Charles May retires after 40 years of Perry County extension service
Charles May ended 40 years with Perry County Extension, leaving an office that serves farmers, 4-H families and households from 933 Perry Park Road. Chad Allen has already been named in agriculture and natural resources.
Charles May ended four decades with the Perry County Extension Office, closing a run that tied university research to daily life for families, farmers and 4-H participants across the county. The office, at 933 Perry Park Road in Hazard, continues to serve Perry County through programs that reach agriculture, youth development, family services and community work.
The Perry County Extension Office is part of the University of Kentucky and the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. The office says it serves the people of Perry County with resources and services based in university research, a mission that has made extension staff a regular contact point for local residents needing help with crops, gardening, food preservation, home economics and community development.
May’s 40 years in the role left a visible mark on that work. In a county where extension agents often become trusted connectors between rural households and university-backed information, a long tenure like May’s also meant deep institutional memory, the kind built through repeated contact with farmers, 4-H members, civic groups and families who turned to the office for practical advice.
The office’s listed program areas show how broad that work has become. Alongside 4-H Youth Development and Agriculture & Natural Resources, it includes Family & Consumer Sciences and Community & Economic Development, a range that covers youth programs, household economics, nutrition and local problem-solving. That span helps explain why May’s departure matters beyond one personnel change: it removes a familiar point of contact in an office that touches multiple parts of county life.
Continuity is already part of the transition. A Perry County Extension Office social media post welcomed Chad Allen as the new County Extension Agent in Agriculture & Natural Resources, showing that at least one core service area has a named successor in place. The office also maintains a staff directory and leadership page, another sign that the county’s extension work is being carried forward as personnel change.
Charles R. May’s obituary listed his birth date as Aug. 27, 1940, and his death date as May 24, 2026. His retirement after 40 years marked the end of a long chapter for Perry County Extension, but the office’s daily work in Hazard continues.
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