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The Illinois agriculture community reels from the news that Illinois Beef's Maralee Johnson is fighting cancer.

Holly Spangler, Senior Editor, Prairie Farmer

January 9, 2012

2 Min Read

It's with a heavy heart that many of us received the news late Monday that our friend and colleague, Maralee Johnson, has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Maralee is Executive Vice President of the Illinois Beef Association, and has served its members for some 20 years.

Maralee was diagnosed just this past Friday, and the tumor is located in an inner area of the brain where it can't be removed.

As I sit here thinking of Maralee and her family – I went to college with her son, Brent, who now works with Wyffels – I'm thinking of our family, too, and of my own mother struggling with pancreatic cancer.

And of hearing Jennifer Rothschild, who became blind as a teenager, say last spring that "there are words that sink to the bottom of your soul and scrape everything on the way down: Blind. Cancer. Autism."

She is absolutely right. There are no words to convey the sinking, reeling of your heart when you hear that kind of a diagnosis.

And so for Maralee, we will pray. She is a woman of faith and knows that while the doctors place their hopes in radiation and chemotherapy, her fate lies in the hands of the Lord. And as IBA president and Williamson County cattleman Jeff Beasley says, "It is certainly a plus that she is a positive thinking person, and also a strong-willed individual so I am confident that will help her chances of success."

If you've had the pleasure of working with Maralee, you know her to be a warm, caring person. I believe she graced our cover, once upon a time, as well. Like me, she is a 4-H House alumni. And she has done as much as anybody to make the Illinois beef community feel like a family. So like a family, we'll cover her in prayer and know that we serve a God who is both still God and still good, despite our circumstances. On that day last spring, Jennifer Rothschild went on to share that life happens and it is not well with our circumstances but it can be well with our soul. That sounds like a pretty good prayer, too.

About the Author(s)

Holly Spangler

Senior Editor, Prairie Farmer, Farm Progress

Holly Spangler has covered Illinois agriculture for more than two decades, bringing meaningful production agriculture experience to the magazine’s coverage. She currently serves as editor of Prairie Farmer magazine and Executive Editor for Farm Progress, managing editorial staff at six magazines throughout the eastern Corn Belt. She began her career with Prairie Farmer just before graduating from the University of Illinois in agricultural communications.

An award-winning writer and photographer, Holly is past president of the American Agricultural Editors Association. In 2015, she became only the 10th U.S. agricultural journalist to earn the Writer of Merit designation and is a five-time winner of the top writing award for editorial opinion in U.S. agriculture. She was named an AAEA Master Writer in 2005. In 2011, Holly was one of 10 recipients worldwide to receive the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Ag Journalism award. She currently serves on the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, the U of I Agricultural Communications Advisory committee, and is an advisory board member for the U of I College of ACES Research Station at Monmouth. Her work in agricultural media has been recognized by the Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Corn, Illinois Council on Agricultural Education and MidAmerica Croplife Association.

Holly and her husband, John, farm in western Illinois where they raise corn, soybeans and beef cattle on 2,500 acres. Their operation includes 125 head of commercial cows in a cow/calf operation. The family farm includes John’s parents and their three children.

Holly frequently speaks to a variety of groups and organizations, sharing the heart, soul and science of agriculture. She and her husband are active in state and local farm organizations. They serve with their local 4-H and FFA programs, their school district, and are active in their church's youth and music ministries.

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