Last Updated on January 2, 2018 7:44 pm
A long time local volunteer to multiple organizations passed away on New Year's Eve.
Richard M. “Dick” Hearn, age 87, of Blackberry Road, Boone, passed away Sunday evening, December 31, 2017, at The Foley Center at Chestnut Ridge in Blowing Rock, according to Hampton Funeral Home.
In a Facebook post by the Watauga County Cooperative Extension, “The Watauga County Cooperative Extension was very sad to learn of the passing of Dick Hearn on New Years Eve. We grieve yet celebrate this amazing friend, outstanding community leader and activist, and Extension volunteer and champion. Dick and his wife, Joan, were an inseparable and indomitable dynamic duo. From his countless kids-in-the-creek appearances as the “Stream Doctor” (with Joan as “Mandy Mayfly”) to his many years of service on our Extension advisory board and Farm City Planning Committee to his community service with Operation Medicine Cabinet, Watauga River Partners, the Adult Services Coalition, United Way, the Guardian ad Litem program….just to name a VERY few. Dick is cherished…and will be missed.
Also in a Facebook post the Hospitality House said, “We are saddened to learn of the passing of local hero, activist and #CommunityAllStar Dick Hearn! He, along with wife Joan, was ubiquitous in Watauga county – volunteering, educating, creating, caring, loving and leading! We are all better because of Dick Hearn and the world is a bit less bright today without him in it. #RIPDickHearn
A Celebration of the Life for Richard M. “Dick” Hearn will be held Thursday afternoon, January 4, 2018, at 1:00 o'clock, at Hampton Funeral Home Chapel. The family will receive friends Thursday afternoon, from 12:00 until 1:00 o'clock, at the funeral home, prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Middle Fork Greenway, PO Box 568, Boone, North Carolina, 28607 or to Friends of Watauga County Public Library, 140 Queen Street, Boone, North Carolina, 28607.
According to his obituary: Dick was born May 5, 1930 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, son of the late Frances Norman Hearn and Eleanor Chandler Hearn. He was a retired Claims Superintendent for State Farm Insurance and served in the United States Army. Dick was very active and generous volunteering for the following organizations; Friends of the Watauga County Public Library, Middle Fork Greenway, Watauga Substance Abuse Prevention, High Country United Way, Adult Services Coalition, Juvenile Delinquent Prevention Committee, Watauga River Partners, Stream Doctors Kids in the Creek, Guardian Ad Lit, Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care, Cooperative Extension Advisory Board, Farm City Committee, Operation Medicine Cabinet, Reading & Rolling Library, Watauga Ed of Life Coalition, Project Life Saver, Adopt-A-Highway, and North Carolina Big Sweep Captions.
