Adkins named 2026 Father of the Year

By MICAH HENRY

It would be hard to find a more upbeat person than The Times’ 2026 Father of the Year, Darrell Adkins. Daughter Lindsey, 33, of Charlotte, wrote the winning essay about him in the newspaper’s 37th Annual contest.

With wide smiles, Darrell, 70, and his wife, Sharon, 67, welcomed me to their Hiddenite home for an interview.

Darrell worked as a teacher and coach for many years at Alexander Central High School, following a successful career as a computer salesman. With his business acumen, he was able to explain business concepts in real-world scenarios for students. Also, he is an entrepreneur — he and his wife own local rental properties.

Although stricken in recent years with ALS, Darrell hasn’t let his condition hamper his positive attitude.

He is proud of his children. Lindsey works in industrial automation; Jordan, 39, is a police crime analyst in the Triad area; and Jamie, 28, is a school counselor.

“Kids grow up so fast,” said Darrell. “You have to make sure your head is there with your body, making sure you are part of what’s going on.” Darrell also coached several types of sports while his kids were participating, including girls’ and boys’ basketball, football, soccer, baseball, softball, and volleyball.

“Daddy was instrumental in bringing travel volleyball to Alexander County, with Ronnie Sharpe and Gary Jolly,” Lindsey said.

“I was just sort of a parent helper with them,” Darrell humbly noted.

Lindsey looks back at the quality time in the car with her dad, going to the volleyball meets, “just talking and having insight when I’m playing, he could give me a better insight, whereas sometimes you might take it a little more personally from a coach, if they’re getting onto you. [Dad] always did it in a constructive way to say, ‘This is what’s wrong. How can we improve and build upon it?’”

She recalled being in her father’s class at Alexander Central High School. Some students felt she made good marks because her father was the teacher. However, she said it was the exact opposite — she worked hard for her grades. In fact, Darrell taught all three of his children in school and Lindsey said he held them to a very high standard.

“They were all really good students. I was pleased with their performance,” Darrell said.

“At one point in class, he implemented a fake bank account. Students would get money when they did well on tests or actively participated in class, engaging. And the opposite, if you were misbehaving or off task, they would have to write [Dad] a check. At the end of the semester, he went around to all the local businesses in Taylorsville and got donations from stereo systems and oil changes to Village Inn buffets. I think that was cool — the kids actually wanted to win the stuff. People were competitive with the bank accounts.”

“We did it in an auction format at the end. The things that were donated could be bought, everything from Scotty’s gift cards, Village Inn — a lot of the eating places were really good about donating things for that — car wash buckets, oil changes, tire rotations. We did a lot of different things in class, so the kids could buy something they actually wanted,” Darrell explained.

Earlier in childhood, Lindsey remembers the special family trips to the beach around this time of year. Darrell made gigantic sand castles, having fun and making memories, playing in the sand with his children.

“We made them big enough we could all sit in them,” Darrell said. “It would take us hours to make them, with all of us working.”

Lindsey fondly recalls her mother’s parents cooking lunch after church on Sunday. “Papaw would grill on Father’s Day sometimes.”

“We’d get the whole family together for something like that,” Darrell explained.

Another special item is the kids’ playhouse in the backyard. “One Saturday, my family looked at playhouses all over. We couldn’t find one exactly like we wanted, with two lofts, so my sister and I each could have one. We looked all day, it was exhausting. So when we got home, he just started building one himself,” Lindsey said.

“As I get older, I realize just all the sacrifices your parents make, all the holidays. Christmas isn’t really all that crazy — it’s your parents, bringing the magic and making it that special moment.”
Another big part of the Adkins family is faith. Darrell’s parents and his grandmother attended East Taylorsville Baptist Church. He was saved when he was 11 years old.

“Part of that ingrained in my coaching philosophy and teaching philosophy. Not being critical, I’d be the first to say I yelled a lot, but I never, ever used any profanity. I would be encouraging when things went well and I would yell and say, you need to do this, when things weren’t,” he said.

His first travels outside of North Carolina came while he was a member of the church’s Teen Crusaders, a musical youth group ministry which went to revivals in various states.

“My parents didn’t travel a lot for vacations. If we went anywhere, it was to the mountains for a day, Grandfather Mountain or something like that. But my Daddy worked all the time. So, that was a big experience for me, traveling with the youth choir,” Darrell recalled.

After Darrell and Sharon married, they lived in Greenville, SC, and then in Charlotte. They moved back to Alexander County in 1992 to raise their family.

The Adkins look forward to a special Father’s Day on Sunday.

Lindsey’s essay appears below.