DALLAS LLOYD ALFORD, JR.

AAFA #0340

1908 NC – 1992 NC

 

Photo from his Find A Grave memorial

 

NEWS & OBSERVER

Raleigh, Wake Co., NC—Sunday, 20 December 1992

 

ROCKY MOUNT [Edgecombe Co.]—Friends and family will pay tribute today to former state Sen. Dallas L. Alford, who died Thursday of pneumonia after a battle with cancer. He was 84.

            A slightly built man with a face like Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Alford was known in the General Assembly for his low-key, highly effective style of politicking, said former House Speaker Joe Mavretic.

            “He was a real level person,” said Mr. Mavretic, who served for four years with Mr. Alford. “He was a real pleasant, kind, gentle man ... He never made a big to-do about anything. He worked carefully, though he got a lot of things done.”

            A Democrat, Mr. Alford spent two decades serving in the state Senate. His major accomplishments were the establishment of elementary schools for deaf children in Greensboro and Wilson, and the building of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf in Wilson, Mavretic said.

            Before that, the state’s deaf children had to be educated in Morganton, in Western North Carolina. ‘

            He really was the patron saint of the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf in Wilson,” Mr. Mavretic said. The school’s vocational training wing is named after Mr. Alford.

            “There aren’t a lot of votes in that ... But he just used his influence, which was considerable, to push for it. That speaks volumes about him as a man.”

            The son of the late Dallas L. and Sallie Pope Alford, Mr. Alford was born in Durham and attended Duke University.

            He owned an insurance and realty company in Rocky Mount and was past State president of the Jaycees.

            He was a Rocky Mount alderman between 1939 and 1942, winning his first bid for elective office by two votes. During World War II, he left office to join the U.S. Navy, serving as a lieutenant commander.

            He returned to Rocky Mount in 1946, and two years later won election to the Nash County Board of Commissioners. Eventually he became its chairman.

Between 1959 and 1983, Mr. Alford served 20 years in the state Senate.

            He held a variety of posts in the Senate, including chairman of the Education Committee. At one time, when attendance was so poor that committee meetings were being canceled for lack of a quorum, Mr. Alford began awarding door prizes to those who attended. The committee had nearly perfect attendance as a result.

            Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Glenn G. Alford; two daughters, Cathy A. Duncan of Cary and Margarette Rivenbark of Charlotte; two sons, Dallas L. Alford III of Chapel Hill and Benjamin G. Alford of New Bern; and 10 grandchildren.

            The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. today at the First United Methodist Church in Rocky Mount, of which he was a member. Burial will follow at Pineview Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the home, 100 Wildwood Ave. Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 100 South Church St.

 

In another article:

 

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., NC—Sunday, 20 December 1992

 

EX-SENATOR, PEANUT PUSHER DALLAS ALFORD DIES AT 84

 

            Former N.C. Sen. Dallas Alford Jr., who was known for leaving bags of peanuts on each senator’s desk to promote the peanut industry of his home county, died Thursday, Dec. 17, 1992. He was 84.

            Mr. Alford, who served 20 years in the N.C. Senate, represented peanut-rich Nash County and lived in Rocky Mount.

            In February 1965 while making one of his famous “peanut runs” around the Senate chamber, Mr. Alford inadvertently failed to leave a bag on the lectern of then-Lt. Gov. Robert Scott, who was presiding over the Senate.

            Scott took notice.

            “I’d like to remind the gentleman from Nash,” Scott announced on the floor with a grin, “that the chair likes peanuts, too.”

            Mr. Alford promptly dispatched a bag to Scott’s lectern.

            Throughout his career, Mr. Alford led various task forces dealing with state issues. In 1961, then-Gov. Terry Sanford appointed Mr. Alford to head a committee to study the operation of public welfare programs in North Carolina. Mr. Alford told The Observer in an interview that the state should support “workable welfare programs.” He also said the public was often kept in dark about the facts behind the programs.

            A graduate of Duke University, he was former chairman of the Nash Board of County Commissioners and past president of the N.C. Association of County Commissioners. He was past state president of the Jaycees and a former alderman for the City of Rocky Mount.

            Mr. Alford’s funeral is 2 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church of Rocky Mount where he was a member. Burial will follow at Pineview Cemetery. Johnson Funeral Home is in charge.

            Survivors are his wife, Glenn; sons, Dallas Alford III of Chapel Hill, Benjamin Alford of New Bern; daughters, Ms. Cathy Duncan of Cary, Ms. Margarette Rivenbark of Charlotte: 10 grandchildren.

            Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, 100 S. Church St., Rocky Mount, N.C.

 

In another article:

 

Descendants of Owen Griffith, Kings Attorney

Generation 11

 

            Margarette Glenn Griffin, born June 16, 1919. B. Mus. degree from Salem College, Winston-Salem, N.C., 1939. On Nov. 17, 1945, she married Dallas L. Alford, Jr., of Rocky Mount, N.C., son of Dallas L. Alford and wife Sally Catherine Pope, of Durham, N.C. He is an alumnus of Duke U., Durham, N.C., class of 1931. Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. In 1936, he was made district manager of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co., Rocky Mount; in 1937, he was charter member and first president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce; in 1938, president of the N.C. Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1939, he was elected to the Board of Aldermen, from which he resigned in 1942, in order to join the U.S. Navy. After serving 43 months, he was released from active duty in April 1946, as Lieutenant-Commander.

            He was elected to Nash County Board of Commissioners 1948-1958, acting as chairman 1952-58, and elected president of N.C. County Commissioners Ass’n. He served two terms, 1959 and 1961, in the N.C. General Assembly, as Senator from the 6th Senatorial District. He is member of the First Methodist Church, having served on its Board of Stewards, American Legion, Kiwanis Club, and on the Board of Directors of Citizens Savings and Loan Ass n, and the Peoples Bank of Rocky Mount. Owner of Alford Insurance and Realty Co., and the controlling interest in Munn-Griffin Co., Inc., wholesale fruits and produce.

 

In another article:

 

North Carolina. Secretary of State.

North Carolina manual [serial] (Volume 1967)

page 41 of 59

 

            Dallas L. Alford, Jr., Democrat, of Nash County, representing the Eighth Senatorial District, was born in Durham, N.C. Son of Dallas Lloyd Alford, Sr., and Sally Kate (Pope) Alford. Attended Durham High School; Duke University. Realtor. Owner and operator of Alford Insurance & Realty Company; Past President Rocky Mount Realtors Association and Rocky Mount Mutual Insurance Agents Association. Member Board of Aldermen, City of Rocky Mount, 1939-1942; Nash County Board of Commissioners, 1948-1958, Chairman, 1952-1958; North Carolina Traffic Safety Authority, 1966. Chairman Nash County Board of Health, 1952- 1958; Chairman of the Commission to study Welfare Problems for the State of North Carolina, 1962. Mutual Insurance Agent of the Year for North and South Carolina, 1966-1967. Member Commission for the Study of Revenue Structure of the State, 1957-1958; member Lodge 1038, B.P.O.E.; 40 and 8; Kiwanis Club; Benvenue Country Club, Rocky Mount, N.C; Delta Sigma Phi Social Fraternity. Lt. Commander U.S. Navy, 1942-1946. Past President North Carolina Junior Chamber of Commerce, Rocky Mount Junior Chamber of Commerce and North Carolina County Commissioners Association; Director Peoples Bank & Trust Company, Rocky Mount, N.C.; Citizens Savings & Loan Association, Rocky Mount, N.C. and Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Twin County Law Enforcement Executive Committee; Commander American Legion, 1948. State Senator in the General Assembly of 1959, 1961 and 1965. Methodist; member Official Board of First Methodist Church, Rocky Mount, N.C, 1938-1965. Married Margarette Glenn Griffin, November 17, 1945. Children: Dallas L., III, Benjamin G., Margarette G. and Catherine Elizabeth. Address: 100 Wildwood Avenue, Rocky Mount, N.C.

 

 

Photos from Pineview Cemetery, South Rocky Mount, Edgecombe Co., NC—www.findagrave.com

Permission granted by the photographer, Linda Evans

 

AAFA NOTES: SSDI records show that Dallas L. Alford (SS# issued in NC) was born 8 August 1908, last residence Rocky Mount, Edgecombe Co., NC.

            We included the obituaries of his first wife, Betsy Odum Alford; and second wife, Glenn Griffin Alford, in North Carolina Obituaries.

            Dallas attended AAFA’s 1990 Annual Meeting in Raleigh, NC.

            Benjamin Glenn Alford, son of Dallas, is AAFA #0677.

            For more information about this family, see AAFA’s published genealogy, Known Descendants of James Lodwick Alford (1749–1820).

            His lineage: Dallas Lloyd 1908 NC¹, Dallas Lloyd 1889 NC², William Dallas 1845 NC³, William R. 1818 NC⁴, Green 1787 NC⁵, James Lodwick 1749 NC⁶.