PLYWOOD LEADER CRUTCHFIELD DIES

Richard (Dickie) Lawrence Crutchfield Sr., who led Whiteville Plywood in Whiteville, NC, died peacefully November 28 at The Arboretum at Heritage Green in Greensboro, NC. He was 77.

Born in Danville, Va., he was a 1962 graduate of Chadbourn High School. He was an outstanding athlete and was selected to participate in the 1962 North Carolina East/West All Star High School Football game in Greensboro. He attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM on a football scholarship before transferring to Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, where he graduated in 1967. He served in an Army Reserve medical unit out of Winston-Salem, which was deployed to Vietnam at Chu Lai in 1968.

Crutchfield worked for American Tobacco in Reidsville, NC until 1974 before moving to Whiteville. He became president of Whiteville Plywood where he worked for 39 years.

Crutchfield was a member of the Whiteville Civitans and was a founding member of the Columbus County Community Foundation. He served on the HPVA (Hardwood Plywood Veneer Assn.) board and served as chairman during the ’80s.

A graveside service was held December 4 at Whiteville Memorial Cemetery with military honors.