Tim Deaton-Conway, right, gives his husband, Chad Conway, a goodbye kiss before Conway leaves for a cattle sale in Pennsylvania, at their house in Hazard, Kentucky, on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. The couple owns a cattle farm that has been in Conway’s family since the early 2000s. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Without love, Tim Deaton-Conway might not be alive today.

After growing up around drug abuse and becoming an addict himself, Tim said he fell into a familial self-destructive pattern and his sense of value was nonexistent.

That all changed when he met Chad Conway, his now-husband, who encouraged him to get sober 16 years ago and stay sober ever since.

“He was the first person to make me see that I was worth a different way to live,” Tim said. “And then one day it was just like . . . he turned the light on.”

Chad Conway enters the cow pen while Tim Deaton-Conway holds a gate open as the pair prepares to feed cattle at their farm in Hazard, Kentucky, on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Every Saturday morning, the newlyweds typically feed the cows together. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Tim Deaton-Conway, left, laughs with Chad Conway while riding around to feed cows on their farm in Hazard, Kentucky, on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Deaton-Conway said Conway helped to restore him and restore his sense of value. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Chad Conway, center, walks out the door while Tim Deaton-Conway rests on the couch in the early morning at their home in Hazard, Kentucky, on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Deaton-Conway said when he looks back now, the detrimental experiences he faced helped him to be an effective husband, dad and valuable member of society. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Before love

Although growing up in rural Appalachia was rather ordinary for Tim, as a child, everything seemed magical.

Like “many families living in Eastern Kentucky at the time,” he said, the Deaton family of six grew up in a single-wide trailer.

Raised in the church alongside his siblings, Tim said his mother sang in the church choir. He remembered circling around his mother while she played the piano at home, leading the children through different hymns they heard in church.

As each Sunday passed and Tim entered his teenage years, his parents stopped going to church as often and drifted from their faith, something he said highlighted his family’s struggles with poverty and job security.

A few months into his college career, Tim came out to his parents as gay. A freshman at Morehead State University studying drama and psychology, he said his mother’s religious views seemed to resurface when he told her.

“She kicked me out of the house and threw all of my personal things off of the balcony of my bedroom,” Tim said. “Then she set it on fire in the yard.”

Tim Deaton-Conway does his daily skincare routine at his home in Hazard, Kentucky, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Deaton-Conway said he likes to take care of his appearance, especially since turning 40. “I woke up one day and thought about how early my dad had passed, when he was 45,” Deaton-Conway said. “So I started changing my health and dieting and exercising, and I’m fresh off losing 125 pounds.” Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Tim Deaton-Conway sits on the couch drinking a morning cup of coffee at his home in Hazard, Kentucky, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. Deaton-Conway said his husband, Chad Conway, has made a pot of coffee every morning since they have been together. “Just a little bit at a time, little bit at a time, little bit at a time, he restored me.” Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Being away at college gave his mother some time to cool off, according to Tim, and gave him the space to grow into his own as a performer.

At the same time, the Eastern Kentucky opioid epidemic was reaching its height, with many people seeing an increase in the illegal selling of prescription opioids.

As a bus driver for the Hazard school system, Tim’s father didn’t make enough to fully support their family and started selling drugs to make ends meet. There were always opiates around, Tim said, which led to his parents becoming users.

Eventually, Tim and his siblings became addicted to opiates, too– something he said was their “familial pattern,” learned from the drug use they witnessed growing up.

After graduating college in 2004, Tim moved to New York to pursue his dream of performing on Broadway. According to Tim, like many people from Eastern Kentucky, he was just trying to make it out any way he could.

“If you were a janitor in Hazard or a janitor in Lexington, you were better because you were a janitor in Lexington, because that place equals success,” Tim said.

But even while following his dream in New York, Tim said he couldn’t seem to escape his family pattern.

Looking for an “up” to keep him going as he tried to land a role in a theater while working two jobs, Tim said his drug usage took off.

“I would use anything I could get my hands on,” Tim said. “The path that I was on in Manhattan . . . was really deadly.”

Tim Deaton-Conway reads a text notification while working at his office in downtown Hazard, Kentucky, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. In his role as the director of the Appalachian Arts Alliance, Deaton-Conway said he is able to empower young people and feels like he can “actually contribute to the arts community in Hazard.” Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

A year later, Tim returned to Hazard after his father had grown sick. His father soon passed away from health complications and an overdose.

“He had a huge heart. He loved people so big,” Tim said. “But he loved his drugs a lot more.”

Tim said those closest to him would not hold him accountable for using after seeing his dad pass, something that only made his drug problem worse.

According to Tim, this fueled his downward spiral until he felt like he had nothing left to offer.

“I’m still alive,” Tim said. “There was questions for a long time whether I was going to make it through addiction.”

After several near-deadly overdoses, Tim said he was “just a shell” when Chad found him.

Chad Conway rubs his husband, Tim Deaton-Conway’s, head as he puts makeup on in preparation for a performance of the play ‘Vigil’ during its opening weekend at The Forum at the Hal Rogers Center in Hazard, Kentucky, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. Deaton-Conway said it had been his dream to perform the “one-man show of sorts” for the last 25 years after seeing it on Broadway. “He (Chad) helped restore my ability to dream and see my dreams weren’t stupid, and they were valuable,” Deaton-Conway said. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Tim Deaton-Conway, playing his character, Kemp, reacts during a dress rehearsal of ‘Vigil’ at The Forum at the Hal Rogers Center in Hazard, Kentucky, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. According to Deaton-Conway, by “providing opportunities that make people feel special and making them see the value they really, really have” in Hazard, he is helping restore value to his community. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

After Chad

Tim said he felt Chad’s love in the warmth of the coffee his partner made for him every morning.

“Just a little bit at a time, little bit at a time, little bit at a time,” Tim said. “He restored me.”

The couple met in 2009 at Family Farm Days, a fall festival held at Chad’s family farm where the two now live.

For Tim, meeting Chad helped him dig himself out of the pit he was in and take the necessary steps toward being himself again.

Chad loved Tim “all the way around,” through addiction, immaturity, bad decision making and bad commitment.

“I just hated everything about me, and Chad showed me that those are changeable pieces of me,” Tim said.

By encouraging him to attend Narcotics Anonymous, Tim said Chad helped him realize he could feel like a true contributing member of society.

As his sobriety journey continued, Tim said he started finding little pieces of himself along the way and became inspired to help others who had struggled like he had.

Tim Deaton-Conway fixes his wig before a dress rehearsal for ‘Vigil’ at The Forum at the Hal Rogers Center in Hazard, Kentucky, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. According to Deaton-Conway, his character, Kemp, reminds him and other members of that cast of the person he used to be, saying it was an interesting reflective opportunity he had been talking with his therapist about leading up to the show. “The big psychological crazy man that Kemp was in that story, that was me in real life,” Deaton-Conway said. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Shortly after getting a job bussing tables, Tim became an associate at a local law firm. After that, he went on to work at Kentucky River Community Center, where he helped open Hickory Hill, a 100-bed men’s drug recovery center in Eastern Kentucky.

During his time at KRCC, Tim said he felt he reached a point where he could make a true change in his community, something he said helped mold him into a leader.

According to Tim, he always looked to Chad as inspiration because he was “someone important.” Tim wanted to be someone important, too, so he could build up the arts community in Hazard and be a role model for kids.

According to Tim, Chad helped put the pieces of his life back together while getting sober, and encouraged him as they grew in their love together.

“He helped me get back to who I am and get back to my heart,” Tim said.

Tim Deaton-Conway, center, laughs with gallery exhibition attendees at The ArtStation in downtown Hazard, Kentucky, on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. Deaton-Conway said the acceptance and support given to him by the arts community throughout his personal and professional life mean everything to him, saying, “the path and the journey I’ve been on here recently wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Hazard.” Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Tim Deaton-Conway rests his head on Chad Conway’s while they call Chad’s son, Jake Conway, at their house in Hazard, Kentucky, on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

Life now

Now the Executive Director of the Appalachian Arts Alliance, Tim seeks to fill a “gap” in the arts community.

“When I had to go back to Eastern Kentucky, there wasn’t theater,” Tim said. “There wasn’t music or other things.”

Tim said the acceptance and support he has received from the arts community throughout his personal and professional life means everything to him.

Since entering this role at the Arts Alliance, Tim has had the backing to create a space that gives back to his community through the arts by offering lessons and putting on local performances.

“The path and the journey that I’ve been on here recently wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Hazard,” Tim said.

By providing opportunities to young artists, Tim hopes to make people feel special and help them see the value they really have.

Just as Chad helped him restore his own value, Tim said he hopes to help restore value to Hazard by being an encouraging role model for those in the arts community.

“It’s showing them (young artists) that you can start something from the beginning, and it be a mess, and it all come together to create this beautiful picture in the end,” Tim said. “It’s showing them that they are worth it and the arts bring about that possibility for people.”