Dewar residents on Cedar Street have a new name for their roadway.
In a special ceremony Wednesday afternoon, the street was renamed in honor of the late Rev. Jacky Dale Vance who pastored at the Dewar First Baptist church for 25 years. He
Dewar vice-mayor Gary McGowin said he wanted to honor his former pastor and decided nothing would be more appropriate than renaming the street that Rev. Vance drove on to the church. “He not only Dewar, he served the whole county. We are all blessed that we had Brother Jack to do that. He was there for everyone.”
McGowin presented Donna Vance with a replica of the street sign.
The currently Dewar first Baptist pastor, Ryan Wells, said Rev. Vance had a unique way of doing his ministry. “He went door to door. Always there where people were in need.”
Over the course of his career, Rev. Vance preached over 1,000 funerals and was just shy of 10,000 sermons, Wells pointed out. The last pastor preached his final sermon May 10, 2020. He died June 30.
In addition to being a pastor, Vance was involved in school activities, led blood drives and distributed food to the needy.
“He was compassionate and was a lot of things to a lot of people,” Wells said.