Ronald McKinney

Ronald Bowman McKinney, 87, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, entered heaven on Oct. 6, 2025. A life-long resident of Bakersville, McKinney served his family, his church, his nation, and his community with honor and dignity, a quiet strength and steadfast love, throughout a long life, well lived.
McKinney was born at home, at the mouth of White Oak Creek, on July 26, 1938, the third of four children of Hettie Jean Bowman McKinney and Isom Hayes McKinney. He was educated in Mitchell County schools, graduating from Bowman High School. After earning bachelor of science and master's degrees at Appalachian State University and doing graduate work in higher education administration at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, McKinney spent his professional life educating and counseling the young people of Mitchell and Burke counties. Toward the end of his career, he adapted his shepherding of young students to supporting and directing older students at the collegiate level, serving as a financial aid officer and dean of student affairs at Mayland Community College. While working as an educator, McKinney also grew and sold Christmas trees. His father-in-law taught him the business and Ron spent many happy summer days outdoors in the mountains that he loved mowing a shearing alongside his sons.
Decades of serving students in his community came naturally to McKinney after he volunteered to serve his country in the United States Air Force upon his own graduation from high school. Stationed in Spokane, Wash., between the police actions in Korea and Vietnam, McKinney maintained and repaired electronic systems in B52 bombers. Returning home to Mitchell County and completing the college degree that his military service helped finance, he began working as a counselor back at Bowman High School and married Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Wilson, a fellow educator and administrator. Their loving marriage of 59 years is an inspiration to their four sons and daughters-in-law, grandchildren and their spouses.
From the age of three when he entered the Sunbeam Sunday School Class at Bakersville Baptist Church, McKinney embarked on a love of, and eventual service to, the church in general and Bakersville Baptist Church in particular. He served on almost every committee a small Baptist church operates and was a stalwart member of the congregation. Installed as a deacon decades ago, Ron ministered to church members and community members alike, presiding over the church's annual business meeting only a few weeks ago with his trademark humor and enthusiasm for the future of Bakersville Baptist Church.
In retirement, McKinney transitioned his skills as a school and college administrator to the work of making Bakersville and Mitchell County stronger. An active participant in the Bakersville Improvement Group (BIG), Ron helped grow civic engagement, repair damage from all-to-frequent floods, and promote all that the town of Bakersville has to offer residents and visitors alike. Grant writing became the focus of his volunteer work for the Mitchell Community Health Partnership, an effort that improved the lives of the people of the place he loved. A life-long Democrat, McKinney was active in local politics, always putting the best interests of Bakersville, Mitchell County, and his fellow residents first.
Retirement also offered McKinney the opportunity to reflect on a formative period in his life, resulting in a book titled "Appalachian Boy: Stories from the Life of a Young Boy Growing Up in the Appalachian Mountains in the Nineteen Forties and Fifties." A treasure for his family, the book sparked long, enjoyable conversations between McKinney and people who remember life in Bakersville during those decades. He was especially happy that the book inspired others, including young people, to be curious about small-town mountain life in the past. With stories such as "Sundays on Duck Branch," "Low-Tech Haute Cuisine," and "Take Your Tonsils and Run," McKinney's memoir, along with the poetry that he loved to write, keep his voice alive for family and friends alike.
McKinney is survived by his wife, Libby; four sons, Brian (Katherine) of Bakersville, Craig (Ashley) of Seven Devils, Eric (Kimberly) of Denver, N.C., and Alan (Monica) of Matney in Watauga County; eight grandchildren, Ada, Isaac (Alexi), Zeb (Caroline), Bethany (Parker), Sarah, Lydia, Derek, and Garrett; and a great grandchild on the way, which McKinney joyfully learned about recently. He was preceded in death by an infant son, Derek.
McKinney's unwavering love of his wife, of his family, and of his God gives us hope for our futures, the enduring gift of a life well lived. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Ron McKinney Student Support Program at Mitchell High School at https://mitchell-high-school.square.site/?source=qr-code.