1999 Farm Bureau Pioneers named

Former state director Aubery W. Rasor, 72, of Gruver received the District 1 Pioneer award. Rasor was nominated by Hansford County FB, where he has been a member since 1959 and has served on the board since 1960. He still farms and currently works with his grandson.

Eighty-two-year-old Sylvin Robert Schoppa of Lubbock was the District 2 Pioneer award winner. Schoppa served on the Lubbock FB board for nearly 40 years, including a stint as president in 1967. He devoted much time to membership drives and served on all county committees at one time or another, from the late 1940s until 1988.

The late Jack Ensey, who served on the Clay County Farm Bureau board from 1988 until his death in 1998, received the District 3 Farm Pioneer award. Co-workers characterized Ensey as a dependable man whose service and leadership were irreplaceable. He served on many committees at the Clay County FB, including the Membership, Legislative, Safety and Public Relations, Swine and Youth Activities.

The District 4 Pioneer winner was 78-year-old Clair H. Gannon, Jr., who has been a member of Farm Bureau for nearly 50 years, working in countless ways toward the betterment of the lives of farmers and ranchers. He served as a director for Ellis County FB from 1949-1954. Hill County went over the 1,000 mark in membership for the first time in 1951 due to a radio campaign headed by Gannon. In 1995, Gannon was appointed agency manager in Hill County.

Nominated by the Gregg County Farm Bureau, which he helped organize in 1977, the District 5 Pioneer is Grady Melton, Jr. of Longview. A lifetime rancher, Melton served on the county FB board for 21 years and on numerous committees. He long represented Gregg County at Leader Days and state conventions. He was also recipient of the Shorthorn Assoc-iation’s Pioneer Award.

District 6 picked Larry Zane Shaw of Knott as their Pioneer. Shaw, 72, has been a member of the Howard County FB for more than 48 years and has served as a member of the board of directors for 42 continuous years. He has served on every Howard County committee from Ag in the Classroom to Tax Watch and on two Texas Farm Bureau Resolution Committees. Shaw represented Howard County at over two dozen state conventions. He was named 1993 Ag Producer of the Year at the Ag Expo in Big Spring and received the 1996 Fort Worth Star Telegram Farm and Ranch Award in cotton.

LeRoy Pelzel, a dedicated member of the Runnels County Farm Bureau since 1954, was named District 7 Pioneer. Pelzel, 73, served four terms as county FB president and also held the offices of 1st and 2nd vice president. He has been chairman of the cotton committee for 21 years and of the membership committee for five years.

He has also served on the executive, national affairs and state affairs committees. He has attended most of the state conventions since 1970.

Former Texas Farm Bureau State Director for District 9, Russ Arnold, 73, was selected as that district’s Pioneer. Arnold is a third generation rancher and timber producer from Trinity County. He served the six years permitted by TFB bylaws as District 9 state director, starting in 1987. Prior to serving as state director, Arnold was director, secretary-treasurer and president of Trinity County Farm Bureau. At the local level, he served on the county membership, Ag in the Classroom, beef cattle and forestry committees. Other committees on which he served included the U.S. Animal Health and the National Beef Check-off Board.

The late Raymond Hicks, the District 10 Pioneer winner, began his distinguished service to the Bandera County Farm Bureau in 1957. Hicks served as director of the Bandera County FB and was on the county membership, cattle and sheep and goat committees. Hicks established the Bandera County Soil and Water Commission in the early 1930s and served on several soil and water boards in the county. He also helped bring rural electric power to Bandera County and became the first president of Bandera Electric Cooperative in 1938. In 1982, Hicks was recognized as the Outstanding Citizen of Bandera County and in 1987, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce gave him the Joe Freeman Award for outstanding service to agriculture.

Setting an example was the guiding principle for the late Edgar "Doug" Davidson of Bryan, in his lifestyle and especially in his leadership role with the Brazos County Farm Bureau. Davidson, the District 11 Pioneer winner, was Brazos County FB president from 1981-82 and 1990-91. He served on the Brazos FB policy development, membership and hay & forage committees. He has been a regular at county, district and state Farm Bureau programs.

District 8 Pioneer Charles J. Kretzer was the first person to serve as president of two Texas county Farm Bureaus. In 1966, he was instrumental in forming the Brazos-Burleson County FB. He was president of the county organization, and later served 11 years as president of the Burleson County FB. He has been on the board continuously for 25 years, serving terms as vice president and secretary-treasurer, and on many committees.

From his early days in the Civilian Conservation Corps, Charles H. Freeman, Jr. of Pleasanton, the District 12 Pioneer, was committed to protecting nature’s limited resources. The South Texas peanut farmer and cattleman served in several leadership roles, including president, vice president and secretary-treasurer of the Wilson County Farm Bureau. He was a leader who believed in accomplishing objectives by group involvement. Freeman was chairman of TFB’s Peanut Advisory Committee twice (1980-81 and 1986-89). He was also chairman of his county’s peanut committee for several years. The Farmers Home Administration chose the Freemans as "Farm Family of the Year" in 1971.

For nearly 50 years, George Frank, Jr. has devoted his time and talents to the Jim Wells County Farm Bureau.

The 72-year-old District 13 Pioneer winner served as president of the Jim Wells County FB for seven years. He also held the offices of vice president and secretary-treasurer for several years. He served as chairman of the state affairs, membership and officer nominating committees. At the state level, Frank served on the policy development committee twice and attended all legislative conferences and state conventions.

Edward M. Cumbie of Bronte, a former Texas Farm Bureau field representative for 15 West Texas county Farm Bureaus, received the Staff Pioneer Award for 1999. Cumbie joined TFB in 1956.

Cumbie is a past president of the Concho Hereford Association and a former director of the Texas Hereford Association. A 1943 graduate of Texas A&M, with a degree in animal husbandry, Cumbie brought his love for the cattle industry to the table and served the organization well.

January 21, 2000