Thomas Wilson Warlick, 85, a Newton attorney and prominent cultural, civic, historical, and educational leader on both the local and state level, died on Tuesday, August 20, 2019, after a brief illness.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 p.m., on Friday, August 23, 2019, at Newton First Presbyterian Church by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. David A. Roquemore. The family will receive friends in the church social hall following the service. There will be a private interment in the family plot at Eastview Cemetery.
Warlick was born in Newton on July 4, 1934, the son of the late Wilson Warlick, for many years a federal judge overseeing US courts in the Western North Carolina District, and the late Kittie Reed Hipp Warlick.
He is survived by a sister, Martha Reed Warlick Brame of Rockville MD., and a niece, Brandon Brame Fortune of Bethesda MD, as well as grandnieces Martha Fortune and Elizabeth Fortune and one great grandnephew, Leo Frankenberger.
In 1999 Warlick was the recipient of the North Carolina Governor’s Award in the Arts and Humanities, presented during a ceremony in Raleigh by Governor James B. Hunt. In 2002 he was the recipient of the North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine, bestowed by Governor Michael Easley. Warlick was a Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. He served as attorney for the Town of Catawba from 1985 through 2003. He was chairman and is currently treasurer of the Newton Conover Auditorium Authority and was vice-chairman from 1995 to the present of the Newton Depot Authority.
He was also on the North Carolina Rail Council from 1994 to 2004. Warlick was chairman, vice chairman and director of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation (formerly Catawba County Industrial Development Commission).
He is a former president, vice president, and director of the Catawba County United Way. He was president, vice president, treasurer, and trustee of the Historical Association of Catawba County (formerly Catawba County Historical Association) where he served as a trustee for 40 years. He served on the Newton Old Soldiers Reunion committee for many years. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
As a life-long member of First Presbyterian Church of Newton he was an elder and had been treasurer, a deacon and served on the Campaign Steering Committee and the Building Committee for the new sanctuary. He particularly enjoyed serving on the Organ Committee. He had been a director of the Catawba County Chapter of The American Red Cross.
He was president and a director of the Newton-Conover Jaycees and was recipient of the Distinguished Service Award (Outstanding Young Man of the Year) for 1968, presented by the Newton-Conover Jaycees. With a perfect attendance for 56 years record of the Newton-Conover Rotary Club, he served as president, vice president, secretary, and director of the organization. He is the recipient of the Rotary Club Vocational Service Award and the Dr. William T. MacLauchlin Humanities Award. Warlick was a member of the Board of the Directors of the Alexander Railroad Company.
He has been a director and was now a director emeritus of Sipes Orchard Home. He has been chairman, vice-chairman, and a trustee of the Catawba County Library Board of Trustees. He has been the second vice-chairman of the Catawba County Democratic Executive Committee and was president and treasurer of the Catawba County Young Democratic Club. Warlick was a former president, secretary and vice president of the Catawba County Bar Association and has been director and secretary of the Twenty-fifth District Bar Association.
He holds the Bachelor of Science degree from Davidson College, where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, and the Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was in the Order of the Coif. He was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar and the United States District Court in 1959.
The family requests that any memorials may be given to Newton Depot Authority, P.O. Box 611, Newton, NC, 28658.