Tom Harpool was a man who kept his hands in the soil. Whether he was overseeing his small family farm, repotting plants in his commercial nursery, tending the garden in his yard or making sure Denton’s literal and figurative roots were carefully tended and strengthened, Harpool spent his life making things grow.

One of those things was the family business, R.T. Harpool and Son, a seed store and nursery business that flourished for years at the corner of Bell Avenue and McKinney Street. The business is closed now, and the building houses other enterprises, but there are countless Denton residents who continue to call the structure “Harpool’s,” and always will. The memories are that strong.

Harpool’s thrived in the era of family-owned, personalized businesses. In those days, the proprietors knew their business and they knew their customers. Customers could walk into Harpool’s with only the vaguest idea of what they wanted to accomplish in the way of a flower or vegetable garden, and Tom Harpool would gently extract enough information to send them on their way with the information and the equipment to bring that idea to fruition. If something went wrong, Harpool would make it right, even when the horticultural disaster was, more often than not, caused by the customer’s own brown thumb. He was a master gardener before there were Master Gardeners. His knowledge was encyclopedic and freely shared.

And it wasn’t just to his customers that Harpool gave of himself; he was one of the men and women we recognize now as those who formed the “modern” Denton.

Nobody ever served Denton longer, harder or more enthusiastically than Tom Harpool, and his service reflected his knowledge of and his respect for the role nature plays in the future of a growing city.

Amazingly prescient about how water would become a major issue for cities in Texas and throughout the South, Harpool helped formulate long-range plans to ensure an unending supply of water for the region, helping organizing the Upper Trinity Regional Water District board.

He served for 30 years on Denton’s Public Utilities Board, and served on the board of the Texas Municipal Power Agency.

His service on the Denton school board was recognized last year with the opening of the Tom Harpool Middle School.

Life dealt some challenges to Tom Harpool, just as it did to the city he loved so much. He dealt with them in much the same way as he dealt with Denton’s problems, with good humor and calm, quiet competence. He spent much of his last year caring for his beloved wife, Rebecca, even as he was fighting the cancer that eventually took his life Wednesday night at the age of 91.

And he kept his hands in the soil he loved. A friend dropped by Harpool’s home recently and was taken on a tour of his garden. The man thought his tour was over, but Harpool then led him down the street to a neighbor’s yard, where he had created a second magnificent garden.

One yard — one garden — was not enough for Tom Harpool. His legacy grows all over this good town, from the trees that line Carroll Boulevard to the clean, pure water that flows from the city’s taps.

He planted the seeds of these things, and many more. Our duty now is to honor Tom Harpool’s memory by being worthy stewards of the wonderful garden he helped prepare for us.