He attended Pee Dee Academy in Rockingham, North Carolina, and Trinity Park School, Durham, N.C., 1918-1920.

He was register of deeds of Richmond County, North Carolina from 1926–1934; attorney in the Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor, Washington, D.C., in 1938 and 1939; in 1940, engaged in administrative law and in the general insurance business; served as chairman of the Richmond County Democratic executive committee 1932-1946; trustee of Wake Forest College.

Closely associated with the Moral Rearmament movement, he was defeated in the Democratic primary for a fifth term because he had refused to sign the controversial Southern Manifesto against desegregation of the races.

Following his failure to be renominated Deane spent the last 13 years of his life as the attorney for Rockingham, North Carolina.

[3] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress