Troy Davis Flinchum, Jr.

Troy D. Flinchum, Jr., 87, of Eden, NC, died Sunday, July 11, surrounded by his family at his home in Eden. He was born October 9, 1933 in Spray, NC, the son of Troy D. Sr and Erma Pulliam Flinchum.

Funeral Services will be held Wednesday, July 14 at First Wesleyan Church in Eden, NC. The family will receive friends from 10 am - 11am and the service will be held at 11 am. A private burial service will be held at Roselawn Memorial Gardens in Reidsville, NC.

Troy is survived by his daughter Melody Flinchum Knox of Thousand Oaks, CA, his two sons, T. Todd Flinchum of Blacksburg, VA and Christopher Flinchum of Waynesville, NC, three grandchildren, Daniel Knox, John Knox and Jacob Knox, his sister, Alva Holland of Eden, NC and his devoted long time friend and companion, Ceylon Thornton. He is predeceased by his sister Faye M. Flinchum.

He was head machinist at Lorillard in Greensboro for 37 years, yet this speaks little to the depth and variety of his character. Born in the middle of the Great Depression as the eldest child to a family that had lost all possessions shortly before, he came into this world relying on the kindness and charity of extended family. In the first 12 years of his life, his family went from unemployed mill workers to sharecroppers to small land owners backed up against the Virginia border, forcing their existence from a strip of red, rocky land where young Troy did an outsized amount of the work. He learned a love and knowledge of the land that would stay with him so that even in later life with a city job, he often grew enough food to feed more than one family, food that he gladly gave away to others.

From the Pulliam side of his family, he gained a piercing, interrogating stare as well as a million dollar smile that could lift whole rooms. If he said he would do something, it was done; his word was as powerful as any contract. He was a man that could build a wall, run plumbing, grow food, dance the night away, wire electricity, milk a cow, reconstruct a car engine, pretend to be a lawyer in court and win, tell captivating stories, and spot a lie from a truth at a mile out. He almost never failed at anything he tried and got more done in a week than most did in months. He was the man you wanted on your side in a fight. Although he was known to have a quick temper, he also had a joy and a laughter that brought Christmas.

His claim to fame from his meager birth was that his Grandpa Flinchum, a Primitive Baptist preacher, died in the pulpit preaching one Sunday. From that legacy, faith inevitably became of towering importance and was always at the center of his life. The determination to live by his convictions permeated all corners of his actions. Like his mother, he possessed a profound wisdom and had no qualms arguing with the most knowledgeable pastors, pointing out errors when he thought they were wrong.

The only thing that rivaled his faith was love of family. He married his first love and worked to provide for his family throughout his life. Even when his marriage irrevocably broke, he spent the rest of his life attempting to elevate, salvage, and mend the wounds and stayed fiercely devoted to his children.

In later years, he developed a passion for golf and excelled on the golf course as he did in every other pursuit, eventually representing the state of North Carolina multiple times in the Senior Games where he placed in the top ten nationally for his age group.

The loss felt by those who loved him will be outweighed by the wonder and fulfillment of knowing such a man. This week he will be laid to rest beside Betty Grogan, his first wife, his great love, and the mother of his children.

Online condolences to the family may be made at www.fairfuneralhome.com