Dwight Austin Ensley

Dwight Austin Ensley, age 64, went to be with our Lord Saturday, March 5, 2022. His death by heart attack was sudden and unexpected. He is survived by his beloved wife, Carolyn J. Woodruff, of Greensboro, North Carolina. Carolyn is also a Greensboro lawyer. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro. Carolyn and Dwight were members of Starmount Country Club, where they had enjoyed dinner on March 4, 2022.

Dwight is also survived by a daughter, Maggie Ensley Williams of Denver, Colorado, and three grandchildren – Ethan, Cameron, and Addison Williams. These grandchildren were the apple of his eye. He was predeceased by his mother, Ruth Harding Ensley Becherucci, Orville, Ohio; his father, Austin Ensley and step-mother Gladys Ensley, Cherokee, North Carolina; and his daughter Carly Ensley, North Canton, Ohio.

Dwight was a businessman and an accomplished airplane pilot all of his adult years. After high school in North Canton, Ohio, he graduated from Kent State University in Business Administration with a concentration in aviation in 1979. He was a commercial multi-engine instrument pilot. He regularly flew a B58 Baron twin-engine airplane with his last flight from North Myrtle Beach to Greensboro on March 2, 2022. While early in his career, he flew charter, he stopped charter flying to pursue his businesses. As a flight instructor, he gave many flying lessons at a flight school belonging to Kenny Little during college. "Eyes outside," Dwight commented to less experienced pilots. Dwight mentored other pilots throughout his career, including his wife Carolyn and Paul Mengert – both of whom achieved multi-engine pilot certificates with input from Dwight, particularly on the weather. Dwight's knowledge of weather and flying safety was second to none. He successfully landed two airplanes that had engine failure. One landing was on a highway, and all the charter passengers walked away unharmed after he adeptly ducked the plane under a powerline. In 2007, Dwight received a special commendation from former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius for a heroic landing at midnight in a blizzard in Goodland, Kansas. In August 2017, during a solar eclipse, Dwight flew an Archer 180 at 13,000 feet into the darkness of the eclipse over Anderson, South Carolina. On board the Archer was Robert C. Lopez with the Greensboro News and Record, Fabio Andre Camera, and his wife Carolyn. He had approximately 10,000 hours of flying time in his logbook when the final page was closed on March 5.

Dwight received his MBA from the University of Steubenville in 1986. Feeling the need to develop environmentally-friendly businesses, he owned an operating a glass recycling plant in Baltimore, Maryland, and a plastics recycling plant in Ohio and North Carolina. He was the owner and CEO of the following: Plastic Recycling Company, 1997 – 2008, Glass Recycling company, 1993 – 1997, and Multi-material Recycling Company, 1989 – 1993. After selling these plants, he utilized his MBA skills to become a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) in 2010. In 2010, he started the business valuation firm known as ValuePointe.biz" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ValuePointe.biz" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ValuePointe.biz, a specialty consulting firm that provided more than 500 business valuations for divorces, SBA loans, and estate planning in the Southeastern United States. During the years 2008 to 2010, he was the business director for Woodruff Family Law Group in Greensboro. Intrigued by the law and his lifelong desire for continuous learning, he decided to attend law school, where he excelled at Elon University School of Law, only a short distance from his Greensboro home. He was the oldest guy in the class of 2013. After passing the North Carolina bar, he continued his pursuits with ValuePointe.biz with even more knowledge of the requirements for being an expert witness. He had ongoing projects with his company ValuePointe.biz at his death.

Dwight was a member of the North Carolina Bar and the following professional associations: American Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association, Institute of Business Appraisers, and the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts.

Dwight Ensley was a gifted author of three books. When the Wrong Person Gets the Money, his first work, concerns the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for Dupont about divorce and the misdirection of retirement benefits to a new spouse. Next, he wrote Business Valuations for NC Family Lawyers! He was a frequent CLE speaker using this book as his text. His third work was co-authored with Carolyn and entitled Captain Green Eyes and the Seven Nights of Santa. The book concerns children from all kinds of families who share holidays with multiple homes and caregivers. Dwight co-authored with Carolyn the Cupcake Buddies, the fictional characters in the book illustrated by Marilynn Barr of Greensboro. The muse for the imaginative work is a black stuffed cat with big green eyes, a toy given to Dwight as a baby that he named Captain Green Eyes. Captain Green Eyes, with his co-pilot Ms. Skyhart, flew the Cupcake Buddies – Pinkie, Sherbie, and Hotdog – to the North Pole in a bi-plane to discuss with Santa a solution to presents only coming on Christmas Eve when children may be at multiple homes during the Christmas holiday. Of course, the Buddies take cupcakes to Santa.

Dwight excelled at creative arts. He was an avid musician with skills in singing and playing many instruments. Among his favorite instruments were his guitars and electric keyboard. He had a lifelong mastery of banjo and trombone.

With his marriage to Carolyn on March 27, 2010, he honed his artistic skills in competitive ballroom and contemporary show dance. Dwight and Carolyn were the Fred Astaire national champion show dance Amateur couple three times. Notable national award-winning performances were his work in creating the show dance "Addiction," where he danced and made a cutting edge shadow screen stage prop. His tribute to David Bowie's "Starman" in contemporary dance on a hoverboard contributed to expanding the national thinking about ballroom dance.

His engaging personality led to a casting in the Simon Fuller show "Ballroom Blitz" in 2013, which aired in the United States and ten other countries.

He focused on art venues, such as the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, in his world travels to expand his understanding of dance as a universal language. In his last days, he was particularly troubled over the events in Ukraine and found it difficult to fathom the Russian actions based upon his many trips to Moscow to enjoy the arts. His last international arts trip was to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. He ceased his global travels with the pandemic but planned trips to Australia and South Africa as the pandemic prayerfully winds down.

Dwight considered his best accomplishments, however, to be his charitable endeavors. Others, particularly those in need, were Dwight's passion. When his beloved daughter Carly Ensley died at age 16 from rare liver cancer, he set up a college scholarship in her name for a high school senior who desired to pursue the arts in college. He donated and presented the annual award at Carly's high school for more than a decade.

He co-founded the Captain Green Eyes Dance Troupe with Carolyn for Greensboro's Boys and Girls Club. He provided five summers of complimentary dance lessons with performance opportunities for eight-year-olds. The Troupe was featured with clips on National Dance Day twice on "So You Think You Can Dance." Ensley brought legendary artists Fik-Shun and Comfort from "So You Think You Can Dance" All-Stars to Greensboro to the Troupe to energize and provide hope and inspire possible career paths for these children.

He frequently was an entertaining Master of Ceremonies for Symphony Guild events, such as the Notable Nights series of the Guild. The heart of his philanthropy was with the music exposure provided by the Symphony Guild to all third graders in Guilford County, North Carolina.

He supported the Women's Resource Center's annual event, Men Can Cook, for many years. Of course, what did he cook as a head chef for the event? Cupcakes by his Cupcake Buddies characters.

In furtherance of long-term charitable objectives, Dwight and Carolyn set up the Woodruff-Ensley Foundation, Inc.– a 501(c)3 - a few years back so that the needs of troubled families could be carried out indefinitely.

Animal rescue was part of Dwight's charitable profile. He focused on senior kitties who had been displaced by a caregiver having to go into assisted living that allowed no pets. On January 11, 2022, he rescued a six-year-old mackerel tabby cat named Lilly, when Lilly's mommy could no longer care for her. Lilly was the first alert that something was wrong with Dwight on March 5 when he passed.

The charity Family Service of Piedmont's Big Hair Ball caught the innovative glimmer in Dwight's eye. ValuePointe.biz was a major sponsor of Big Hair Ball from its inception. Dwight not only donated money, but he also donated time helping the designers and production side of the show. On one occasion, Dwight ran errands for hair designers at Blow, a local hair salon, when more hair extensions were needed for the big hair. He and Carolyn have co-chaired the Annual Fund for Family Service of the Piedmont for the last two years. During the pandemic, with needs at Family Service at an all-time high, Dwight used his resourcefulness to raise more Annual Fund money than ever before. Dwight's lifelong motto can be summed up with the Charles D. Meigs classic hymn "Others." "Lord help me live from day to day, in such a self-forgetful way, that even when I kneel to pray, My prayer shall be for others . . . others, let this my motto be."

The funeral service will be held on Monday, March 14, 2022, at 2 PM in the main sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church, 617 N Elm St, Greensboro, NC 27401. Hanes-Lineberry is handling the funeral arrangements. The ceremony will also be streamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOdTiFZzebw. The link will be available on the church website: fpcgreensboro.org, or you can Google First Presbyterian Church Greensboro for Special Events.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to this year's Annual Fund at Family Service of the Piedmont at https://www.fspcares.org. Click on donate from the home page and designate the gift to the Annual Fund in Memory of Dwight A. Ensley.