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Jan. 2, 1945 – Oct. 23, 2021

Dr. Dalton Hays McAfee passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, after a period of illness.  Dr. McAfee was born on Jan. 2, 1945, to Ector and Lucy McAfee in Brandon, Mississippi.

After he graduated from Holy Ghost High School, he went on to study agriculture science and holds a bachelor’s degree from Alcorn State University.  He holds a master’s degree from Tuskegee University and completed his education with a doctorate from The Ohio State University.

He was a retired extension administrator of North Carolina A&T State University and of Alcorn State University. He has published numerous journal articles and research papers.  His areas of specialization included adult education, program development and impact evaluation, agricultural education, vocational education, organizational development, and strategic and transformational planning.

Those who knew Dr. McAfee well understood his passion for providing education and assistance to small scale farmers.  This passion led to continued work with community programs culminating in his establishment in 2020 of the nonprofit E & L Development Foundation, a nonprofit supporting small scale farmers across Mississippi in honor of his parents Ector and Lucy McAfee.

Dr. McAfee was predeceased by his father, Ector McAfee and his, mother Lucy Potter McAfee.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Barbara Easterling Smith McAfee of Natchez, Mississippi; his daughter, Trina Geiger (Alvin) of Raleigh, North Carolina; his sister, Melbah Smith (Charles) of Brandon, Mississippi; one nephew, Peter Smith (Samantha) of Brandon, Mississippi; three grandchildren, and two step sons bringing four additional grandchildren into his life.

His career as an educator began in Elba, Alabama, in 1967, where he served as a vocational agriculture teacher at Mulberry Heights and Elba High Schools.  In 1974, he assumed responsibility as assistant administrator for the Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina A&T State University. Among the programs he coordinated in his first years at A&T was the Farm Opportunities Program which gained national recognition for innovatively providing educational and technical assistance to small scale farmers with one-on-one instruction and the use of paraprofessionals.  He coordinated county operations for A&T Extension, provided leadership for the on-campus specialists and served as liaison between A&T and North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension efforts.  Dr. McAfee was selected to serve as associate dean and administrator for the North Carolina A&T Cooperative Extension Program in 1994. In this role, he worked with the dean of the School of Agriculture to provide leadership for all facets of the A&T Cooperative Extension Program.

In 2000, Dr. McAfee and Dr. John Ort, associate dean and director of the Cooperative Extension Service at North Carolina State University were honored with the USDA’s Silver Plow Award in recognition of North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s contribution to relief efforts after hurricane Floyd. In 1997, they received from then Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman, the Superior Service Award for emergency response efforts in the aftermath of hurricane Fran in 1996.

In 2003, McAfee was appointed extension administrator for Alcorn State University Extension Program. He served as interim dean, School of Agriculture, Research, Extension and Applied Sciences (AREAS) from 2006 to 2008. McAfee has served on numerous state and national committees. His international experience includes work in several Caribbean nations, Belize, Russia and India.

In 2006, Dr. McAfee accepted the ADEC Irving-Barrier Buster Award for assistance the Alcorn State University Extension Program (ASUEP) provided during the Katrina disaster in the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Appointments included a member of the board of directors of the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC), serving on the ADEC executive committee that officially represents 1890 institutions.  The mission of ADEC is to help member institutions become fully engaged with their communities and provide economical distance education programs and services via the latest and most appropriate information technologies.

Dr. McAfee was a certified administrator for Human Patterns and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). He was active in numerous organizations including Gamma Sigma Theta, Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Adult Education Association, American Vocational Association.

Services were held at Dean Memorial Funeral Home, 745 MS-468, Brandon, Mississippi on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, 1 p.m. visitation and 2 p.m. memorial.

Graveside service were held on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, at 12 p.m. at Pearlie Grove Baptist Church cemetery, 1901 Shell Oil Road, Brandon, Mississippi.