IN MEMORY/OBITUARIES The following are notices received by the International Office between November 1, 2014 and July 1, 2015. Arkansas Ralph T. Pay (’55). He worked for the Arkansas State Plant Board for 34 years. He was also a lifelong farmer. He lived in North Little Rock, Ark. He died on May 27, 2014. He was 82. Colorado State Warren G. Clair (’60). He served one year in Vietnam and became a captain in the U.S. Army. He worked for Do-ItYourself Irrigation before retiring in 2007. He lived in Las Vegas, Nev. He died Sept. 11, 2014. He was 72. Idaho Kirk Rush (’75). He received his master’s degree in agricultural education from the University of Idaho. He taught vocational agriculture and was an FFA advisor for 29 years. He served in the U.S. Navy Repair Force. He was honored by the FFA Alumni Association in 2012 and the University of Idaho College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2013. He lived in Boise, Idaho. He died on April 21, 2015. He was 96. Illinois Verne W. Erdman (’41). He was a life-long farmer in the Chenoa area. He was a salesman for many years and then had a long career as a salesman for Central Illinois Harvestore, working with farmers. He lived in Chenoa, Ill. He died Feb. 22, 2015. He was 92. Dennie J. Knight (’66). He owned Knight Insurance Services, Inc. He served as FFA State Vice President. He lived in Indianola, Ill. He died Oct. 8, 2014. He was 68. William D. Swaar (’72). He was a farmer, pastor and computer consultant. He lived in Mason City, Ill. He died on June 12, 2014. He was 60. Richard W. Justice (’94). He attended the University of Illinois for his PhD in education administration. He was the associate dean of students and executive director of the University’s Senate subcommittee on discipline. He lived in Urbana, Ill. He died Oct. 21, 2014, at 68. Iowa State J. Parry Dodds (’37). He served in the
36 Pearls & Rubies
Master Builder Gauger dies
C.J. (Carlyle John) Gauger (IA ’37). The evening of Sunday, April 26, C.J. Gauger, Master Builder, passed away peacefully with family at his side in Ames, Iowa. He was 101 years old. Affectionately referred to as the Dean of Iowa State FarmHouse, his service to FarmHouse went far beyond his home chapter. He was recruited to join FarmHouse by our Fraternity’s Founder, D. Howard Doane, at the Iowa State C.J. Chapter’s 10th Founders’ Day in 1937. C.J. himself recruited Gauger hundreds of men to join FarmHouse over the course of his 78-year active membership in the Fraternity. After graduating from Iowa State, he served in World War II as an aviation engineer. After the War, he began his career teaching agricultural education and then worked as a county agent for Iowa State Extension. Later he became the State Director of Iowa 4-H & Youth Programs and over the course of his 20-year leadership, came to be known by many as a forward-thinking, innovative leader within the state and across the country. His extensive service to FarmHouse at the local level was recognized with the Darl Snyder Alumni Award in 1973. He served on the Fraternity’s National Board from 1978 to 1982 and was the Fraternity’s first director of expansion serving from 1981 to 1984. During this time he helped establish chapters at the University of West Virginia, the California Polytechnic Institute at Pomona, Tennessee Tech University, the University of Nebraska-Curtis and Illinois State University, from which over 500 men joined our Fraternity. He received the Friend of Ceres Fraternity Award and his commitment to FarmHouse was recognized when he received the Fraternity’s highest honor and title, Master Builder of Men, in 1984. Many FarmHouse men live long lives, but few remain as active and involved throughout their lives as C.J.—visiting the Iowa State Chapter each semester to meet the new members, as recently as last fall. He was an avid Cyclone fan, a former chair of the Iowa State Athletics Council and was involved at the local, state and national levels of the United Methodist Church. His service to 4-H was recognized as an inaugural inductee into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame and the National 4-H Hall of Fame. Long at his side was his beloved wife, Dorothy, of 66 years. Their legacy of leadership and service was honored and is now memorialized in the C.J. & Dorothy Gauger Endowment Fund, with the FarmHouse Foundation, when friends, family and brothers raised $100,000 in just 100 days in celebration of his 100th birthday in 2014.
Navy Supply Corps, and retired with the rank of captain. He worked at South Dakota State University and Iowa State University before working at Fresno State University. He lived in Fresno, Calif. He died on Aug. 29, 2014, at 97. Harold G. Barrett (’40). He farmed for over 70 years. He was honored to host a visit to his farm by President George W. Bush in 2001. He was a life-long member of the Iowa Farm Bureau and Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. He lived in Dallas Center, Iowa. He died on Feb. 23, 2015, at 94. Stanley E. Held (’50). He began his career at the University of Minnesota’s
College of Veterinary Medicine. He owned a private veterinary practice from 1962 to 1996. He was inducted into the National Academics of Practice in 1991 and served as president of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association in 1972. He lived in Buffalo, Minn. He died Sept. 22, 2014. He was 83. Kansas State Harold R. Fox (’37). He owned a farm in Ivanhoe, Calif., for 68 years. He died on Mar. 30, 2014, at age 96. Leonard A. Deets (’39). He worked at the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank in Wichita, Kan. for 21 years. After he
