Richard "Dick" G. Havens

Mr. Richard George Havens, also known as Dick or Rhino, of Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, North Carolina, died September 22, 2025 after a short illness.

Mr. Havens was born January 26, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles W. and Jesse Mae Money Havens, and was a resident of Chapel Hill until 2004, when he and his wife moved to Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, NC.

He was educated in the Westminster, Maryland (Carroll County) school system, where he was an All-State football player and a member of the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame. He accepted a football scholarship to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated with a BA in History and Education. While at Duke, the football team won three consecutive ACC Championships and the 1961 Cotton Bowl. He received All-State Honors and All-ACC Academic Honors. When the team played UCLA in 1960, they met Elvis Presley. Even though they won the Cotton Bowl, they were remembered more for meeting the King of Rock and Roll.

He was in the AFROTC program and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He served in the US Air Force and was stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro, NC. He volunteered for Southeast Asia and was stationed at Takhli and Udorn Air Bases in Thailand. He attained the rank of Captain and received the Air Force Accommodation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. While stationed at Udorn, he was the project officer for the Bob Hope Christmas Show in 1966.

Following his Air Force service, he attended the University of North Carolina and earned a Master of Teaching degree. While in graduate school, he was a graduate assistant football coach at Duke University and manager of the UNC Faculty & Staff Recreation Association (The Farm).

His real estate career began in 1973 as a builder and then as a broker. He specialized in commercial real estate, having earned the GRI and CCIM designations. He was past President of Chapel Hill/Durham Commercial Realtors and President of Triangle Exchange, which was the first organization of commercial real estate brokers in the Triangle markets. He was President of GEOCORP since 1996, specializing in land and investment properties and a Residential Broker with North Carolina Estates. He was on the Board of Directors of the Carolina Chapter of National Realtors Land Institute and was President for two years.

He was on the Board of Directors of the Coach Bill Dooley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame since 1996 and received the Leadership Award in 2018. He also received the Distinguished American Award in 2021.

He enjoyed life, work, people, and was active in maintaining close relationships with high school and college teammates plus many friends and organizing gatherings since 1976 (especially the Rhino Gatherings).

He is survived by: his wife of fifty-four years, Anne Fitch Havens of Pittsboro; a brother-in-law R. B. Fitch of Pittsboro; two nephews, Charles Havens IV (Marylyn) of Lander, WY and Greg Fitch (John Sweet) of Chapel Hill; three nieces, Jessica M. Havens of Richmond, VA, Katherine Anne Fitch of Pittsboro, and Kelley E. Fitch (Jeff) of Chapel Hill; three great-nieces, Hazel Pardington, Lucca Waites, and Betsey Fitch-Sweet; four great-nephews, Quinn and Roman Waites, and Thomas and Jack Fitch-Sweet. He was predeceased by his older brother, Charles W. Havens III.

In lieu of flowers and in his memory, take a friend out to lunch or dinner. Over the years, he learned how to hold them and how to fold them with a close group of friends.

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a better place…to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Donaldson Funeral Home and Crematory is honored to serve the Havens Family.