Pam Warlick honored with 2021 Allen H. Sims Award by Gaston Community Foundation

Pamela Kimbrell Warlick has been honored by the Gaston Community Foundation with the receipt of the 31st annual Allen H. Sims Award.

The award is presented each year "in recognition of a person who displays the traits of the late Allen Sims: the selfless act of seeing a need and finding a solution, of caring for a community, and making a difference."

Sims, according to information provided by the foundation, headed a long list of business-related and local community organizations, but was best known as a community fundraiser and for giving anonymous financial aid to many young people.

Bequests from his estate and that of his wife, Anne Rankin Sims, created what is still the largest single fund in the Community Foundation - an unrestricted endowment bearing their names.

Warlick is the first descendant of a former Sims recipient to also receive the award. Her father, the late Duke Kimbrell, received the award in 2000.

Indeed Warlick referenced her father in discussing the significance of the honor she has received.

"My father was born in Gastonia and he loved this community and its people," she said. "It is his example that we hope to follow and pass on to our children, their children, and the next generation."

Warlick began her education at Gaston Day School and then attended Salem College where she earned her bachelor's degree in art history.

That background led her to be instrumental in the construction of the Pamela Kimbrell Warlick Visual and Performing Arts Center at Gaston Day.

"It was so exciting to be involved with that project from the ground up," she recalled. "It was so fulfilling to work with the architects, the administration, the faculty, and the students to create a center that is dedicated solely to arts education."

Warlick's other involvements related to the arts include serving as president of the Gaston County Museum of Art and History, serving on the Arts Committee for the Warlick Family YMCA, and volunteering on the Arts Task Force at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

"Since my background is in the arts," Warlick said. "My personal passion is supporting arts-related projects in our community."

Outside of the arts, Warlick has been involved in the Junior League and is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Gastonia. She is a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and has served on the board of directors and the grants committee for the Community Foundation.

"As a family, we are truly blessed to be able to give back to the community," she said. "That is our greatest joy."

Gaston Day Head of School Richard Rankin credited Warlick's leadership and philanthropy not only for the establishment of the Visual and Performing Arts Center but also for the continued health and growth of the school.

"Without her support," said Rankin, "I'm not sure the school would exist as it does today."

Rankin credited Warlick for "her own generosity" but also noted how she influenced her father to be a great supporter of the school as well.

"She talked her dad into loving this school just as much as she did," Rankin recalled. "Her life reflects his generous spirit, but her desires to improve the community were a big influence on him."

Rankin also praised Warlick as, "the kindest, most generous person I know. She is a person who takes great pleasure in other people's success and in helping others to be successful."

Nancy Paschall, chairwoman of the Community Foundation's board of directors, echoed Rankin's remarks about Warlick.

"We were so thrilled to present her with this award and to honor her in such a special way," Paschall said. "She is so deserving of this recognition because she has been so wonderful to this community."

Paschall added that Warlick has "blessed Gaston County with her vision, her leadership, her talents and her resources. She sets a wonderful example for us all."

Warlick was originally slated to receive the Sims Award in 2020 but the annual banquet was canceled due to concerns over COVID-19.

With the delta variant of COVID still a concern this year, the annual Sims Dinner, held at the Gaston Country Club, reflected those realities.

Attendees all wore masks and the normal sit-down dinner was instead offered in take-out form.

"We felt it important to lead by example in the hopes of keeping everyone safe," said Foundation President Ernest Sumner," while still being able to share in the excitement of the award together."

The award was presented to Warlick by her son, Davis Warlick, who said, "My mom has carried out my grandfather's wishes: 'Give us thankful hearts and (let us) help others.'"

Past Sims Awards Recipients

• 2019 -- Wayne and Julia Shovelin
• 2018 -- Dr. William A. Current Sr.
• 2017 -- Dr. Charton K. Torrence Jr.
• 2016 -- Henry Massey Jr.
• 2015 -- Mildred J. Sadler
• 2014 -- W. Alex Hall
• 2013 -- Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Rauch
• 2012 -- John K. Long
• 2011 -- Mrs. Johan T. Newcombe
• 2010 -- Ralph S. Robinson Jr.
• 2009 -- Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Carstarphen III
• 2008 -- Bill Palmer
• 2007 -- Mr. and Mrs. Dougie Henry
• 2006 -- Tom D. Efird
• 2005 -- Mr. and Mrs. Bob Adams
• 2004 -- Daniel Jonathan Stowe
• 2003 -- Titus Greene
• 2002 -- B. Frank Matthews II
• 2001 -- Rebecca B. Carter
• 2000 -- W. Duke Kimbrell
• 1999 -- Plato Pearson Jr.
• 1998 -- J. Edward Stowe
• 1997 -- Charles E. Zeigler
• 1996 -- J.B. Alala Jr.
• 1995 -- Albert Myers and Mr. and Mrs. James Cherry
• 1994 David R. LaFar III
• 1993 -- Harold T. Sumner and the Rev. Robert E. Johnson Jr.
• 1992 -- Mr. and Mrs. Grier Beam
• 1991 -- Lucy Rawlings Penegar and John L. Fraley Jr.
• 1990 -- Judith Miller, A. Leonel Bruememer, James B. Carter, and James B. Leonard

About the Community Foundation

The foundation began operations on May 8, 1978, as the Garrison Community Foundation, a non-profit public charity. Initial funding of $726,524 came from assets of the closed Garrison General Hospital.

In 1987, the name was changed to the Community Foundation of Gaston County, to better describe its broader community role.

Individuals, families, and organizations establish funds at the foundation to carry out their charitable giving, both now and in the future.

Bill Poteat may be reached at 704-869-1855 or bpoteat@gastongazette.com.