Frank Head, formerly of the Range community, celebrated his 105th birthday March 19. Head is a resident in the CLC at the VA, Johnson City.

Due to the coronavirus lockdown, Head’s birthday celebration was limited to his daughter, Judy Reed.

Head, a former Carter County Commissioner, was born March 19, 1915 to Will and Dora Byrd Head, who at the time lived in the Limestone Cove community of Unicoi County. He was the youngest of six children.

After spending much of his childhood working on the family farm, Head in 1936 moved to Elizabethton to take a job at the then-new Bemberg plant, which is where he met his wife, Marie. The couple married in 1942.

Just a couple of months before he was drafted for military service during WWII, he was elected Circuit Court Clerk in Unicoi County. Head served in World War II in the South Pacific, mainly in the Philippines.

When he returned from the war, he settled with his family in the Range community of Carter County, and they began attending Slagles United Methodist Church. He served on the Board of Trustees for many years.

Head also served six years as president of the Range Community Club, 24 years as a Carter County Commissioner for the 13th district and helped organize and served with the Watauga Volunteer Fire Department.

Head and his wife, Marie, who is now deceased, had one daughter, Judy, who is married to Clarance Reed. He has two grandchildren, Danny Reed and wife Myoka, and Clinton Reed and wife Mary. He also has three great-grandchildren, Austin Reed, Wendy Reed and Lucas Reed.