'Lenoir's greatest advocate': David Wayne Barlow's legacy continues

Apr. 26—David Wayne Barlow, former mayor of Lenoir, passed away at age 78 on Wednesday, April 10 as a result of complications from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He leaves behind his wife Theresa Barlow, sister Cathy Gragg, children Elizabeth Gray and Buddy Barlow, and four grandchildren: Caleb Gray, Chase Gray, Alison Barlow, and Faith Barlow. A funeral was held on April 16 for the family and community.

Barlow was born on May 31, 1945 in Lenoir, where he grew up on Ridge st. near downtown. He met his wife Theresa while attending Lenoir High School, where they dated — despite being from rival schools — and eventually married in 1966, according to Elizabeth Gray. After graduating in 1963, Barlow went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in business from Lenoir-Rhyne University before serving as a teacher at Hudson High School alongside Theresa.

Barlow moved away multiple times for multiple jobs, but always returned to Lenoir. He became involved in real estate through Century 21 in 1977. He went on to purchase the Morrison, Suddreth, and Triplett real estate companies, the owners of which remained lifelong friends. He consolidated the companies into Barlow and Triplett Realty, through which he worked for the rest of his life. He approached the position with devotion to the city of Lenoir, its people and its community.

Barlow's niece, Kim Correll, said "he loved the city of Lenoir and knew everything about it. He would come in some afternoons and say 'come on, get in the car' and he would take me to parts of Lenoir that I didn't even know existed, including poverty-stricken areas. He really cared and wanted to help those areas and those people in any way he could."

As a realtor Barlow was responsible for bringing an uncountable number of people into the community, forging personal relationships and working tirelessly to find the perfect place to put them. He seemed to take each new client's needs as a personal challenge to find a way to draw them into his community, according to Gray.

Barlow served two terms as city councilman before being elected mayor in 1999 and serving until 2011. During his service, Lenoir won the All-America award, which is given on behalf of the National Civic League to communities that use the resources at their disposal to address local issues. Barlow's tenure as mayor was marked by a number of projects, the most notable of which was the part he played in recruiting Google to the city. Former fire chief Ken Briscoe, who worked closely with Barlow, said "David's thought was that something needed to come that would bring excitement back to Lenoir. Google did that."

Dr. David Smith, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Lenoir, said at Barlow's funeral that he had known Barlow when he had been planning to bring Google in, and had to go out, without revealing what the efforts were for, to secure the land and policy changes necessary to allow the tech giant to put down roots. Smith recalled that Barlow would sometimes offer owners multiple times what their property was worth, all while maintaining the secrecy Google needed.

"High among the many factors Google considered when deciding to build a data center in Lenoir was the wonderful people" said Kerry Barnet, Operations Site Manager at the Google Lenoir Data Center. "As mayor of Lenoir at that time, David Barlow was a visionary who led Lenoir with a commitment to progress and opportunity. Mayor Barlow saw our data center's potential to bring economic growth and development to the community that we call home. We send condolences and warm wishes to the Barlow family."

The commitment to the Lenoir and its community continued through Barlow's personal life. He was a member of First Baptist Church, baptized on April 28, 1957. He regularly attended Sunday services, always sitting on the piano side of the balcony, and always the first to leave. Dr. Josh Hughes, pastor of First Baptist, said Barlow would always how Hughes was doing—and he wanted details—about his family, his children.

After a tough medical procedure, Hughes asked Barlow if the experience had put anything into perspective and Barlow answered: "I try to live ready so I don't have to get ready." Hughes said Barlow was a man who lived ready. He worked constantly, never retiring, working as a realtor until the last few weeks of his life, according to Gray and Correll. Barlow served on the Blue Ridge Electric board and as a member of the rotary club.

Gray said that her father was "Lenoir's Greatest Advocate." The most common thread in the story of David Wayne Barlow is his love of Lenoir and its community. The man devoted his life, his time, his faith, and family to the city and the people within it, and has more than earned that reputation.