Richard Whitefield “Dick/Dickie” DABBS^{[1, 2]}

1945 - 2022  (77 years)

• Name	Richard Whitefield “Dick/Dickie” DABBS  [3, 4, 5]
  Birth	8 Sep 1945  [4]
  Gender	Male
  HIST	of Mayesville, South Carolina The following must be about this Dick Dabbs. If not, then the following article is not about this Dick Dabbs. Could he really have married at 13 years of age? jkh Carving his niche: Sumter woodworker says remote location perfect fit for business BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM Dick Dabbs sands the legs to a chair at Crossroads Workshop recently. Dabbs constructs and sells mostly swings, rockers and Adirondack chairs at his Mayesville business. Posted Tuesday, December 26, 2017 6:00 am BY BRICE MILLS BRUCE@THEITEM.COM MAYESVILLE - Tucked in a little crossroads area on Myrtle Beach Highway near Interstate 95 in eastern Sumter County is a small woodworking shop that can be easily missed by the naked eye. But the woodworker and his business inside is hard to forget, even after just a brief conversation. Dick Dabbs is owner, operator and one-man shop at Crossroads Workshop, 6015 Myrtle Beach Highway, in the "greater Mayesville area." Born and raised right here, Dabbs is quick to note that, to many, the little area is better known as Dabbs' Crossroads - named after his great grandfather. The crossroads is where U.S. 378 and S.C. 527 intersect. He says his family was a big farming family in the area, dating back 150 years or so. He graduated from the former Mayewood High School in Sumter County. Growing up in an old house on the family farm, Dabbs said he learned about construction from an early age and has always been familiar with wood. He took over the shop, formerly known as C and T Woodworking, in the early 2000s when the owner at the time had to retire because of his ailing wife. He renamed the business Crossroads Workshop and started out using existing patterns to make rocking chairs and advanced from there. Today, he constructs and sells mostly swings, rockers and Adirondack chairs - both regular and tall sizes -- in addition to doing repairs and restoration to rockers, broken antiques and "other odds and ends." He says he stays busy and sells roughly 100 swings a year. He makes swings and rockers in batches. He builds swings four at a time over two days. One day for cutting lumber, planing, sanding, among other tasks, and one day for assembly. He says he almost exclusively uses Cyprus wood, which is a big selling point since the softwood has a longstanding reputation for being both insect- and rot-resistant. According to Dabbs, Cyprus isn't popular in woodworking because it's often too expensive for many, but he still likes it since it's considered a top-of-the-line wood, along with Cedar and Redwood. Regarding his location, Dabbs said he actually likes being on Myrtle Beach Highway near I-95, and it's good for business. He says the highway is still a major thoroughfare for beach traffic from Columbia and the Upstate to the coast. It's also the shortest route from Sumter to Kingstree in Williamsburg County. He says most of his customers are within a 15-mile radius of the shop's location, but he does get customers from the state's beaches as well. His only advertising these days is word of mouth, he says. He tells the story of a couple years ago when an island beach owner came to the shop and ordered 16 rocking chairs from him. He figured the man was going to buy them and then resell, but he said he was going to put them on his porch. "I told him, 'That's an awful lot of rockers for a porch,'" Dabbs said. "He said, 'Well, I got 6,000 square feet of porch.' "I said, 'Well, if you got 6,000 square feet of porch, 16 rockers will fit just fine.'" During the busy season from April through September, Dabbs said he's generally backed up four to six weeks with orders. He said he also has several different churches in the area as customers. Dabbs hasn't always been a woodworker and farmer, however. A self-described "man of varied interests," Dabbs earned a Master's degree in Sociology from Emory University in Atlanta and served in the Army for three years before coming back to take over the family farm in 1975. With his Master's, he also taught Sociology for about 25 years as an adjunct professor at Central Carolina Technical College. He says he loved running the farm, but the work was "brutal," and since 1990 he has rented it out. He then earned an Associate's Degree in Civil Engineering from Central Carolina and worked for about a decade in the construction and manufacturing industries. After a Timmonsville filtration plant that he worked for shut down in the early 2000s, he needed work and took up the woodworking business. At 72, Dabbs says he doesn't have to work now, but he still tries to put in a 40-hour work week. He says he just can't sit at home and watch TV. "Initially, when I started it, I did it because I needed the money," Dabbs said. "But since then, I have gone beyond retirement age; so, I am not desperate for money, but it still helps a whole lot." He still teaches a Sunday School class at Concord Presbyterian Church in Sumter County on Sunday mornings. The shop is open Tuesdays through Saturdays with normal business hours, 8 a.m. to Noon, and then 1 to 5 p.m. He indicated since he's a one-man operation he may have to run out and isn't always at the shop. He says if he's not there, just leave a message on the work phone number and he'll get back in touch. Dabbs still lives on the family farm, which is just a half-mile away on the "Gable side of the road." He could walk to work, but he doesn't. "I've found, if my truck is not parked under the shed, people don't stop," Dabbs said. "They look for the truck. If the truck is not there, they're not going to stop." PULLOUT BOX: CROSSROADS WORKSHOP Dick Dabbs 6015 Myrtle Beach Highway Mayesville, SC 29104 Business hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.; and 1 to 5 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. TEL: (803) 495-2772 WEB: www.crossroadsworkshop.com RICHARD WHITEFIELD DABBS Posted Wednesday, January 18, 2023 6:00 am MAYESVILLE - Richard Whitefield Dabbs passed away on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. He was 77 years old. Dick "Dickie" grew up in the Salem Black River community at Dabbs Crossroads in his ancestral family home. He returned there in the 1970's to farm and lived there the rest of his life. In the early 2000's, he opened the Crossroads Workshop, where he made outdoor furniture and also carefully crafted custom furniture. Dick was very involved in his community. He was always a member of Brick Church (Salem Black River Presbyterian) and also attended Concord Presbyterian Church for many years, where he sang with the choir and led an adult Sunday school class. Dick was also a member of Mission to Men, a men's choral group that sang at nursing homes and retirement homes. Dick volunteered at the fire department and felt a close kinship to the farming community and the members of the Sportsman Hunting Club. As a young man, Dick attended Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College). He received a master's degree from Emory University. He was in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant and a Green Beret and served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971. After returning from military service, he started work on a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, but decided that the academic life was not for him and returned to farm at his family home. Dick taught sociology at Central Carolina Technical College for almost 25 years. Dick is survived by his wife, Barbara; his children, Sophie, Sam and Nathan; his three grandchildren, Zara, Eli and Jax; his sister, Dorothy; and numerous nieces and nephews. He will be greatly missed. A memorial service will be held at noon on Saturday at Salem Black River Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Harvest Hope Food Bank, 2220 Shop Road, Columbia, SC 29201; The Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104; Salem Black River Presbyterian Church, c/o Church Treasurer, 135 N. Brick Church Road, Mayesville, SC 29104; or Salem Black River Cemetery Association, c/o Nancy Wilson, 228 Haynsworth St., Sumter, SC 29150. Online condolences may be made at www.sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements, (803) 775-9386.  [1, 2, 3]
  MILI	Veteran of Vietnam He served in the Army for three years. He was in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant and a Green Beret and served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971.  [1, 2, 4]
  _UID	70769453B2E04944868AD78EBD8B0ECC83B2
  Death	18 Dec 2022  [2]
  Burial	21 Jan 2023	a memorial service was held at Salem Black River Presbyterian Church, Sumter County, South Carolina   [2]
  	Elmore-Hill-McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, Sumter, South Carolina
  Person ID	I149747	Singleton and Related Families
  Last Modified	22 Jan 2023

  
  

  Father	James McBride DABBS, Sr.,   b. 8 May 1896, Rip Raps plantation, his ancestral home in Mayesville, South Carolina d. 30 May 1970 (Age 74 years)
  Mother	Edith Wells MITCHELL,   b. 10 Nov 1906   d. 28 Feb 1991 (Age 84 years)
  Marriage	11 Jun 1935  [4]
  _UID	C6833311724D4E2EAAFFC01F684DE9200EE2
  _UID	C6833311724D4E2EAAFFC01F684DE9200EE2
  Family ID	F102372	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Leah L. BARNHART
  Marriage	1958
  Divorce	1972  [4]
  _UID	658778D0F4D245AC8CF496D2136593411F19
  _UID	658778D0F4D245AC8CF496D2136593411F19
  Family ID	F102387	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	16 May 2005

  
  

  Family 2	Miranda GRONNING
  Marriage	28 May 1977	Sumter County, South Carolina   [5]
  Divorce	Yes, date unknown  [4]
  _UID	7968A53E57934140857DC2C7A9E5A1E4CD7E
  _UID	7968A53E57934140857DC2C7A9E5A1E4CD7E
  Children	1. Living   2. Samuel Haldane “Sam” DABBS   3. Nathan DABBS
  Family ID	F102876	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Jan 2023

  
  

• Sources

  [S25690] Carving his niche - Woodworker says remote location a perfect fit for business. [S30561] Richard Whitefield Dabbs. [S5093] Dr. James M. Dabbs Jr. [S5094] page 21. [S4456] Marriage License Index #2, page 519.