Tommy Deese, vice chair of Soil and Water Conservation District, dies at 83

ROCKINGHAM — Harold Thomas “Tommy” Deese, Sr., vice chairman of the Richmond County Soil and Water Conservation District, died Monday evening at the age of 83.

He passed at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital-Richmond after suffering a heart attack, according to Jackie McAuley, administrative assistant for the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).

Deese was elected to the SWCD in 2014 and reelected in 2018. He was named vice chairman in January 2015.

He was a farmer, having bought his own farm in 1965, and also worked for the N.C. Forestry Service, among other things, according to McAuley. He had retired from the Forestry Service, and had recently retired from farming.

The SWCD provides programs, technical services, educational outreach promoting voluntary resource management and conservation on private lands of NC.