Hall of Fame
Warren Sexton grew up in the western North Carolina county of Ashe and graduated from Lansing High School. He was a twelve-letter athletic letterman in high school, earning four letters each in football, basketball, and baseball. He served in the U.S. Army for two years. He earned top secret clearance with the United States and with N.A.T.O. and worked as a cryptographer.
Sexton entered Lees-McRae College in 1953 and earned his A.A. in 1955. One of his classmates, Carol S. Smith, became his wife after graduation. Â They moved to Boone, N.C. where he could study at Appalachian State University. He earned his B.S. in 1958 and his M.A. in 1959.
Sexton was employed by Chowan College (now University) on a one-year contract to teach history. That one-year appointment turned into a career of thirty-six years. For twenty-one years, he chaired the Department of Social Sciences. His faculty peers voted him as the Most Outstanding Teacher in 1971, and the 1991 Chowanoka was dedicated to him.
Continuing his interest in sports, he was the chair of the faculty athletic committee for many years. During this time he helped start the Braves Club to raise funds to support the athletic program. He helped with the planning of the Helms Center, and he helped start the Chowan Athletic Hall of Fame. Sexton retired from Chowan in 1995.
Sexton lived an active life outside his Chowan University duties. He worked many years as an official for high school baseball, basketball, and football. He was a member of the Murfreesboro Baptist Church and the Murfreesboro Historical Association.
Sexton’s wife, the former Carol Smith, also has Emeritus status from Chowan University, having served the institution many years as a professional librarian. The Sextons have two children, Jean Elizabeth Sexton and Warren G. Sexton, Jr.Â
