You may have seen Red Deese on Food Network, on local TV news, and in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Clarence Ray “Red” Deese died earlier this month, on November 10 at age 93, at home with his family.

Known for many unusual aspects of his long life, he was best known for founding a unique Southern-style restaurant 40 years ago. He and his daughter, Debbie Deese, spotted an abandoned 1910 schoolhouse, overgrown and posted for sale by the Montgomery County school system.

They bought it for $3,500.

Red and Debbie had a dream of a Southern country café in the middle of nowhere. With a lot of sweat equity, they turned that old school into Red’s Little Schoolhouse. They opened on May 1, 1985.

Would people from Montgomery drive 30 miles south to enjoy old-fashioned food like their grandma cooke

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