IN MEMORIAM: Richard Deering

The Pest Management Professional staff is saddened to learn of the passing of a member of its Hall of Fame. Richard Deering (Class of 2022) died unexpectedly July 10. He was 77.

Deering is survived by his wife of 54 years, Brenda, and their three children, Bridget Adkins, Kim Deering-O’Connor and Andy Deering, and their families.

Deering was a farmer first, but also started a landscaping business and later, a pest control business. Unhappy with the business software options available to him, in 1990 he founded ServicePro, a software company that makes it easy for lawn care operators (LCOs) and pest management professionals (PMPs) to automate everyday tasks. He is considered an industry pioneer for being one of the first to tailor business software for things like routing, scheduling, invoicing and other features LCOs and PMPs rely on today.

ServicePro’s headquarters were in Columbus, Ohio, about 50 miles west of his farm in Springfield, Ohio.

“I live on the same farm in the same house I was born in,” he told PMP for his Hall of Fame profile. “I would drive about 54 miles one way to the office for 36 years, five days a week and sometimes six.”

Deering retired in 2020 and in 2022, the company became part of the FieldRoutes brand of ServiceTitan.

Calling hours will take place Thursday, July 17, 2025, from 11 am to 2 pm at Restoration Park Church, 55 Restoration Park Drive, Medway, Ohio. A celebration of life will follow at 2 pm, with burial at Medway Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, online memorial contributions may be made to the FFA organization at his alma mater, Tecumseh High School. Online condolences can be shared at TrostelChapman.com.