Thomas H. Helton, 81: ‘Champion of agriculture'

Thomas Helton hated to see the demise of family farms -- or agricultural land in general.

It struck a chord with him because he grew up on a farm in old Milton County before it became part of Fulton County. He made a career as a cooperative extension agent, first in DeKalb County and later as a district director in northwest Georgia.

"He was a champion of agriculture," said family friend Mark Mansell of Roswell. "He was really into helping young people in their well-being, and in the processes of agriculture. He also recognized the trend in agriculture to it being a corporate thing rather than individual thing, which has proven to be true."

As a young man, Ray Covington of Blairsville worked for 10 years on Mr.  Helton's farm. He helped tend the 13 horses and did other chores on the 30-acre spread off Campground Road in Forsyth County.

"We'd be riding around in the truck and he'd see a farm that was gone or land that had been sold to developers," Mr. Covington said. "He didn't like seeing it. He loved the land."

Thomas H. Helton of Cumming died Saturday of natural causes at his home. He was 81. Funeral services were held Tuesday with arrangements handled by Roswell Funeral Home.

Mr. Helton was born in 1929 to the late Henry A. Helton and Lena Mae Nunn Helton. He graduated from Milton High and enrolled at Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College in Tifton. He transferred to the University of Georgia, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and studied agronomy and horticulture.

He served in the Army during World War II and spent 13 years in the military. He was honorably discharged as a captain. His career with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service started in DeKalb as an assistant agent. The horse and dog lover eventually became that county's extension director. The last six years of Mr. Helton's career were spent as a district extension director.

In DeKalb, "Tom was one of the innovators in what I call urban agriculture," said Talmadge Duvall of Athens, a retired director of the UGA Cooperative Extension Service.

"DeKalb was an urban area and he was a leader who addressed planning, zoning and landscaping issues. One of his projects was in southwest DeKalb, where he took an old prison farm and turned it into a demonstration farm for grading, landscaping and that kind of thing. He was a great man, a great leader. A real asset to agriculture."

Mr. Helton was married to Katie Lee Strickland Helton for more than 50 years. They had no children, but Mr. Helton was still involved with kids through 4-H, the youth program of the Cooperative Extension Service.

"He helped countless 4-H kids," Mr. Covington said, "and would privately donate to 4-H programs."