Three years ago this week, one of my good friends in high school athletics passed away. He was very influential not only with the kids that he coached and mentored but to those of us who worked with him.
Many people from the Triangle area remember him first coming onto the scene as the basketball coach at Bunn High School, but his true mark was made establishing the Millbrook High School basketball program as a powerhouse in the state.
After those to stints, he went to Wakefield High School in Northern Wake County to start the athletic programs at the school in 2000.
I met him in the summer of 2000 when he asked me to be the public address announcer for Wakefield’s football and basketball programs. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity.
The first game of the season, he asked me to do a promo for the Wolverine Booster Club. I asked if he had a script and he said, “No, just wing it, it is $10 per year to be a member.”
I proceeded to do the announcement with him standing next to me and closed with, “So remember, if you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!” Dexter grinned and looked around at the others in the press box shouting, “No he didn’t!”
It was also there that I met Skip Foreman and Bruce Achterman. Bruce was working for the Associated Press and his son played for the team. Bruce’s sons both went to Wakefield and he ran the clock for almost 20 years at the school. We also had my old DJ buddy Tracy Telenko in the booth spotting and doing the music so it was a fun group.
It was not unusual to see Dexter on a tractor in the early days mowing the fields or maybe driving a bus. He was the epitome of a public servant. He would take care of anyone, anytime it was needed.
In the mid 2000s, the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life would be held at the school and Dexter was always there to help out. He also made sure the facility was in tip top shape for the event.
One year, we had about 2,000 people at the event and Dexter came up to Lisa Krahulec and I as we were talking on the field watching the weather. He said, “We need to get these people off the field quick because this storm is coming.” He proceeded to open the school gym so we could all go inside while the storm decimated the field and everything on it. If it hadn’t been for Dexter’s quick action, someone might have gotten hurt.
His favorite accomplishment was building the basketball program at Wakefield. He served as head coach in the early years and passed the torch to Rob Partin. In 2004, in only the 5th year of the school’s existence, Wakefield won a state championship. I was courtside at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh on the NC State campus to call that game for TV with Paul Doherty. The Wolverines beat Winston Salem’s Reynolds High School 48-46 to claim the school’s first state title.
In 2006, Tom Kinkelaar had taken over and won a second state championship in basketball. The game was again at Reynolds Coliseum and all of the parents at Wakefield were superstitious so Dexter lobbied for me to again be the TV announcer for the game. That night, Wakefield defeated a very good North Mecklenburg team 45-43 and Wakefield had their second state basketball championship in the first 7 years of existence, a massive accomplishment for Cooley and his team.
In addition to coaching, he taught hundreds of kids driver education. His impact was at all levels and all ages. He was truly one of the nicest people I have ever known.
He spent 15 years at Wakefield and retired in 2015 after being diagnosed with colon cancer. He succumbed to the cancer on December 16, 2019 after a lengthy battle.
He was survived by his wife Nancy and two sons Michael and Phillip, both athletes themselves.
My grandmother used to refer to folks as “good people.” Dexter was good people and I miss him.