HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — A longtime Triad barber passed away Sunday, leaving behind a legacy that spans decades. James Dobson owned Five Points Barbershop, and people who loved him met outside the former location to celebrate his memory Wednesday night.    

Dobson made it his personal mission to take young men under his wing to train them to be barbers, offering them not only a skill but also a lot of advice.  

“This loss hurts a lot of people. It’s a shock. James was so loving. Full of advice. As a young man myself, certain issues I would have, I could come and talk to Mr. Dobson about it. I called him James. I would come talk to him. He would give you sound advice,” said Michael Chisholm, a barber.  

Everyone at the vigil in Five Points had happy memories of Dobson, describing him as a committed leader and friend but most of all as a mentor.

Dobson saw the trouble on local streets and did his best to take on barbering apprentices and show them a career path they could take for a brighter future.

Dobson invested in other people so much that he even offered them temporary housing and other resources to help them better their lives. Another local barber said he wouldn’t be where he is today without him.  

“It hurts because it’s hard to find people to bring you into their shop and help you out when you are starting out and not doing well with your clientele. He was the type of person to be patient with me, to encourage me not to quit, not to give up,” Terdarrius Marsh said.  

Those he mentored say they carry his memory with him and plan to continue mentoring other young men in the skill of barbering.