Dillon Dawson Pollard

WINSTON-SALEM, NC — Dillon Dawson Pollard, 89, passed peacefully from this world on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025 in Winston-Salem, NC, with family members by her side.

To all who knew her, Dillon was a sweet, kind, truly Southern woman with a bright, shining smile and a compassionate heart with a love for sharing laughter and joy. She was a relentlessly devoted friend, wife and mother, accomplished professional and simply always someone wonderful to have around. For most of her adult life she always had a dog nearby, loving them with the same caring, beautiful heart she used to raise her three sons. 

Born and raised in Elizabeth City, NC, she was the daughter of Eloise Cahoon Dawson and William Crawford Dawson III. If you knew her, you knew she was proud of her father’s work as a successful Coca-Cola bottler. In her household, iced tea, water and cocktails were the only other drinks allowed — this was not negotiable and children were soundly admonished for being in possession of any other soft drink. Growing up in Elizabeth City, she formed unbreakable bonds with childhood friends she would hold dear her entire life. She was a cheerleader, enjoyed summer camp at Camp Hardee, and attended St. Mary’s School in Raleigh, NC. She met handsome naval officer Charlie Pollard in Virginia Beach and they tied the knot in 1958, enjoying 49 years of marriage until his death in 2008. She always joked that while used his GI Bill to earn an MBA at Harvard, she earned her PhT degree, aka “Putting Hubby Through,” working while he was in school.

After graduating from Greensboro Women’s College (now UNC-Greensboro), she worked as an elementary school teacher. Later in life she would enjoy a successful career in commercial real estate and a management role at Measurement, Inc., supervising projects in grading standardized tests for school districts across the United States. During her years in St. Louis, she gave her time and heart to a small school for Autistic and Down syndrome children at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. While living in St. Louis, she worked tirelessly on the campaign to elect Gerald Ford as president, and always treasured her personal letter from him thanking her for her service. She was also proud to have attended the inauguration ball in Washington for Ronald Reagan when he was elected president.

Dillon and Charlie shared great adventures all over the country during his naval service and textile career, living in San Diego, Asheboro, St. Louis, Martinsville, VA, and other brief stops along the journey before settling back in Asheboro among their closest friends. They loved to travel, enjoying trips around the U.S., across Europe and the Caribbean. She raised her sons on kindness, devoted love, good manners and the value of good friendship. She was wired for crafting, playing and giggling with little girls, and her life’s reward for raising three crazy boys was two beautiful granddaughters who absolutely adored her as much as she did them. She would be tickled and proud to know that one of them is now also a schoolteacher.

Her lifelong haven of happiness was an old gray beach cottage named “Ridgeview” in Nags Head that her father built in the 1930s. That wonderful place was painted with generations of the laughter of family and friends, sunrises over the Atlantic, and the many stories shared in summer breezes on the back porch as the sun set over Jockey’s Ridge.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Charles Edward Pollard, brother, William “Shootie” Dawson, and sister Audrey Dawson Bennett; cherished nieces Betsy Dawson, Sylvia Dawson Williams and Jill Lassiter Chesser; and her beloved canine companions Agona, Becky, Buddy, Rambo and Sweetie. She is survived by her sons, Chuck Pollard (husband Steve Knorsch) of New York, David Pollard (wife Margie) of Charlotte, and Mike Pollard (wife Bonnie Davis) of Winston-Salem; granddaughters Kate Pollard of Asheville and Rebecca Pollard of Winston-Salem, and nephew Bill Lassiter of Concord.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Pugh Funeral Home, Asheboro, NC — A family visitation will be held on May 2, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. in the parish house at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Asheboro following a private ceremony in the columbarium. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Humane Society of Randolph County or the The Alzheimers Foundation.