Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 16, 1995 TAG: 9506160034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NARROWS LENGTH: Long
Many riches be unknown
Littlest person in this world I may be.
I can't keep up with the styles
But I know I'm God's own child,
I claim Jesus first and that's enough for me
- In the hymn book it's titled, "I Claim Jesus First," but in this Southern mountain town they called it the Daniel Deweese song.
"It just fit him so well," they agreed.
Last month, everyone at Daniel's funeral sang it one last time, on his behalf, and thought about how this simple man had enriched their lives.
For generations Daniel Deweese was a familiar presence. People who didn't know his full name recognized this industrious, friendly, child-like character as "Daniel, the Apple Man."
Daniel, a grown man, hauling his red wagon along the streets of Narrows and Pearisburg was a curious sight. He also made money by doing yard work and picking up aluminum cans, but the apples Daniel sold door-to-door for $1 per bag were his signature.
He lacked advantages others take for granted. Daniel had a mild mental handicap and lived without much money. Yet he seemed happily transcendent, buoyed by his strong religious faith.
Even so, Daniel Deweese was no simpleton. "There's an old saying: Anything that's honest is honorable," said James Riffe of Narrows. "He came by what he had honestly."
Daniel died May 21 at age 62 of a stroke, yet his many friends are still sharing stories about him. "He was a legend," said the Rev. Jack Musick.
Born in Narrows, one of 11 surviving children, son of a worker at the Celanese industrial plant, Daniel spent much of his young adulthood on the road.
He traveled around the country, hitchhiking and working as a circus laborer, but came back home for good when his father died in the mid-1970s.
Thereafter Daniel focused on making a life for himself in his hometown. He married, bought a trailer and went to work, mowing lawns in the summer and selling apples from his wagon during other seasons.
Townsfolk loved Daniel for his good nature and respected him as word got around that he refused to accept any public assistance. His brother, Charles, who was Daniel's guardian when Daniel died, said he lived solely on his earnings and on his wife's modest disability check. Only when he was near the end of his life did he apply for Social Security.
"He was always just independent, someone who worked real hard," said Linda Boggs, Giles County's director of social services. "He was highly talked about for that reason."
Don Trout, a retired bank president from Narrows, tells the story of the day he picked up Daniel hitchhiking to the Giles County Social Services Office in Pembroke. "I asked him where he was going. He said he was going to tell them how much he made selling apples" so the county could adjust his wife's check.
One time Daniel took his well-worn wagon to a car dealership for some new tires. Instead, the employees made him a new one. People watched out for Daniel and frequently donated items to him - money or clothing, for example. Charles Deweese said Daniel would often pass the items along to another needy person.
"He wouldn't hurt anybody's feelings, but he'd say later, 'I don't really need it.' He was very aware of things."
Allie Riffe tells of the time she took some of her husband's old clothes to Daniel and left them on his porch, without a note. "We didn't want him to know," she said. Soon thereafter she saw Daniel decked out. "How do you like my new suit?" he asked.
"Looks good," she replied. "Where'd you get it?"
"Well, I've seen Jim Riffe wear it a hundred times at church!" Daniel exclaimed.
Daniel was a life-long member of the Narrows Church of God of Prophecy. "He knew the Bible and he understood it. He loved the Lord," said Charles Deweese.
Daniel was a steady fund-raiser for his church, and was known to conduct chapel services for county jail inmates. James Riffe said it wasn't unusual to find Daniel at his funeral home chapel long before services began, sitting and listening to the music. "He called it recharging his soul."
Daniel loved to sing gospel music and hymns. When he did, his stutter would disappear. One friend said the words came from the depths of his soul.
The story goes that, three years ago, Daniel stood up at a community Christmas service and sang in a voice so clear and strong that jaws dropped all over the church.
He also loved to march in the Narrows Christmas parade. In 1993 he dressed up in a clown suit and pulled his wagon behind several horses, sweeping up their road apples with naughty glee.
Daniel suffered his first stroke in February, and ended up at the Meadowbrook Nursing Home in Shawsville. Fellow church member Tom Gordon wrote a letter to the local paper that gave Daniel's address, and about 30 people sent cards and money.
"We love you. Our prayers are with you," said one card. "You were as much a part of my childhood as the Narrows pond...you gave all of us Narrows kids a lot of good memories," said another.
Daniel won a contest at the nursing home by singing, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," and talked about going home. But he lost a lot of weight off his large frame, and a second stroke ended his life.
At the funeral they reminisced about Daniel, sang his favorite hymns, and buried him on a hilltop grave beneath Angels Rest Mountain. The local florist shop constructed a red wagon out of red carnations and black Styrofoam.
Charles Deweese says he'd like to see Daniel's wagon donated to the town for a memorial. "They're really going to miss him," he said.
by CNB