Anon Dixon ìDickî Day, Jr., 70, died Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Dick peacefully departed for his “happy hunting ground” at 3:50 p.m. at Regency Hospital in Greenville, SC after a month-long illness. He was a resident of Henderson County for twenty-three years, living for the last eighteen years in Tuxedo, NC.
He was born in St. Paul, MN, on September 14, 1942 to the late Marjorie Cagle Day and Anon Dixon Day, Sr.
Dick attended school in North Augusta, SC and graduated from Florence High School. He was a graduate of Wofford College. He was enlisted in the Marine Corps from 1964 through 1967 with an Honorable Discharge as a Sergeant E5. He briefly taught elementary school outside Wilmington, NC, was a sales rep for Kelty and Sierra Designs outdoor gear, an Outward Bound instructor, and a hitchhiking cowboy. Dick moved to Flat Rock in 1989 to start the Mountaineering program at Camp Ton-A-Wandah. He worked with Youth at Risk at the YMCA, and taught at the Alternative School in Tuxedo.
A member of First Baptist Church, he was active in Ken Hill’s Sunday School Class and taught Middle and High School Sunday school for several years. He also sat frequently at the Embracing Simplicity Hermitage.
Dick was a familiar face in local music circles and played “real live” blues at venues and festivals in Henderson, Buncombe and surrounding counties. He was a fixture in the restaurants on Main Street Hendersonville for years, entertaining hundreds if not thousands with his unique southern style piano and the occasional mouth trumpet solo.
Dick was an avid painter and has left a body of work in crayon and acrylic. He was an artist, poet, dreamer and friend to all he met. Dick Day was one of a kind and will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by many.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Jade Elliott Day-Burdett and Aaron Burdett; brother, Guy David Day of Wilmington, NC; sister, Rebecca Jane Benfield of Greenville, NC; Charla Elliott Day of Hendersonville, NC; Jeanette Day of Charlotte, NC, as well as cousins throughout the country.
A memorial Service will be held at 1 pm Saturday, December 22, 2012, at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville.
A celebration of his life will be at 2 PM Sunday, April 21, 2013 at Camp Ton-A-Wandah in Flat Rock. We will have a service in the outdoor chapel at Ton-A-Wandah followed by a shared meal and memorial concert/jam. (Dad loved a good jam.) To RSVP and learn more about the celebration, please visit www.addjr.splashthat.com
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