Thomas "Tom" Southern

Thomas "Tom" Vaughn Southern, 89, of King, NC, died September 12, 2025, at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.

He was born on December 22, 1935, in Walkertown, NC, to Everett M. and Mattie Vaughn Southern. Tom grew up in Walkertown, NC, and graduated from Walkertown High School. He served as his senior class president, and one of the joys of his later life was continuing to gather his surviving classmates for mini-reunions at the Olympic Restaurant in Kernersville. He enlisted in the Navy after high school and eventually served for over 20 years on both active duty and as a reservist.

After his military service, he completed college and then attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He was ordained in the United Methodist church and pastored churches in the Western NC conference before switching denominations and leading Baptist congregations in Forsyth and Rockingham counties, the most recent being Forsyth Park Baptist in Winston-Salem. Tom loved to preach, but his true passion was singing gospel music. He sang in several Southern gospel music groups and continued to sing in churches until just a few weeks before his passing.

In the 1990s, Tom served as mayor of his hometown, Walkertown, and was instrumental in establishing a modern sewer system to accommodate the town's growth. He also served in the NC Senior Tar Heel Legislature, representing Forsyth and later Stokes County, after moving to King. Tom quickly became active through the senior center there and made many new friends, especially within the veterans’ group that meets there. He was a member of the American Legion and helped provide funerals for veterans throughout the area.

Tom was married to Frances Hege Southern for nearly 45 years before her death in 2000. He later married Virginia Arrington Southern and moved to King. He and Virginia enjoyed international and regional travel as long as his age and health permitted. They also spent many hours researching family genealogy and taking trips to historical sites.

Tom's family will remember his constant support and involvement in their lives. He sat through freezing temperatures at sporting events and applauded enthusiastically at arts performances. He performed weddings and baptisms down through the generations and always called to sing "Happy Birthday" within at least a few days of the actual date.

He was beloved by his grandchildren for teaching them to grow by treating them like adults, usually by letting them burn his brush piles, drive his truck, and stay up until midnight eating all manner of junk food. He always had a story, song, or joke ready, and performed each so well it didn't matter how many times they'd been heard before. In his later years he and Virginia took great joy in hosting Easter egg hunts and gingerbread house-building parties for the great-grands.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Frances Hege Southern; his sister Odessa Southern Elliott; and twin sons who died shortly after their birth but were forever in his heart. He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Virginia; his children, Karen S. Niegelsky (Robert), Timothy Southern (Marilyn), and Mickey Southern (Gina); seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; as well as Virginia’s children, Chris Arrington and Kim Johnson; two step-granddaughters; and his mother-in-law Elsie Sampsell.

A memorial service for Tom will be held at 1:30pm, Friday, September 19 at King Moravian Church, 228 West Dalton Rd, King, NC 27021. The family will receive friends an hour prior to the service. A private family inurnment will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the King Senior Center, PO Box 1132 King, NC 27021 or to a charity of one’s choice.