Faith, Family and Laurinburg first
May 13—LAURINBURG — Retired Laurinburg Police chief Darwin "Duke" Williams has always been a leader.
Just ask his seventh-grade teacher Jane Summerville.
At Williams's retirement dinner Thursday night, Summerville was one of many people who told stories about the kind of person Williams is.
He was one of 28 students in her class and Summerville learned pretty quickly that she was the teacher and "Duke" was the leader.
"I had arranged the class in a U, with a carpet down there. And I'll talk more about that carpet in a little bit," she said. Summerville said all these years later, she still remembers the faces and where the students were sitting and the fact that all the kids called Williams "Duke."
She didn't know why then. "Back to the carpet. I had just returned from living in Liberia, West Africa, with my family. And I was so happy to be able to share this experience with these students, because I was teaching African studies."
Summerville was showing the students slides from her time in Africa — and she said if anyone wanted to move closer, they could come and sit on the carpet.
"The first one to come to the carpet was Darwin Williams. Well, when he came, more came to the carpet," she said. "So I'm thinking, he is the leader in this class. Leader equals Duke, the name Duke."
And those leadership skills were on display, she said, when the class took a trip to the zoo in Asheboro. She said she'd been a little nervous about taking 28 kids to the zoo, but Summerville said that they all stuck together and had a wonderful time.
"And I realized, he was the leader and I was the teacher," she said.
South Johnson Elementary School principal Latonya McLean recalled when Williams was her bus driver while she was a middle school student.
"Every child deserves a champion and Duke was mine," she said. "He had high expectations and did not tolerate unkind behavior. We could look forward to motivational speeches on our ride to and from school."
McLean said when she started teaching, Williams was a juvenile officer who was constantly at the school mentoring students.
She said his presence and leadership in Laurinburg and Scotland County has been felt through every role he's had in the community, including school board, youth coach and chief of police.
As the police chief, Williams was not only a resource for the officers and staff in Laurinburg, but he and other Black police chiefs from across the region offered each other friendship and assistance. Retired Laurinburg Police chief, Robert Malloy and current and former police chiefs, sheriffs and prison wardens from Lumberton to South Carolina presented Williams with a commemoration of their friendship.
Malloy led a standing ovation for Williams's wife, Latonya Williams. Noting that she was right there beside Williams when the phone calls came in, having to hear the discussions and even the not nice things people might say about her husband.
"That goes along with the job. So, thank you very much," he said as the crowd clapped.
Laurinburg Mayor Jim Willis said, "Duke is a part of this community and his roots are so deep. His journey as police chief has been served well by his participation as a youth football coach. He has served our city and our police department very well. We all think the world of Duke."
And Williams made it clear that he didn't do any of this alone. Through God, family and his love for Scotland County, Williams leaned into his calling.
"Once you get in this business and you're truly in it to do God's work, to help people, not just lock up people. To help transition people and bring people out of dark places if you can. You keep forward with that momentum that you've established. Just because I'm coming to the end of my career, it doesn't mean that I'm ending. There's so much work left to be done. I'm truly a blessed individual. I truly know that God shows me favor, I would be naive to say that He didn't. And like the Bible says, to whom much is given much is required, so there is a lot more required of me," he said. "Scotland County first, Laurinburg first, that's my motto and it will always be that way."
Cheris Hodges can be reached at (910) 506-3169 or chodges@laurinburgexchange.com.
