This holiday season has not been kind to
Indiana Prairie Farmer's Master Farmer family. We've been notified of two former recipients who passed away in recent weeks.
First, Marjorie Colglazier, Washington County, Ind., died Nov. 25th, just before Thanksgiving. She was awarded the Master Farmer award in 1977, and was the first woman to be afforded this honor.
The only other women so honored were Kaye Whitehead in 1987, honored along with her husband, Bill, and Linda Wise, honored with husband, Fred, in 1992. The Whiteheads farm near Muncie, and the Wise's live in Carroll County.
Colglazier was active in Indiana Farm Bureau activities, serving as long-time Women's Leader in Washington County. Her husband, Vance, preceded her in death. Her son, Phil, survives.
Tragically, Dave Buck, Milton, age 54, was killed in a grain bin accident on Dec 12. Buck was honored as a Master Farmer in 2002. He and his wife, Sandy, lived on the Wayne/Fayette County line, on the Wayne County side.
Buck was attempting to free blockage from an auger when he perished in a pile of 12,000 bushels of soybeans. He used precautions, but left the auger running. The rope tied around his chest pulled free from the inside grain bin ladder, as the ladder bent 90 degrees outwards.
Buck and his family started the Harvest Teen Rally, a gathering of over 2,000 teenagers that happens each September on the farm. This religious-based event started 21 years ago.
The event has now spawned other Harvest Rallies in several other parts of the U.S., and even in Mexico. Buck was preparing to take a group to perform several rallies in Mexico and southern Texas early next year.
He was also founder of The Community Bible Church, located along Indiana Highway 1 south of Milton. Services were held at the Church. Mourners came from as far away as Kansas City, Mo., to pay their respects.
Both of these outstanding individuals will be sorely missed by Indiana agriculture.