12/26/2008

Thomas R. McPherson Sr.


    BURLINGTON — Thomas Richmond McPherson Sr., 79, formerly of Yanceyville, died on December 23, 2008, in the Coble Health Center of Twin Lakes Community after several years of declining health. He was born on May 30, 1929, in Mebane to the late William Edgar and Irene Richmond McPherson and was a grandson of the late William King and Elizabeth Slaughter McPherson and the late Thomas Bethel and Margaret Murray Richmond, all of Mebane.
    On March 8, 1952, he married Elizabeth P. Parker, of Raeford, who survives. They met in 1950 at an NCSU/ WCUNC Collegiate 4H Club gathering at the Woman’s College of UNC. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Thomas Richmond Mc-Pherson Jr. and wife, Kathy Simmons McPherson, of Pinehurst; his son, Edgar Davis McPherson and wife, Lise Wurzbacher, of Silver Spring, Md.; his daughter, Elizabeth McPherson Mollica, and husband, Michael Mollica, of Charlottesville, Va.; six grandchildren, Thomas Richmond McPherson III and wife, Janet, of Winston-Salem, Katherine Miles McPherson, of New York City, Mariah McPherson and Marlee McPherson, of Silver Spring, Md., Brittany Mollica and Elise Mollica, of Charlottesville, Va.; one brother, William Edgar McPherson Jr., of Mebane; brother-in-law, D.B. Parker and wife, Sylvia; and sister-inlaw, Ellen K. Parker, all of Fayetteville; 12 nieces and nephews, and many great-nieces and nephews; an uncle, Ernest Richmond and wife, Ruth, of Mebane; an aunt, Alice McPherson Patisaul, of Augusta, Ga. A loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and cousin, he was always happy when there were family gatherings to enjoy.
    In 1951, he graduated from North Carolina State with a degree in Animal Industry and an ROTC commission. He was a member of Alpha Zeta honor fraternity and Alpha Gamma Rho social fraternity, the Ag Club, the NCSU Collegiate 4H Club and was a member of the NCSU Dairy Judging Team.
    He was an Infantry Officer during the Korean War and spent the last year of the war on the front lines in the Punch Bowl area of Korea.
    His agricultural heritage and his love of the land and farming were major factors in his life’s journey. From his early teens he was actively involved in the operation of McPherson Farms with its herd of registered Guernseys. Following his military service, he was a partner in the family dairy operation for 10 years. In 1959, he was 1st runner up for N.C.’s Young Farmer of the Year. In 1963, he became County Supervisor of USDA’s Farmers Home Administration program in Caswell County from which he retired in 1989. In retirement, he was able to pursue his love of trees and landscaping and spent many hours root pruning and nurturing trees from the woods to be planted in his large yard or to contribute to the Caswell Horticulture Club for the Community Arboretum.
    He joined Mebane Presbyterian Church as a youth and faithfully served his Lord for all of his life. In Mebane, he was ordained as a deacon and served as Chair of the church’s Board of Deacons. In the Yanceyville Presbyterian Church, he was ordained as an Elder and served 2 terms as Clerk of Session and was chair of the Cemetery Trustees.
    He was a member of the Yanceyville Rotary Club for 45 years, served as Rotary president twice, and was a Paul Harris Fellow in International Rotary.
    An avid golfer, he and his golfing partner and friend, Will Woodard, were faithful members of the Eno Seniors Golfers, and also spent many days enjoying the local golf course.
    He had a special passion for NCSU basketball, for the legendary Everett Case brought big-time basketball to N.C. during his campus caperer days, but was truly a Wolfpack fan for other sports, too. His family’s enthusiasm for baseball led him to follow the St. Louis Cardinals and the prowess of a distant cousin Enos Slaughter at an early age. In recent years, he faithfully cheered for the Atlanta Braves.
    With his wife and son, Davis, he restored historic Woodside (c. 1836), in Milton, in 1986 and operated Woodside Inn, a country inn and bed and breakfast for 8 years. Woodside Inn was one of two public facilities where the woodwork of the famous free black cabinet and furniture craftsman could be seen. For this restoration the family received the top award of the N.C. chapter of the Victorian Society of America. Robert E. Lee’s legendary general, Stephen Dodson Ramseur, the youngest West Point graduate to be a Major General in the Confederate Army, married his first cousin in the parlor at Woodside and their only child was born there. This connection stoked his passion for history, and he became a member of the N.C. Civil War Roundtable leading to the accumulation of a large collection of some of the best books about the war all of which were read.
    Funeral services will be held at the Yanceyville Presbyterian Church on Saturday, December 27 at 11 a.m. with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held at Harrelson Funeral Home in Yanceyville from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, December 26. A memorial service will be held in Foley Chapel at Twin Lakes at a later date.
    Memorials may be made to the Richmond-Miles Museum, Box 278, Yanceyville, N.C. 27379 or to the Caswell Parish, Yanceyville, N.C. 27379.
    Harrelson Funeral Service is assisting the family with arrangements. 3, Thomas R. McPherson Sr.