A good guy is gone.

And, nobody is going to argue with that.

The death of Randy Hale on Friday sent shock waves throughout Pike County and then spread a blanket of sadness over the community.

“And a good guy is gone,” said Keith Roling, a friend and member of the Pike County Farm City Committee that Hale has chaired for several years. “I’ve never heard anyone say an unkind thing about Randy. He was as good a guy as you can find. He was dedicated to his Lord, his family, his work and his community. You can’t say more about a man than that.”

Hale retired from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Troy but remained active with the Pike County Farm City Committee and the Pike County Chapter of Treasure Forest.

“Randy and I were in Montgomery last week at a Farm City meeting and it amazed me how he fit in so well with everybody,” Roling said. “Randy was one of a kind. He touched a lot of lives. Randy Hale will be missed by a lot of people and in many ways. What a good guy.”

Tammy Powell knew Hale through his work with NRCS and her work with the Pike County Extension Office.

“I met Randy when I came to work with Extension here and I’ve been retired several years, so I’ve known and appreciated him for a long time,” Powell said. “Not many people know this but Randy was in 4-H in Cherokee County and was a state 4-H winner. He was very supportive of 4-H here in Pike County. We worked together often and he was always dependable, knowledgeable and willing to do whatever he could do to contribute.”

Powell said Hale was a leader of the Pike County Farm-City Committee and took care of ticket sales for the annual Farm-City Banquet almost single handed.
“Randy was a strong supporter of all agriculture and the Pike County farming community,” she said. “He enjoyed going out and talking to folks and they enjoyed him. Randy did what he could to make life better for the people in Pike County and he made life better for a lot of us. His influence will be missed and we’ll all miss Randy. You won’t find many people like him anymore.”

Dana Sanders, Pike County Chamber of Commerce president, said Hale was extremely involved in agriculture-related activities and organizations. He served Pike County in many roles with the USDA, as a charter member of the Pike County Chapter of the Treasure Forest Association, the Pike County Cattlemen’s Association and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

“And, of course, he was a member of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce Farm City Committee for more than 40 years,” Sanders said. “Seven of those years, he served as the committee chair.

“Mr. Randy was a friend. He always had a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone. His presence will be greatly missed. We know that our next chairman will have very large shoes to fill.”

Deborah Huggins-Davis and Hale worked together as members of Treasure Forest and Farm-City.

“Randy was a friend,” she said. “He was involved in many things in the community and he also did a lot of things that people didn’t know about. There were people who had washers and dryers and other things because of Randy.

“Taking care of others was a big part of his life. Randy always put others above himself. We have lost a good friend. Who will fill his shoes?”