Cartha “Deke” DeLoach

Young Cartha worked in cotton fields to help pay the bills, and his mother, the former Eula Dekle, took in boarders. He played football at Claxton High School and on a football scholarship went to Stetson University in Florida, where he played quarterback. Mr. DeLoach joined the F.B.I. in August 1942 as a clerk and became a special agent that December. He worked in field offices in Norfolk, Va., and Cleveland before going on military leave. He served in the Navy from 1944 to 1946. In addition to his son Tom, Mr. DeLoach is survived by his wife of 68 years, the former Barbara Owens; three other sons, Cartha Jr., who is also known as Deke, Gregory and Mark; three daughters, Barbara Lancaster, Theresa DeLoach and Sharon Bleifeld; and “countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Tom DeLoach said. After retiring in 1970, Mr. DeLoach worked as a corporate affairs executive for Pepsico until 1985 and later in banking in South Carolina. When Hoover died in 1972, Mr. DeLoach was considered a possible replacement.