Richard "Wallace" Durham, Sr.

Richard Wallace Durham, Sr., 87, of Ararat, NC passed away on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at the Joan & Howard Woltz Hospice House in Dobson, NC after a long battle with congestive heart failure.

Wallace was born June 6, 1938 to Ellis and Alice (Flippin) Durham in Stokes County, NC. He graduated from Nancy Reynolds School in 1955 and began working for Hennis Trucking. While working at Hennis, he attended Forsyth Tech, obtaining a degree in Business Administration. After 27 years in the trucking industry, he worked as a custodian at Franklin Elementary School in Mt. Airy for 5 years. Never one to sit around (unless the Atlanta Braves were playing), he also ran Durham’s Tax Service for 50 years. He officially retired April 15, 2019 to bake peach cobblers, pecan pies, and walnut pound cakes.

May 25, 2019, Wallace was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Jane Armstrong Durham. His life was marked by the loss of his younger brother, Carlos Ray, in 1941 and most recently, in January of this year, by the loss of his little sister, Carolyn Durham Bennett.

He is survived by two children, Ric (Debby) Durham of Mt. Pleasant, NC and Mardi Durham of Statesville, NC as well as two grandsons, Seth Durham of Greensboro and Kenan Durham of Winston-Salem. Also surviving is his brother-in-law, Archie (Brenda) Armstrong of Mt. Airy, NC as well as a niece, three nephews, several great nieces and nephews, and cousins..

A self-described people person, he loved time with his family and connected deeply with people he met in his daily life which featured breakfast at Waffle House in Mt Airy until illness prevented him from driving. He loved the staff at Surry Community Nursing Center where he spent his last year and a half and the Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care team that visited him there. The family has endless appreciation for those organizations as well as Woltz Hospice House and their staff members who showed us and our dad so much love and care.

Funeral services will be held at 2 pm Saturday, May 30, 2026 at Moody Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Tim Rose officiating. Burial will follow at Skyline Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 1 pm until the service. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages memorial donations to Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care PO Box 325, Dobson, NC 27030 or the charity of your choice.