at Novant Health Palliative Care on November 29, 2023. Richard was the only child of Virgil Lee Dilworth, Jr and Biddie Hendrix Dilworth, born in Forsyth County on October 10, 1935. Richard is survived by his daughters, Virginia Mitchell "Jenny" Dilworth (Vincent Anderer) of Columbia, SC, and Joanna Lee "Anna" Dilworth (Robert DeJesus), and grandson, Lucas Hendrix DeJesus of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. He is also survived by his first wife, dear friend, and mother of his children, Jo Ann Waller Jessup of Yadkinville, NC, longtime special companion, Betty Bumgardner, of Winston-Salem, NC as well as numerous adored cousins. Richard was predeceased by his parents, his second wife, Gayle Hiatt Dilworth, and beloved dogs, Muffin and Trudy. Richard graduated from Old Town School in 1954, where he was a multi-sport standout athlete. His lifelong love of sports and journalism lead him to begin stringing high school sports for the Winston-Salem Journal and Twin City Sentinel, where he was mentored by longtime paper staffers Frank Spencer, Carlton Byrd, Mary Garber, and Tom Wicker. Richard graduated from Duke University in 1958 with an A. B. in Political Science. He was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. While at Duke, he used his sports reporting experience to land a job as Student Assistant Sports Information Director, working for the legendary Ted Mann. In addition, he continued to feed stories to the Journal & Sentinel as well as the AP, UPS, and radio outlets. He served in the North Carolina Air National Guard from 1958-1964 and joined R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1958 as a trainee in Personnel Communications. In 1996, he retired with 38 years of service as Manager of Out-of-Home Advertising in RJR's in-house Media Department. Throughout those years, he held various positions in Sports Marketing including rodeo and drag racing promotions around the country. For several years following retirement, he operated Richard L. Dilworth & Associates, a marketing consultant company. He was a member of the first Winston-Salem Sports Commission, helping to organize the Frank Spencer High School Basketball Classic. In the 1960s and 70s, he worked for the Old North State Officials Association, officiating basketball and football. He especially loved college basketball and attended 22 Final Fours and 35 ACC Tournaments. He was well known for his incredible network of friends and associates through whom he was always able to magically obtain tickets to any sports event or concert from the Masters to the Superbowl to Bruce Springsteen and everything in between. There was no bigger sports fan. He was a gifted conversationalist, known for his ability to talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything, at any time, at any place. He will be missed for his wonderful sense of humor and his complete and unwavering support for friends and family, always willing to lend a hand or an ear to those in need. He especially enjoyed his role as Granddad in his later years, cherishing every moment with Lucas for sixteen priceless years and watching him blossom into a great young baseball player. A Celebration of Life will be held at Salem Funeral, 2951 Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem, NC, Saturday, December 2, at 4:00 p. m. The family will receive friends following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Forsyth Humane Society, 4881 Country Club Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27104, Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, 3543 Robinhood Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, or Iron Dukes, 110 Whitford Dr, PO Box 90542, Durham, NC 27708. The family wishes to thank the compassionate staff at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center.Show more
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