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His culinary tastes came to light when the folks at the Halifax County Courthouse celebrated his retirement.
Forget the fancy banquet and long-winded speeches. Instead it was hot dogs and potluck. The photographer who went out to grab a picture of the celebration came back smiling at the distinguished juror who was comfortable with people from all walks of life and found immense satisfaction in humor and hot dogs.
Wednesday, Judge Dwight Little Cranford ended his work in this life. He died at the age of 75 after a prolonged illness.
In talking with people who knew him over the years and with members of his family, you are touched time and time again with the understanding that this was a very uncommon man who had the common touch.
He was the first in his family to go to college. When he graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1954, he traded his cap and gown for a uniform spending the next three years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
With his service hitch complete, Dwight was back in Chapel Hill hitting the books in law school. Why law school? "I have always been interested in the law and civil rights. I am interested in justice. I like to talk and argue. It was kind of natural," he told this reporter just before his retirement celebration.
A blind date changed his life's direction. He met Lee McCarter. In 1959, they married and in 1960 the brand new attorney came to Roanoke Rapids to join the law firm that included one of his law school classmates, the late judge Richard Allsbrook.
It was in the Valley, he made his mark as a family man, church leader, lawyer and jurist.
Judge Paul McCoy knew Dwight for some 35 years.
He remembers “an exceptional man who was tenacious in his advocacy for his clients and the application of the law.”
He also remembers a frequent luncheon companion who would often leave his tablemates in stitches and the waitress laughing.
McCoy, who himself will step down from the bench in August, described his friend as “a family man who cared about his fellow man.”
Scott Cranford simply remembers him as Dad - the guy who would come home from a day at work at through the ball around with his young son. An Eagle Scout who encouraged his son into Scouting and man who was dedicated to his faith and for years taught Sunday school at the First Presbyterian Church.
Scott, now 40 and a practicing attorney in Conover, described his dad as devoted and nearly unflappable. “For the longest of times, he drove this old Plymouth Valiant Š One day it was bitter cold and we went out to go to the store. The car had a push-button transmission. We got in the car, he pushed the button and the back window fell into the back seat Š We just laughed.”
One time, when Scott and some friends found themselves in hot water after breaking some windows it came time for the punishment. “We hadn't done out of meanness or anything Š We were just playing,” he remembers. His dad didn't yell, but Scott learned the error of his ways and had to go apologize to the neighbor whose windows they had demolished.
What he remembers the most is the look - not of anger - but of disappointment.
“Dad was always thoughtful. He would think long and hard before he spoke on an issue Š That was sometimes hard on us all,” Scott remembered. When he was deciding where to go to law school, he turned to his dad for instant advice. Instead, in the Dwight Cranford manner, he was forced to wait patiently while his father debated the pros and cons internally.
He remembered how he loved his family. “And he loved letters and books Š He would read the Bible and study it Š For some 20 years he taught Sunday School,” Scott said.
And he was a Carolina fan. “It's probably one of the grand ironies,” Scott noted, “Saturday the funeral service is while Carolina is playing in the ACC tournament.”
Scott was sure his dad would be looking down and watching Š and smiling. Carolina won by two points, and one of its alumni was a big winner in the hearts and minds of innumerable Valley residents.
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