The Rev. Thurman O. Echols Jr., longtime pastor and community activist, received the 2007 Jack Dalton Community Service Award on Tuesday.

“I’m grateful, I’m honored,” said Echols as he was presented the award.

Echols said Dalton, a former chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors who died in 2000, was good friend who gave “so much” to the community. He recalled how Dalton used to bring Echols vegetables from his garden.

“This will mean so much to me,” Echols told Dalton’s wife, Lois, who helped present the award.

Echols was nominated for the award by the Axton Life Saving Crew board of directors. He is a founding member and current chairman of that board.

“Rev. Echols gives guidance, inspiration and moral and tangible support, always listening to others in the process,” the board wrote in nominating him. “He doesn’t just lend his name. The Axton Life Saving Crew is among many organizations to which he has given hours upon hours of time, yet always making you feel like he has all the time in the world to give.”

The award has been presented by the Henry County Board of Supervisors annually since 2001. It is awarded to the community resident who “best exemplifies the standards for community service set by the late Mr. Dalton.”

Echols has been pastor of Moral Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Axton since 1976. In addition to his work with the life saving crew, he is president of the board of directors of the United Way.

He also is in his ninth term as chairman of the Pittsylvania County Community Action, and he serves on the boards of Citizens Against Family Violence, Piedmont Arts Association and the Salvation Army.

Echols, a native of Danville, received an undergraduate degree in sociology from Virginia Union University in Richmond. He served in the Army during the Vietnam era, working as an operating room technician.

In 1963, Echols took part in civil rights protests in Danville and was among 60 people arrested. Recently, he led the effort to get a historical marker erected in Danville to mark that event, which helped swell sentiment in favor of civil rights legislation that became law in 1964, the marker states.

Echols married his college sweetheart, Diana Tyler, and after the birth of their first child, Cicely Charmaine, he enrolled in Duke Divinity School, where he graduated magna cum laude. He has a master of divinity degree from Shaw Divinity School, a doctor of divinity degree from Richmond Seminary and a doctor of humane letters from Virginia Seminary and College. The couple also has a son, Phillip Granville Echols.

In his more than 30 years as pastor of Moral Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Echols has overseen a construction project that more than tripled the square footage of the building, helped the church pay off its indebtedness in 10 years, and implemented special programs, including women’s day, men’s day and youth recognition programs.

In 2001, he was elected the fourth vice president of the Virginia Baptist Convention.

He has been a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., which named him its Citizen of the Year in 1998. His other affiliations have included the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, March of Dimes Walk America Campaign, Martinsville-Henry County Ministerial Association, Smith River Missionary Baptist Association, Virginia Baptist State Convention, Baptist Sunday School and BTU Congress of Virginia, Home Missions Board, National Baptist Convention USA Inc. and National Home Missions Board.

Also, he has been involved with West Piedmont Planning District Commission and Economic Development Policy Advisory Committee; the National Wildlife Foundation; Habitat for Humanity; Masons; and Smithsonian Association.

Echols has received keys to the cities of Roanoke and Daytona Beach, Fla., and the Distinguished Service Award from the Martinsville-Henry County Men’s Roundtable.

He summed up his attitude toward public service in a 2003 interview with the Martinsville Bulletin:

“The greatest reward for serving others is the satisfaction found in your own heart. Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy in this world,” he said.

Dalton served on the board of supervisors for more than 24 years. He represented the Collinsville District on the board and was board chairman at the time of his death on May 24, 2000.

Previous award recipients are Dr. Calvin Rains, 2001; Bill Adkins, 2002; Clay Campbell, 2003; Mary McGee, 2004; Charlie Bradshaw, 2005; and Bob Petty, 2006.

This article was provided by: Martinsville Bulletin