1982 Glenn H. LeDioyt

Thank you. Thanks so much Willard, Glenn, Clarice, our many friends. What a magnificent way to wind up a most exciting week for me. Last Wednesday, when I should have been out combining soybeans, I was asked to come to Peoria, Wednesday afternoon five others and myself, spent an hour and ten minutes with the President of the United States in a little room. And a little later we flew into Omaha on AirForce 1. Of course, the President was here on Thursday. I have to think that nowhere but America, could a Fairbury farmer have such an incredible experience happen to him. And then, to add frosting to all that cake, here we are, gathered together tonight to honor one of Nebraska's truly finest.

It's indeed an honor and a privilege to speak on your behalf, Glenn, a dedicated supporter of agriculture, state and nation, truly a great American, truly a close friend. I've known Glenn quite a while, but it's just been during the last four years that I've really gotten to know him and Clarice well and I can tell you from experience that to know him, to know him well, certainly makes one's life a great deal richer.

Along the way, Glenn imparts bits of wisdom now and them. He told me the other day, "Ralph, I've reached the time in life that if I can't have fun doing it, I'm not gonna do it at all." And if you know Glenn a little bit, you know that's true. But first I should say that I'm very pleased that you're here, that you could make it.

Glenn had a little bug last week and spent a few days in the hospital; but he got over it all right. He got along well with the Doctor and the nurses even better. Another one of his favorite quotes is "You know I'm having trouble remembering names, but I never forget a figure." Well I said he got along with the nurses pretty well which is true, but there was one slight exception. One well-meaning one had sort of a "we-complex." You know: "How are we today?" "Did we have a good night's sleep?" "Would we like to have the shades pulled?" And after about three days, it sort of got to Glenn and he could hardly take it anymore. She came in about the last day as he was about ready to leave the hospital, brought the breakfast in and said "How are we today? Did we have a good night's sleep? We are going to eat all of our breakfast, aren't we? Oh, and don't forget, today's the day we need a specimen." She put the little jar on the table. She left, and though he didn't have much of an appetite, Glenn had to laugh after she left. He looked at the breakfast: burnt toast, a little oatmeal and a little glass of apple juice. He looks at the apple juice and looks at that jar on the table. Boy, he says, I'm gonna get even with her yet. So he poured the apple juice in the jar on the table and he was so pleased with his cleverness that he ate the burnt toast and the oatmeal too. In about 15 minutes, she comes bouncing back in the room and says, "Oh I see we ate all of our breakfast. Oh, and we have our specimen. Oh, we're a little cloudy today, aren't we?" Glenn reached up and took it out of her hands and said, "Well in that case," and he drank it down, "we'll just run it through again."

I tried to do a little research on Glenn. We were out on a caravan, the western part of the state, stropped in at North Platte, and ran into a few of his old chums. They told me Glenn was an excellent student; he like to do everything well. Didn't like to come in second at anything. They didn't really tell me a whole lot I didn't know. But they told me they wanted to know if I'd ever heard about chicken project in high school. I said, no I hadn't.

Well, Glenn had a chicken project. He had 40 springs; they didn't call them broilers then; they were springs. It was getting along towards the middle of summer, and the chickens were about ready to sell, and Glenn, being the enterpriser that he is, thought that if he would dress these chickens and sell them to the house-wives, he could earn more money than by just selling them to the product station. Every Saturday morning in North Platte, there was a farmer's market where you could take things like that. So he got up at 4:00 one Saturday morning and dressed these 40 chickens, put the barrel in the back of the old Model T truck – it was then the Model T truck – put a little ice in the bottom of the barrel, added a few chickens, a little more ice a few more chickens, more ice, until the barrel was full and the chickens were all in it. Off to town he went. Well, he was eager and held the chickens up, and folks just bought chickens like crazy. He got up there about 9:30 and by 10:30 he had 39 of them sold. Of course the buyers were a little bit selective and the one left wasn't really all that great a looking chicken; it looked scrawny, and the crowd kinda dried up, and here he was with one, and he said, "I sure would like to get done." About 11:00, along come a lady. "How about a chicken, mam?" He held the chicken up there and she said, "Yes son, I sure would like to have one, but you know, my husband likes white meat. Don't you have one with a little plumper breast on it?" Well, he only had one left, so he put the chicken back in the barrel and swished it around in the barrel a little bit and he squeezed the old chicken kinda on the bottom and the side a little bit, and it makes the old breasts pop out, and says, "How's this one mam?" And she says, "well that's a lot better, but you know, my son likes dark meat. Don't you have one with a little plumper thighs?" So Glenn puts the chicken back in the barrel and puts both arms in this time and swishes around in the barrel a little bit, comes out and squeezes on the bottom of it and squeezes the old drumsticks about as hard as he could and makes the thighs pop out. "How's this one mam?" "Oh son, they're looking better all the time, I'll take all three."

I also learned, out in North Platte, that there was a little bit of a family pact out there some years ago. Brother George, here, was the vocalist, and a good one, and Glenn could sing just kinda so-so. That was George's idea, anyway. Glenn had the same idea about George and ball playing; he just didn't feel he could handle a hot grounder. So they agreed. "If you won't play ball George," he says, "I won't sing." And now, I want to tell you, George, that if you feel like playing ball, you go to it, because Glenn broke his pact. Glenn was one of those who was in our fun loving group in Detroit in 1980, at the Republican Convention, when we nominated the President. And it was at that convention where Glenn authored and taught us all a song way out in Nebraska that we've been singing since. And he made quite a hit. We were in a hotel shared by the Iowa delegation and after we had been enjoying ourselves for several days, I was in an elevator with an Iowa delegate and Governor Ray and overheard the delegate say, "Governor, I sure wish we had a song like Nebraska." We have to give all the credit to Glenn LeDioyt.

I could spend an hour or so addressing the achievements and the accomplishments of Glenn LeDioyt, talk about his generosity, unselfishness his hobbies, his wisdoms. But I'll only briefly touch upon a couple areas tonight. Anything I say seems so inadequate when we talk about a man who has done so much, accomplished so much and shared so much.

Very briefly, I'll mention just a couple of things about his service to agriculture and his concern for our youth. He once said, "When everything's all said, there's sure more said than done." That's just not the case with Glenn LeDioyt; he's a prime mover; he's an action man; he gets things done. Look, for example, at the effort to establish a college of veterinary medicine here on this campus. He's been one of the prime movers. He has worked with a number of youth who are in the audience tonight. Whether it's speak with our congressman, our state senator, our governor, anything you'd ask, he will do all he can do. And he will go the extra mile when it comes to raising money; there is a gift of real substance. He's always been a great supporter of education, especially agricultural education; he's always been a great support of the Institute of Natural Resources. And here again, it hasn't made much difference, what the effort was, what the need was, we could always count on Glenn. He does more personally in support of the University, the University Foundation. He has made a gift of real substance each year for the past half dozen years, ear-marked for something in agriculture for our College of Agriculture Experiment Station, something for the benefit of all of us in the agriculture industry. And Glenn, we appreciate the leadership you have provided the University Foundation. For a long time we lacked an eloquent voice for agriculture; you have certainly given us that. You have a broad-based interest in agriculture, an interest that goes from soil conservation to agronomy to livestock. Glenn has been involved with just about anything that affects our well-being in agriculture, at one time or another.

He has a unique interest in a unique cattle operation. Some 2,000 head of F1 females are mated to terminal purebred bulls. I've seen the figures and they're most impressive. It's probably the largest operation of this kind in the country. Innovation, dedication and leadership. That sums up the friend we are honoring tonight: Glenn LeDioyt.

I've never ever really known anyone who was genuinely interested in education who wasn't also genuinely interested in the youth of our country. Glenn offered a plan, and I won't dwell on it long, because it's in your folder, but Glenn offered to a plan whereby the Gifford Foundation made available some 300 acres of land to some 15 schools. This farmland provides an opportunity for some of the children of these schools to learn of the benefits and the economic hardships and problems associated with agricultural production. These students can see and experience American agriculture. It's a magnificent contribution to the understanding of agriculture on the part of our city-oriented young people. Glenn was the author of the plan and it's in effect today. For the past four years, he's purchased the reserve champion steer at the Ak-Sar-Ben show. That's his way of showing his support to 4-H and to young people throughout the Midwest.

We could go on and on but I would have to say the most impressive thing to me about Glenn LeDioyt, and it has written an indelible impression upon me during the past four years, is his love for his country, its free enterprise system and the opportunities and dreams offered by it. When Glenn LeDioyt looks at the young people of today he is determined to make a contribution to preserve for them the freedoms and opportunities that someone else preserved for him. He does not take these freedoms for granted, as we sometimes do our electricity and running water on the farm. He knows this is America and he sincerely appreciates the fact that he can live and love and adventure and work, and worship, not as someone tells him to, but as his heart tells him to. It's not that way in Poland, or Russia or Cuba, or countless other places.

During the last four years, it's been my personal pleasure to watch Glenn make, through provision of his time, talent and resources, a truly substantial commitment and contribution to the quality and the longevity of this great democracy. And I believe this may perhaps be his greatest contribution to the youth of today – the preservation for them for tomorrow of what is so dear to him today.

You've heard the list of some of the awards that have been given him in recent years. Tonight we bestow upon him yet one more deserved honor, as we induct him into the Hall of Agricultural Achievement. Glenn LeDioyt is indeed a great agriculturist but an even greater American, and one I am so proud to call my friend.

Some men are builders, some even destroy and many others stand idly by. But when we talk or think of Glenn LeDioyt, we all know a master Builder has passed our way. Congratulations Clarice and Glenn and thank you for these moments shared with you.   A Tribute to Mr. Glenn LeDioyt by Victor Rediger

Thank you Bill and greeting to all you ladies and gentlemen who have come to honor our honoree. I've found out there are quite a few notables here tonight. What I'm doing here I don't know. When Glenn called me, he said, would you introduce me? I'm going to be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement and I said sure, I think that would be a nice honor. Then, I got to thinking about it afterwards. How are you going to introduce a guy who knows everybody and everybody knows him? After some thought, he called me back and said "Don't worry, we're going to have a real speaker, all you have to do is kill some time." I went to the dictionary and looked up the word. Kill, says destroy or butcher. So if I butcher this program, I've got a right to.

I had a number of sheets of accomplishments and you can read all that in the bulletin. I read it over so many times I felt if I went through it again, that's all you'd hear from me and there are a few other things that I wanted to tell you.

Glenn, as you know, was born in North Platte, but he grew up near the metropolis of Tryon and he was quite a kid. His character started showing up really early in life. One of the neighbor ladies said to his mother one day, "How in the world do you keep Glenn out of the cookie jar?" She said, "Oh, that's easy, I just lock the pantry and hide the key under the soap dish." Glenn farmed a year before he entered college and was quite a community man from early days. One time during this year while he was on the farm, he thought he should pay tribute to the preacher because it was a country church with a small membership. There was a terrible storm, but Glenn said I'm going anyway. He got on his horse and rode to church. The minister went through the whole procedure of a sermon. When he got through, he walked to the door, shook hands with Glenn as he was going out and said well what do you think of it? Glenn looked him right straight in the eye and he said, "Well I'll tell you, You know we have some cows out there on our place and if I went out to hay the cows and just one old cow came up, I wouldn't give her the whole load." We all entered this great institution in the fall of 1929 which at that time was called Ag College, we departed in June of '33. I guess that built a lot of character, because that's about all we had when we left. I remember very distinctly that my clothes were getting awfully threadbare, and I begged my brother for an additional loan so I could buy a suit. So I trudged down to Ben Simons and I bought a 3-piece, worsted, all-grey suit, there were millions of them, for $17.50, so when people think times are tough, we can compare.

Glenn lived at Farmhouse Fraternity. I spent a couple of years living with the cows up at the Dairy Barn while he was there. But, as a senior, I got pretty well acquainted with Glenn. We had a fire ladder, outside the building, it went up to the dorm. The dorm was nothing but a glorified attic, but we had a lot of beds up there. And we were trying to figure out why that ladder was so polished. We finally discovered that Glenn has one accomplice, they'd come in after the door was locked, at that time, we locked the door at midnight. Anybody that got there later, had to come up the fire ladder. And so, he and one other guy kept it polished. I remember two convertibles on this campus, one was driven by a blonde and the other one by a brunette. Glenn seemed d to know this brunette pretty well, and he liked to ride in that car. I am told that this person now has a foundation at Beatrice; and maybe you know a little about that too, Glenn. But the rest of us, we just drooled that's all we could do, because there were only, 2 convertibles. At that time, you could park on the mall, because there weren't many cars, and incidentally there weren't many buildings here either.

Glenn finished college with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Husbandry. That's what they called it in those days. Now they call it Animal Science. I looked up the word husbandry and the dictionary says it means commercial management, good or bad. So that's probably why they changed the name, I don't know. Later, Glenn received a Masters in Agronomy.

When we got out of school in 1933, we'd take any kind of a job. We weren't worried about the next 50 years, which we're thinking about now. But we were thinking about how we would get along next year. Glenn coached athletics and taught vocational agriculture in Tryon, Nehawka, and Nebraska City. Now I don't know whether he couldn't hold a job, or whether he was stepping up each time he changed. He really followed me around part of the time because I spent a year at Nehawka. I taught vocational agriculture and was the chemistry teacher, if you get the difference.

Glenn got acquainted pretty well with somebody by the name of Clarice Hads while he was down there and for some reason she followed him, and along the line somewhere came Louise and Bob. Glenn was with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Then he followed me where I had spent some time with the Bryon Reed Company in their farm department and he's like the guy that bought the razor company, he liked it so well he bought the company and moved across the street. His professional achievements are noteworthy. I want to define profession, the dictionary says pertaining to a special occupation often for gain, I like that. Glenn was a promoter and director and quite an influence on the Gifford Foundation, which has 1700 acres, near the Missouri River, where they show the city kids what agriculture is all about. Your benefactor is here somewhere, I saw him earlier.

Presently, Glenn is president of LeDioyt Land Company, a professional farm management and sales firm, which operates in five states, with 400 properties that they handle for institutions and trusts. His firm has made contributions of $60,000 in research grants to the various departments on the Ag Campus in the last 7 years, which is quite a tribute. He's quite active in service organizations; he is on the board of directors of the University of Nebraska Foundation, president of Nebraska for Progressive Agriculture, member of the Soil Conservation Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, past president of the Nebraska Society of Farm managers and Rural Appraisers, a life member of PTA, and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. His honorary societies include Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma Delta, Alpha Zeta and Innocents. You know that reminds me, in the spring of 1932 when we were junior, we had what they then called the Ivy Day, I don't know what they call it now, or whether they even have it. But we called it Ivy Day and the seniors planted a little sprig of ivy and gathered around and said some kind of hocus pocus for the next group that was coming along. Glenn came home that day and said I'm an Innocent. We said, you're innocent? We never could figure out what he was guilty of.

He has received a number of special awards. In 1979 he was named Man of the Year by KMTV. In 1980, honoree Knights of AKSARBEN. Also in 1980, an honoree of the Nebraska Business Club. Now a guy that does all these things can't do much work in his place of business, so I think Bob does most of the work, because somebody's got to keep the store going. Glenn has quite a philosophy too. He has a plaque on his wall which says, "All you have to do to be successful is follow the advice you give to others." Think about that a little bit – Carl Russell once said, "A fellow doesn't last long on what he has done, he's got to keep on delivering as he goes along." Glenn you keep on delivering. Thank you very much.   Response from Mr. Glenn LeDioyt to tributes in his honor

Willard, most of the things Ralph said about me, I'm afraid, weren't true and many of the things Vic Rediger said weren't true either as far as that goes. But I do stand here tonight before you very humble in receiving this award and would like to pay tribute to some people who are here tonight, some people who I feel have been as responsible as I for any achievements that I might have made. I want to introduce the people of the LeDioyt Land Company, my associates, and say thanks to them as they stand. Kay Nelson, Phil Meyers and, at the same table, is Dr. Mary LeDioyt Lierley, who we overlooked as one of my very dear relatives. Mary would you please stand along with the others. Over here at the second table we have Shirley Peterson, Deroy and Leta Harshman, Shirley and Don Clark, and Arlene and Gary Hull. At this table the late comers who flew in from Chicago are Harold and Aloise Wiese; would you please stand Harold and Eloise. Would you give them a hand and pay tribute to them for me. I'm sorry, I've got one more table and one more person over here; please forgive me. At this other table we have Orville and Dee Nielsen from Aurora, Orville and Dee, Tom and Cindy Mitchell and Terry and Karen Rieke; give them a hand too please.

There's a little inside joke in our organization. There's a guy who did fly in from Chicago this evening to be here tonight and some twenty-two years ago when we were associated together, he decided that he wanted to do something else and I said we were only going to give you a leave of absence. So Lyle and Nancy Campbell are here from Chicago I wish you would stand Lyle and Nancy. They have been absent now for twenty-two years but they're still on leave.

In my introductions and paying tribute to very special people I would be remiss in my duty if I did not ask Emmy and Hal Gifford, Dr. Hal Gifford of Omaha, to please stand and be specially recognized. Hal and Emmy Gifford are dear friends and great associates. Hal is the former king of Aksarben and certainly a great benefactor and supporter of the things I have tried to do and stand for in conservation, education and all those things.

Earlier, when we were considering what I was supposed to do at the present occasion, Clarice got kind of curious as the day came closer and she said, "Now what is the format?" So I tried to explain to her that I had carefully hand-picked a couple of guys who you know, who I thought would get up here and say some very nice things about me and they did and she said, "And then what?" I said, "Well that's it," and she said, "Doesn't somebody else get equal time?" This being an election year she thinks that they ought to have, I guess, somebody else get up and say something different. I said, "Like who?" and she said, "Well for starters, me." But Clarice, you are not going to get that opportunity tonight.

The thrust of tonight's get together, I believe, is not so much a recognition of any one individual, or anything that I might have done or achieved but I feel it's rather an occasion to review what those of us who have devoted our entire lives to agriculture have accomplished together. In retrospect, it has been my privilege as well as yours, each of you here who is involved in agriculture, to have lived in the most exciting time in the history of agriculture, perhaps in the history of mankind. And as Nebraska how blessed we have been not only to have lived during this great agricultural revolution but to have been a part of it and to have seen it unfold before our very eyes in the heartland of America. Here in Nebraska I think we have every right to say with great pride that there is indeed no place like Nebraska. We have seen the enormous impact technology has played in so many spheres within the realm of agriculture, propelling it from the horse and buggy days when I was a kid, Brother George, back on the family farm in Platte Valley, Nebraska, to a production miracle of staggering abundance.

We have indeed, I believe, seen the modern parallel of the loaves and the fishes and as we meet tonight on the campus of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, I think it is only proper to pay tribute to those dedicated people, the scientists, the research workers, the technicians, the administrators, and oh yes, the instructors here who have done so much toward the thrust of the effort that we have come to know as the great revolution in agriculture and of course their counter parts throughout the United States who have also played a part in this. Certainly this institution right here has played a major role in making it all happen. Most of all, I think, we are indebted to those farmers and ranchers who, across the state, have put that technology to work and made the great State of Nebraska the tremendous agricultural state that it is. Certainly we owe them a great debt of gratitude.

We have indeed lived in a time when all of the segments of our great agricultural industry have, if I may say, "Put it all together." We have done that and we've seen it happen over a relatively short span of time during our own life times. So much for looking back.

I suppose this is a time for looking ahead, too. I feel that perhaps the greatest challenge facing agriculture today, and those of us involved in agriculture, is to improve our distribution system to match our enormous productive capacity. All this to the end that those less fortunate than we can benefit mutually with us for the benefit of all mankind from the production of Nebraska agriculture. It is my view that we will, we can, and I believe we must, in the interest of peace, do just that, improve our distribution system.

I believe that the next fifty years will be equally as exciting as the past fifty years. The groundwork has been laid; it's too bad, of course, that many of us in this room tonight will not be here to see the next 50 years. But I have every confidence that advancements during the next 50 years will be as great as those in the past.

But, be that as it may, I want you to know that the recognition I have received tonight, for anything that I might have done' far out-weighs any previous recognition I have received and I will cherish it always. To those who have helped in this effort, I am deeply grateful. To my dear parents who gave us the encouragement and confidence in us, I'm thankful. To my own immediate family, who made life so enjoyable and worthwhile, I am deeply appreciative. To my associates, I say thank you, thank you, thank you. You have been a great team. And, of course, I am thankful for the close friends and acquaintances made over the years, acquaintances who have been so tolerant when I disagreed with them or they with me. Their tolerance and, yes at times, even their forgiveness, I deeply appreciate. And, too, I am eternally grateful for a Devine Providence who gave me good health, sufficient energy, and all the rest to cope with the daily pressures of life that each of us as individuals experience as we go through life.

To each of you here tonight, I can only say thanks so much for coming, that we might share these special moments together. Permit me to give a bit of advice to those who still have a lot of life yet to live. It's simply this: be serious about what you do but don't take yourself too seriously. Most certainly for this Nebraskan, it has been a great life as I am sure it has been for each of you and I will say rather facetiously, but again earnest, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Thank you so much for coming tonight.